prcadle's Reviews

The Horizontal Lieutenant (1962)

6/10

16 July 2014

Jim Hutton is a fond favorite actor of mine, and at his best he could be quite funny -- his best comic effort in my opinion is in "Who's Minding the Mint?" He teamed up 4 times with Paula Prentiss, mostly due to the fact he was tall enough at 6'5" to tower over the 5'10" young lady. These four films with Hutton were Prentiss' first 4 films of her career. She was also a talented actress adept at comedy - her best comedy role, again in my opinion, was in "Man's Favorite Sport?", alongside Rock Hudson.

Hutton and Prentiss were an attractive couple - she very sexy and long legged, he somewhat gangly and bean-pole thin, but with a great deal of boyish charm and a winsome self-effacing manner. Hutton was groomed to be a new version of Jimmy Stewart, in fact. he stayed youthful enough to successfully play Ellery Queen in a TV series when he was over 40.

With this nice pairing of leading man and lady, and the always funny Jim Backus added to the mix, this should have been an engaging comedy. The fact that it is no better than so-so is not the fault of the actors.

The film, which is based on a novel, is meant to be similar to a number of World War II military service screwball comedies that were released in the late 50's and early 60's. It tries to capture the spirit of "Teahouse of the August Moon" and "Don't Go Near the Water", both starring Glenn Ford, and "Wake Me When It's Over" starring Dick Shawn. However, it never quite makes the grade. The situations that are supposed to funny just don't quite hit home. There is a bit too much reliance on slapstick pratfalls that you can see coming a mile away, and a couple of scenes with good humor potential are wasted by sub-par dialog.

But, the cast is gamely trying their best and the great chemistry between Prentiss and Hutton comes through in some (but not all) of their scenes together. This movie is a nice time-killer, but it was not nearly as good as I had hoped.

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World War One (1964– )

9/10

Still unmatched documentary about the war

6 May 2013

Even after 50 years, no American-made documentary about World War One has come close to being as comprehensive or as moving as this documentary series. There have been some British made multi-volume documentaries about The Great War that are as good, in some cases even better, but this remains the definitive American documentary about that war.

With 26 episodes, each one about 25 minutes in length, plenty of time is available to present the full scope of the war. Entire episodes are devoted to the air war, the submarine war, the home front in England, the impact of the war on the US before America's entry into the conflict, the Bolshevik Revolution and even an episode dealing with the songs that were made famous by the war.

A couple of minor flaws can be easily overlooked, but to be fair, they are that the issues that brought the war on could have been a examined a little more thoroughly, as could the Eastern Front, and being an American production, perhaps the film focuses a little too much on the American experience of the war at the expense of some of the other participants.

But hours of actual film footage from the war were used, no re-enactments at all, and this is fascinating to see. Robert Ryan's narration is a highlight of the series - there is something to melancholy and tragic in his voice through the narrative that it really brings home the emotional impact of an entire generation being lost and a global way of life being destroyed forever. Having seen reruns of this series in the late 1970's while I was a boy, Robert Ryan's voice has become inseparable from World War 1 in my mind.

In the 50 years since this documentary was made, a lot of new scholarship about the war - and the opening of many old archives,- has changed some of the things we know about the war. Nevertheless, this series remains the best documentary about the war available in the US.

Perhaps now that the 100th anniversary of the war is a year away, a new documentary will be made that uses some of the information that was not available in 1964. As the grandson of a Doughboy who fought in France in 1918, I'd like to see one. Perhaps Ken Burns would be up to the task?

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Green Fire (1954)

6/10

A routine adventure, efficiently made

30 April 2013

Warning: Spoilers

There is a whole subset of movies from the 1930's to the early 50's which revolve around the plot of a man who becomes so obsessed with the idea of succeeding at the task he has taken on for himself, that he temporarily loses his sense of decency and alienates - always in this order - his best friend/colleague, his girlfriend/fiancée, and finally, all the men who work for him and worship the ground he walks on. The main character is usually an engineer with a new idea that will make him lots of money, but the real motivation for him is proving his idea will work. Examples of this type of film would be Pat O'Brien in "China Clipper", John Wayne in "Tycoon" and James Stewart in "Thunder Bay".

Green Fire is one of the last of this type of film, and one of the most beautifully shot. It has some action sequences thrown in - a couple of short gun fights with the local bandit leader, for example, an avalanche or two and an almost devastating flood. There is also a love triangle of sorts.

This one is set in Colombia, South America, and the idea is to find the emeralds in an old mine that the conquistadores first opened. Stewart Granger is the mining engineer, Paul Douglas his partner and best friend. Granger is presented as a lovable rogue who cons his buddy into staying on for one more adventure.

Nearby to their mine is a large coffee plantation, owned by Grace Kelly's character and her brother. She is devoted to this plantation as it has been in the family for 4 generations. The brother is young ands restless and doesn't care "beans" about coffee, which of course makes him a great patsy for Granger to con into backing the mining operation.

Granger and Kelly fall in love, but she is afraid he will be ever the wanderer and she's firmly rooted to her plantation. Granger becomes more and more ruthless in his pursuit of the emeralds - first alienating his friend Douglas, then Grace and eventually his actions endanger the lives of everyone in the region, and may destroy the plantation. But of course it all works out in the end, he comes to his senses, regains his moral balance and kisses the girl in the rainstorm at the end of the film.

A very routine plot line, set in what was then a rather exotic locale. Granger was a limited actor, but this was not a demanding role and he does well. Douglas is probably the best among the cast as the best friend with more common sense and stronger moral compass. Grace Kelly is lovely as always, but not very convincing in the role - she just never really was the "outdoors type".

The film is shot in beautiful widescreen color, some location shooting seems to have taken place, but most of it was on very nicely done sets and backlots.

At 1 hour and 40 minutes, the film tells its story pretty briskly with not much extraneous material.

It's not a timeless classic, but it is a good example of typical 1950's adventure films, and is entertaining enough to watch once every few years.

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Partners in Crime (1983–1984)

Perfectly done

18 August 2012

I remember first watching these episodes on PBS Mystery back in the mid '80's and waited 20 years to find it on DVD. And well worth the purchase price. I love the atmosphere of these stories - terrific 1920's flavor and beautiful filming of rural England. The mysteries themselves are not very challenging, you'll figure most of them out well before the ending, but the chemistry between the two leading actors is really what makes the show. It's so nice to watch a program about a young husband and wife who really do love one another and enjoy adventures together.

Warwick looks every bit the solid young Englishman, and Francesca Annis, looking ten years younger than the 37 she actually was, is perfect as a bright and plucky young flapper. And do love the old cars in this.

Great way to spend an enjoyable 50 minutes of wholesome entertainment.

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