Reviews

It's a dark movie - literally. At the first look at the vileness Hilda Blake (Helen Thimig) you will probably think: this is very bad acting. Than you realize Mrs Thiming is a great actress and that Hilda is a very scary character. There is an interesting romance between a soldier and a woman doctor suffering with a little community prejudice. All the action happens around a very big picture of a beautiful young woman, and the sinister Hilda give orders all the time to her submissive "friend" Ivy Miller (Edith Barrett). It's a pity that in the end the screenplay turns a little dumb in important details. This is the sixth film from Anthony Mann, and its style reminds me the very early Alfred Hichcock.

It is amazing how this film starts and how it ends. The very first scenes shows us one silly comedy about three Air Force pilots and one beautiful blonde PR (Scott). But the script makes an U turn and what we see is a very adult and realistic romance. The leading couple - Robert Cummings and Lizabeth Scott - are superb in their roles. And there is little trace of war propaganda, very subtle and always working to move the story. This is a film that could be so vain but manage to explore some deep meanings in romance and life itself. A nice piece of work from screenwriters Ayn Rand and Robert Smith, and director John Farrow. The ending is really touching.

In 1967 I was one spy movies fanatic. I took all that James Bond stuff very seriously. I could have hated Casino Royale, as a spoof. But I became hypnotized by this film and watched it five times in short time. Now, I finally watched it again in DVD. The sound was remixed to 5.1

Everybody knows that that Casino Royale was a complete mess. With five directors (including John Huston) and dozens of writers, is a chaotic collage. There is no plot, no coherent script. Its 131 minutes could be shortened to 80. The film would be so much better.

So, why did I liked this film so much? 1) the cast - John Huston, Woody Allen, Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress, William Holden, tons of special guests, all having good fun. 2) the superb soundtrack by Burt Bacharach 3) the style, sometimes sophisticated, sometimes really ugly. Casino Royale was one of the main inspirations to Mike Mayers when he created Austin Powers. 4) The opening credits, one very sensual and funny animation 5) Casino Royale can be corny sometimes. But it is very sexy.

Me and some friends, we produced one slightly similar dubbing work with Victor Mature's "Samson and Dellilah". It was very amateurish, but we leaned something from this experience: dubbing pictures is an art by itself. A different genre. You can't judge one dubbed film with one "regular viewer" eye.

Said that, King Pow is a masterpiece. I watched a long time ago "What's Up Tiger Lily", Woody Allen's own dub work. It was funny, but just that.

Steve Oedekerk made much more than this in Kung Pow. He made a full scale intervention, not just fill the actor's original lines with funny frases, like Woody Allen did. Oedekerk had the technological factor in his side. He was able to do digital intereference. Sometimes worked, sometimes not. I, personally, don't like the Cow X Choose fight. (But its digital planning, included in the DVD extras is very interesting).

One of the best things in Kung Pow is the use of edition tricks to make humor. I can't wait for the sequel.