Journey to Italy (1954)

A bickering couple (Ingrid Bergman and George Sanders) travel to Italy to resolve an estate they inherited. They discover that they do not enjoy each other’s company when not at home, so they bicker some more before exploring their own interests separately, nudge nudge.

Bergman made seven films during her “banishment” from Hollywood, most of which directed by her second husband, Roberto Rossellini. I hadn’t seen any of them and was eager to watch this, one of the highest rated.

Sanders and Bergman make an odd pair. Their acting styles were starkly different and had no chemistry. Sanders seemed to be in a different film from everyone else. He expressed a lot of frustration in his autobiography. This may be the only role of his I didn’t love. He was seriously miscast.

Journey to Italy wasn’t an unpleasant watch, but in the end it didn’t work for me. The majority of the film was a whole lot of nothing, and the ending felt unearned. I can’t express how little chemistry the leads had. They were to be a couple married with eight years of history together, but seemed like they just met at the start of filming. AMRU 2.5.

Susan Slept Here (1954)

Hollywood screenwriter Mark (Dick Powell) wants to work on a serious script involving juvenile delinquents, so his cop buddy places him in custody of a teenage girl (Debby Reynolds) for inspiration, as cops do. This arrangement would keep her out of jail for the Christmas holiday. Jealous fiancé hijinks ensue.

This is the second film in a row where Powell plays a Hollywood screenwriter, after his penultimate film (The Bad and the Beautiful). Glenda Farrell (I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang) is Mark’s secretary and Alvy Moore (Green Acres) is his personal assistant. Adorable Anne Francis (Forbidden Planet) is his fiancé. Though we never learn her character’s age, Francis was only two years older than Reynolds. We aren’t to like her so she plays the Ice Queen.

Ignoring the absolute absurdity of the premise, this is a witty and charming story. What cannot be ignored is the creep factor. 35 year old Mark, played by 49 year old Powell, is paired with seventeen year old Susan (22 year old Reynolds). And, no, she doesn’t turn 18 by the end of the film.

Mark, despite his difficulties, is living the white male fantasy that only the 1950’s could give voice to. Cool job, cool apartment, surrounded by helper-friends and beautiful, amorous women, and has a fully stocked bar. Moore's Virgil is his foil. Purposeless job, little respect, and the ladies won't give him a second look. He and Farrell's Maude also serve the purpose of validating Mark's interest in an underage girl. That's very important, isn't that right Woody?

It feels icky to like Susan Slept Here as much as I do. There's not a ton of chemistry between the leads, but it was a very entertaining watch. AMRU 3.

Johnny Guitar (1954)

Vienna (Joan Crawford) runs a saloon and expects to profit greatly when the railroad comes through. But the local ranchers are none too keen on homesteading Easterners crowding out their herd. And they are none too keen on Vienna, either. She hires old flame Johnny Guitar (Sterling Hayden) for protection.

Part of Vienna’s troubles stem from her association with The Dancin’ Kid, whose gang is suspected of pulling heists. The rest stems from her reputation with the rangers, particularly feisty Emma (Mercedes McCambridge) who will stop at nothing to see Vienna and the Kid dancin’ at the end of a rope.

Categorized as an early revisionist western and a camp classic, it is the story of two strong women, the manly Vienna with a past and the angry Emma, fearful of her own sexuality. They bark orders, take action, and manipulate the simple menfolk. And if you think me harsh for calling Vienna manly, consider this quote:

“Never seen a woman who was more of a man. She thinks like one, acts like one, and sometimes makes me feel like I'm not.”

Yea, that was spoken in a 50’s western. Revisionist, indeed. Vienna knows what she wants, how to get it, and is single minded in her approach. Same for Emma who may be frightened to see herself in Vienna. It is telling that they are the only two female characters in the film, including extras.

The story elements are nothing special. We hit many of the western tropes. The ranger/farmer conflict, the posse, the gunman character, constructed around a love triangle and instigated by where choo-choo go. And from a character motivation standpoint, it makes little sense.

What elevates the film are the performances. You cannot take your eyes off of Crawford, a dozen years older than lover Hayden (and twenty years older than the Dancin’ Kid). Her performance is both absurd and captivating. So too is the dialog. Regardless of the speaker, it seemed to revolve around Vienna and her wants, and it doesn’t matter that it too makes no sense. And this is not to take anything away from McCambridge, whose wonderfully unrestrained performance is delightfully outrageous. She burns with an all consuming fire.

The Kid and his gang (which includes Ernest Borgnine from back in his thug days) hide out in a secret cabin, hidden behind a waterfall. However, the view from the cabin window shows open land for miles around. How hidden could it be? And speaking of big names in small roles, John Carradine played Old Tom, even though he was two years younger than Crawford.

There is so much to say about the story that I haven’t yet got into the story behind the story. Emma’s McCambridge (the demon voice from The Exorcist) couldn’t stand Crawford, and the feeling was mutual. Hayden was disgusted with Crawford’s unprofessional behavior and she called him “The biggest pill in Hollywood”. Director Nicholas Ray would frequently stop his car and vomit on his way to the set. Oh, and apparently François Truffaut called the movie 'The Beauty and the Beast', with Hayden being the beauty.

There are members of society that will see themselves in Crawford's performance. She's a woman in a man's world, setting the rules for the macho men in her life. But still, she can't escape society's expectations of her gender. 1950's just as the nineteenth century, as Crawford wasn't the title character. The players hated making the film, the critics panned it, and the public loved it. I kinda did too. AMRU 4.

“A man can lie, steal... and even kill. But as long as he hangs on to his pride, he's still a man. All a woman has to do is slip - once - and she's a 'tramp!' Must be a great comfort to you to be a man.”

Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954)

Pretty women of Paris are brutally murdered and the police are stumped. At least until they suspect a dashing college professor who is clearly innocent. Who is the real murderer? Read the TCM description to find out.

Occasionally I see a film I hadn’t since I was a boy and images flash back as the events unfold. This is one such film. I don’t know if I was eight or eighteen when I saw it last, but I had distinct memories of key scenes. I enjoyed that.

A mannered period piece, Phantom has a similar feel to 1953’s House of Wax. Both featured lush sets and filmed in vibrant color and in 3-D. Maybe it didn’t live up to the earlier adaptation of the Poe story or audiences were done with the 3-D gimmick, but the film tanked. It’s poor showing convinced Merv Griffin (yup, THAT Merv Griffin) to abandon his dream to be a Hollywood leading man and focus on television. Blink and you’ll miss him.

Karl Malden is here being very, well, Karl Malden. In my youth I remember him most from American Express commercials, but he shows up from time to time. I'll discuss him more in my next post. Dashing suspects lovely fiancee is played by the lovely Patricia Medina, six years his senior. There was something nuanced about her performance that I remember from the previous viewing. I haven't seen her in anything else.

The inspector brings our poor suspected hero along to see crime scenes and listen to witnesses (of course) allowing him to piece together the story with only sparse information. Also, the Rue Morgue is mentioned once, and never visited. I should read the Poe story and definitely see the earlier version.

There’s no real mystery here (Thanks TCM!) and parts are silly, but I found Phantom of the Rue Morgue fun. Would I have had the nostalgia factor been absent? Maybe not, but I don’t care. AMRU 3.5.

La Strada (1954)

A travelling strong man (Anthony Quinn) pays a woman to take her simpleton daughter as his assistant. He isn’t nice.

I’m amazed how hard it is to sum up this film. A lot goes on in the story but it is all about how the relationship of the two characters (and a third) develops because of the events in their lives. I seldom have this problem with Hollywood movies. Ostensibly, he needs her for the act, but he is very mean and criticizes everything she does. Does he really need her? Does he even like her? Their relationship and expectations change over time. This is a refreshingly non-Hollywood movie.

Director Federico Fellini began shooting before securing financing. He got his wife to play the ‘waif’ and hired two distinctly non-Italians to play the other leads, then dubbed their voices. The film that nobody wanted ended up being a huge hit, winning the affection of the Motion Picture Academy and the Pope.

There seems to be a theme. Gelsomina's dead sister (and Zampano's previous assistant) was named Rosa, Zampano calls a prostitute 'red' (rosso), and a bride is said to be fresh as a rose. Interesting symbology for such a drab and unattractive film. I feel it must mean something, but I don't know what.

Drab and ugly, but captivating still. The players exist in a seedy, desperate world. It felt authentic and lived in. Maybe much like post-war Italy. La Strada is a sad, touching film, and I will see it again. AMRU 4.5.

Dial M for Murder (1954)

Tony (Ray Milland) discovers that his rich hot wife (Grace Kelly) is having an affair, so he arranges for a complicated hit on her. When that doesn’t pan out, he tries to frame her for a murder. And everyone lived happily ever after.

Whenever you plot to kill the hot, hot Grace Kelly, you cannot be the protagonist, but Milland almost pulls it off. He gets the bulk of the screen time, is charming almost to a fault, and you can almost see his point of view. Almost. Ex-tennis pro Tony is a manipulator. If the rich Margot divorces him he loses his means to a comfy lifestyle. If she dies, he takes it all. He manipulates the would-be assassin with surgical precision. When things go awry he tries to engineer his way out of things, manipulating Margot in the process. A true master at work.

Ray Milland was a better actor than his reputation. He did a bunch of forgettable light rom-coms but his better work (The Lost Weekend) proves his ability. Dial M for Murder is a better work. Cary Grant was considered for the role but Cary must always play nice guy.

Filmed almost entirely in one room, the studio decided to make it 3D. Hitch had no interest in even making the movie, but he was contractually obligated. Not exactly a recipe for success but this is Hitchcock we are talking about. It was a great stage play and Hitch’s tenacity made it an excellent film. Then he made Rear Window.

Dial M for Murder is a smart, charming story. It is very wordy in a good way and the crime plan is very well thought out. There is no real mystery except to see how it all plays out. It’s Hitchcock at the top of his game. In his top five, for sure. Mom would have loved it. AMRU 4.

White Christmas (1954)

After the war, army buddies Bob and Phil (Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye) start a song and dance act. Ten years on they become quite successful. So successful that Phil wants to marry Bob off to floozy dance girls with poor diction in hopes that it would keep taskmaster Bob occasionally occupied. When another army buddy writes asking them to give career advice to his performing sisters Betty and Judy (Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen), Phil gets the idea of matching Bob up with Betty, as her diction is perfect. They land in the non-snowy Vermont inn owned by their old commanding officer, who is struggling financially. Let’s put on a show!

Christmas Musicals are inevitably romantic comedies, this being no different. Boy meets girl, boy and girl like each other, misunderstanding, grand gesture, happy ending. Only variation here is that the grand gesture IS the misunderstanding. Also with Christmas Musicals, the plot is frequently paper-thin. Again, same here.

White Christmas is a slight retooling of Holiday Inn (1942). We have Bing, tried to have Astaire but was unavailable, reused the song, and even reused the country inn set, this time located in Vermont. They even do a minstrel number, but at least had the decency to lose the blackface. Baby steps.

I remember Rosemary Clooney from her old and fat days, wondering why she was famous. Not a classic beauty, she was certainly charming. And at 25 she was definitely good enough for the 50ish Crosby. Oh, and she was George’s aunt. Her little sister was played by the anorexic Vera-Ellen. Anyone who danced next to her was paled by her energy and skill. Clearly it wasn’t food she was getting her energy from. She had to be dubbed for the singing parts.

Except for the benefit of color (and lack of blackface color), we essentially have the same movie as Holiday Inn. Many musical numbers if you’re into that sort of thing, witty and charming dialog, simple story with low-stakes consequences. AMRU 3.5.

The Barefoot Contessa (1954)

Maria (Ava Gardner), a beautiful Spanish club performer, is recruited by Hollywood looking for a fresh face. Despite Hollywood, Maria isn’t all keen to go. She likes to keep her feet in the dirt, whatever that means.

The movie begins at Maria’s funeral. The story is about her rise to fame, her struggle with what is truly important to her, the rich and powerful men that court her, and her ultimate fate. It is told from the perspective of the lives she touched, mostly Director Harry Dawes (Humphrey Bogart).

What I was expecting to be a pretty standard rom-com turned out to be something else. There are comedic elements but it is by no means a comedy. And romance is in short supply. That’s right faithful reader. Bogart does not get the girl. Leave it to Mankiewicz to do a regular Hollywood production that doesn’t exactly follow genre conventions. Typically wordy, intelligent, and high quality. Despite much of the film taking place directly in Hollywood, it has a European feel in a way I can’t exactly explain. I also get the feeling that it was a longer film (128 minutes as it is) and cut down. There are characters introduced who seem to have more story in them.

The Barefoot Contessa is an interesting, if not riveting, character study. It’s witty, visually appealing, does not lull, and keeps you invested to the conclusion. The tone was a little unexpected and maybe not Mankiewicz’s best, but it was most certainly interesting. AMRU 3.5.

“I *have* never done a day's work in my life - honest OR dishonest, but neither have you... To make 100 dollars into 110 dollars, this is work. To make 100 million into 110 million, this is inevitable.”

Sabrina (1954)

Young Sabrina (Audrey Hepburn) is the daughter of the Chauffeur. She has a life long crush on the playboy son of her father's employer (William Holden), but he hardly notices her. She is sent off to Paris to learn to cook and returns with a new outlook, and the attention of the Larrabee boys.

Responsible older brother Linus (Humphrey Bogart) arranges for brother David to marry the daughter of a sugar plantation owner as part of a larger plastics deal, when David finally notices Sabrina. Linus' solution is to get David out of the way, make her fall in love with him, then ship her off to Paris again with a half-hearted apology. Nice guy this Linus.

For most of this film I was loving it. Hepburn was absolutely charming and the dialog was great. But I really struggled with Bogart as the rich, responsible, leading man-type. Also, in his mid fifties, he was creepy grandpa next to Hepburn's porcelain skin. Cary Grant was originally cast, but he turned it down. Grant was only a couple years younger than Bogart, but looked much younger and was way more appropriate for the role.

Early critics said Holden should have played the older brother and someone younger play David, and I agree. He seemed old as playboy David, and Bogart was older than the man playing Sabrina's father!

Bogart also didn't think much of Hepburn or Holden, or even Billy Wilder. He wanted wife Lauren Bacall for the lead, but I can't imagine anyone matching Hepburn's charm. In three years he would be gone.

Sabrina is rather charming and well written, but what started well ended up being a fairly generic rom-com by the third act. Maybe I'm holding the fast start or questionable casting choices against it, but there's no helping that. At worst, it's still a fine film. AMRU 3.5.

"A woman happily in love, she burns the soufflé. A woman unhappily in love, she forgets to turn on the oven."

Rear Window (1954)

An injured photojournalist (James Stewart) is laid up in his New York apartment with nothing to do save spy on his neighbors through the rear window. From his vantage point he can see directly into the apartments of several of his neighbors and learn about their private lives. Conveniently, they are always perfectly framed and well lit.

Into this he is pestered by his beautiful, stylish, and way too young for him girlfriend (Grace Kelly) who wants to marry his old and dumpy ass. You can see why this is such a problem. Thankfully Hitch acknowledges the irony.

Anyhow, he notices one angry neighbor and gets the impression that he done off'd his wife. His girlfriend and housekeeper, initially unreceptive to his voyeuristic ways, become rapt up in our little mystery. His war buddy cop doesn't see anything he can investigate.

Rear Window is filmed entirely on one huge set. It had 31 apartments, some with electricity and running water. They tore out the first floor so that "ground level" could start in the basement, giving the set more height. It's the only time I can remember looking at a set, knowing it was a sound stage set, and thinking it looked wonderful.

There's a risque scene involving "Miss Torso". She is seen doing ballet in her bra and panties in front of a picture window. At one point she turns away from the camera, takes off her top, and bends at the waist, effectively mooning the camera. Oddly, I couldn't find a good image of it. I know I've seen housekeeper Thelma Ritter a million times, I just don't know where. No relation to John, apparently.

This is the kind of movie Hitchcock did well. A complex scene filled with drama for our hero to draw lines and create suspense. The mystery itself isn't very complex but it serves the story well, and the performances and dialog are excellent, along with the right dose of humor. Maybe my second favorite from Hitch. AMRU 4.

"When I married Miles, we were both a couple of maladjusted misfits. We are still maladjusted misfits, and we have loved every minute of it."

On The Waterfront (1954)

The docks are controlled by the union, which is to say, the mob. The few make all the money while doing no work and the many work like dogs and barely scrape out a living. How is this careful balance managed? By throwing the complainers off of buildings.

Terry Malloy (Brando) coulda had class. He coulda been a contender. He coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what he is. The union thugs use him to draw above-referenced rat to the rooftop so that he can be tossed off of it. Malloy thought they were just going to lean on him. Furthering his ambivalence to the status quo, he starts to fall for the rat's hot little sister. Also, there's this rabble-rousing priest.

Man have I a lot to say about this picture.

First, the primary conflict is the pigeons verses the hawks. Malloy is a pigeon who might be able to become a hawk if he plays along. The hawks are exploiting the pigeons and the moral thing is to testify against them. To be a rat. Allow me to introduce Elia Kazan to the audience.

Elia Kazan was a talented director of both stage and screen. His work speaks for itself. And when the House Un-American Activities Committee was looking for rats for their commie witch hunt, Elia raised his hand and said "Me first!" When he was presented with an honorary Oscar many years later, some in the audience conspicuously remained silent.

So, when we compare this film to High Noon, where bad men enter the town and scared men refuse to stand up to them, we see the obverse side of the same coin. Does a hero stand up to outsiders who present a danger or speak out on the danger that is there already? The devil is in the details and may people have their opinions the seriousness of the perceived threats.

That out of the way, let's discuss Brando and his performance. One of the greatest performances or terribly overrated? Depends on if you're a commie or not, I presume. For me, it was an eye-opener. When you see clips of the film he appears awkward and unconvincing. He's acting like Brando. But taken as a whole, it was quite impressive. Conflicted is the key word here. Every day Brando left the set early to see his therapist leaving the rest of the actors to work without the star. Rod Steiger never forgave him.

Oh, here's a pet peeve of mine. Girl locks herself in her apartment and yells to the hero to go away. He breaks down the door and she fights him off. He forces her to kiss her and true love blooms. "But your honor, that worked out great in On the Waterfront!" Yea, let's leave that crap in the last century.

Great script, great acting, wonderfully shot, solid story. The ending, however, suffered from a surplus of sap. The few flaws (Malloy's spidey senses totally fail him late in the movie) were overlooked or invisible to the Academy. It won eight Oscars. AMRU 4. Kazan was an exceptional director. And a rat.

"Conscience... that stuff can drive you nuts!"

Riders to the Stars (1954)

Proto-NASA has a problem. Every time they send a satellite into space, it comes down in a crumpled heap. Solar rays turn the metal into a brittle mess, sorda like how it will eventually destroy our moon. What to do, what to do.

But wait a minute! Asteroids travel around the sun for millions of years without being destroyed. What if we could capture one and examine it for it's secrets! Yea, that sounds like a plausible idea!

So, what they do is compile a list of recruits and subject them to physical and emotional tests until they are down to three: the lovelorn Dr Lockwood (Richard Carlson, also the director), hunky Dr Stanton (William Lundigan), and grumpy Dr Gordon (Robert Karnes). Not wanting to put all their eggheads into one basket, they send them up in separate rockets at the same time. Nothing could possibly go wrong.

Oddly the 40+ Lockwood was recently dumped by his early 20's hot model girlfriend Miss Manners (Dawn Addams). Early on he visits her at her work and she is sporting cleavage totally out of place for a 50's film. See if you can count the times Carlson throws a lit cigarette to the floor.

What makes this movie interesting is that it is mostly about the process of selecting the astronauts, similar in style to The Right Stuff (1983). It was an amusing mix of real science and concocted hogwash peppered with scenes like that of a punch card sorter and trucks tearing through the desert destroying native plant life.

Interesting film and a nice take on the sci-fi genre, but it lacks the hook to make it truly memorable. No monsters or threat of world disaster. Just astronauts, asteroids, rockets, and a couple hot chicks. Still, very much worth watching. AMRU 3. Terrible theme song.

No good quotes so instead I leave you with this terrifying image:

Devil Girl from Mars (1954)

A scientist and a reporter (Joseph Tomelty and Hugh McDermott) are traveling through the Scottish moors in search of an asteroid. The come upon a closed inn and convince the innkeeper to rent them a room for the night. There they meet the Innkeeper and his wife, the dowdy barmaid (Adrienne Corri), the hot fashion model (Hazel Court), and an evil escaped murderer (Peter Reynolds). 

But it seems our murderer has a heart of gold. Sure, he was convicted of murdering his wife, but he didn't mean to do it. And he truly loves the dowdy barmaid, yes he does. And just what is the hot fashion model doing all alone in a remote inn during the off season? Is she running away from something? Or is she looking for something? Something only a much older asteroid-hunting reporter can give her?

Oh, yea, and a bitch in a flying saucer lands saying something about taking over the earth.

Devil Girl from Mars is based on a play, and I have a theory about that. While not wanting to do a shred of research, I have concluded that this stage play did not feature a flying saucer nor a devil girl. Instead said play was used as a framework to inject sci-fi elements into in hopes of earning a quick buck, er ... pound. The characters seem to be dealing with their own issues while said devil girl just pops in every now and again to piss everybody off. The two parts of the story are glaringly different.

So what exactly is on our dominatrix's mind? Well, it seems that Mars had a battle of the sexes where they used actual weapons to kill each other. Now that the fairer sex has prevailed, they realize that the planet is seriously lacking in the man-talent come time to get a little action. So, they do what anyone would. Hop into the trusty cruise mobile and head to the neighboring town. Of course, this terrorizes the men. What could be worse than being the love slave of a hot chick with a ray gun.

What a wonderfully terrible film! This film had everything. Scratch that. It had many things. It had something. What it had was ... well, instead of continuing on, I'll refer you to another blog that does a much better job at this than I do:

http://www.millionmonkeytheater.com/DevilGirlMars.html

And I'll leave you with these words of warning: Beware the Sexually Aggressive Woman! AMRU 3.

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)

A strange fossil is found in the Amazon that dates to the Devonian age. It appears to be a human arm with webbed fingers. Wishing to find more fossils, they theorize that the sediment that contained them washed downstream, into the Black Lagoon!

Once a living specimen is discovered, good scientist David (Richard Carlson) wants to return better prepared to study this creature, but naughty scientist Mark (Richard Denning) wants to capture it and make a fortune! After David is finally proven to be unequivocally correct, they discover their path out of the lagoon has been barricaded by a Devonian aquatic ape with a penchant for hot chicks.

Here is Universal's last "classic" monster. Back in the 70's they licensed rubber figures of their five rock stars and I had the collection. Recently I found three of them (Drac and Frank are missing, of course). I still have one of the movies left to cover, and that's planned for October. But let's cover the science with today's movie.

There is no Devonian Age. There is, however, a Devonian PERIOD which is before the dinosaurs (420 to 358ish million years ago) nowhere near the 150 myo mentioned in the movie. Also, if Gill Man is supposed to be a distant relative of humans, then the split would have been between 8 and 12 myo. Picking nits? Perhaps, but changing the numbers to reflect actual science would not have impacted the story at all. Get it right, people!

The two men in the rubber costume (one for the land and one when swimming) weren't credited. Seems the marketing department thought that if there was no credit for the monster, people would assume it was real. But someone so stupid would likely not have been able to find their way to the theater in the first place.

Well acted, well made, and lasting cultural impact. Not a great film, but good. Ingmar Bergman thought it good enough to watch every year on his birthday. I'm undecided whether I will watch it again. AMRU 3.5.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)

Hunky mountain man Adam Pontipee (hunky Howard Keel) needs a wife, so he heads into town to fetch one. Of course with the women folk being in short supply in the old west, he is assured there are none available. Not to be dissuaded, Adam sets out to do just that.

Adam happens upon young, pretty Milly (Jane Powell) and after forty seconds of convincing, she agrees to be his wife. Once to the Pontipee homestead, she quickly learns that her fate is less of a mountain wife and more indentured servant to Adam and his six boorish brothers. She hatches a plan to con her unsuspecting friends in town to share in her personal hell. But first she must civilize these ginger barbarians.

What a silly-ass movie! Not exactly a girl-power kind of film. At one point the men kidnap the six women and keep them prisoner over the winter to woo their hearts. Ah, traditional marriage! Here's what I found interesting:

MGM was convinced it would be a flop so they cut the budget and made sets instead of shooting on location. The cheesy sets added to it's camp appeal and it was a huge cash cow for the studio. The movie featured catwoman Julie Newmar as one of the captured women. Also, I realized after seeing it that two principle actors were in horror movies I've seen (Keel in The Day of the Triffids and Russ Tamblyn in The Haunting).

The choreographed numbers were quite impressive, if you like that sort of thing. There was a long take wood chopping song number that was technically impressive. Also a barn raising dance number that took almost half of the shooting schedule. Musicals aren't exactly my bag, but it still held my interest. My wife likes them and otherwise hates old movies, so I took the opportunity to watch it with her. AMRU 3.

"A man can't sleep when he sleeps with sheep."

Them! (1954)

Nuclear tests in the desert have caused a mutation in common ants that make them huge. Sargent Peterson (James Whitmore) and FBI agent Graham (James Arness) bring in the esteemed Doctor Medford (Santa) and his hot daughter to plot a course of action.

One of the first and arguably the best in the Giant Bug genre of cold-war science fiction movies. The plot is described quite simply but the movie surprises with it's elegant complexity. You don't necessarily want your viewing to be all text book, and many knock off films take a giant turd on the science portion of the show, but Them! does it right. Enough valid science to keep the nerds in the audience happy and enough giant ant mayhem to please the rest.

One interesting point is that Them! was originally supposed to be color and in 3D, but apparently a studio exec got nervous and pulled the budget at the last minute. Maybe he saved the movie in the process. The ants were all colorful and glittery and looked somewhat foolish, but they worked in black and white. Joan Weldon (the hot doctor-daughter mentioned earlier) said she laughed every time she saw them.

Them! is a classic sci-fi that holds up. Not too high concept and not dumbed down, excellent pacing, and the story, script, and acting were above grade. I held off watching it because I was already very familiar with it, but it still pleased. Even my kids liked it. AMRU 4.

Robert Graham: And I thought today was the end of them.

Dr. Harold Medford: No. We haven't seen the end of them. We've only had a close view of the beginning of what may be the end of us.

Seven Samurai (1954) - part 2

The new copy came in an I watched the last of disk one and about half an hour of disk 2. Daily life disallowed me to watch the last hour and change until last night.

So, we take up the story of a village under oppression. Their crops were robbed by bandits, and when they return, they realize the village has nothing. So they decide to return when the barley ripens. A villager hears this and know that if this crop is taken, they are doomed. Give up the crop without a fight and beg the bandits to leave them something?

No, says grandpa. Hire Samurai to defend the village. It is a tall order to find Samurai to fight for nothing more than rice. In all seven agree. One is young and untested. One's Samurai credentials are in question. Others are not great warriors but posses other skills. They fortify the village and train the farmers.

There are a few side stories. The villagers fear the Samurai. One forces his daughter to dress as a boy. Another villager has a secret. Some of the houses are outside the protection perimeter and that causes concern. Add to it the idea of Ronin staying loyal not to a lord, but to a noble cause, and the Samurai who isn't a Samurai. All of this works together.

Partly the way I watched the film, I could readily identify with only four of the seven. The leader was distinct, being older and having cut his hair early in the film. The young Katsushiro was timid and unsure. Kikochiyo moved unlike the others. You did not have to see his face to know who which one he was. Unlikable at first, he becomes very endearing. The others kinda blended in. A second, uninterrupted viewing would be in order.

A few things to mention. For a movie with such a high body count, there was no gore. The Samurai slices his sword near an opponent and the cut is implied. I didn't feel it was missing. A three and (almost) a half hour movie is quite daunting, but it didn't drag. The pacing was perfect.

There are many elements in this movie. Action fight scenes, a love story, a noble cause, youth proving one's self, and it's all done expertly. Maybe technically perfect. Far be it for me to make such a declaration, but put this much stuff into a 207 minute, subtitled, black and white film, and if you get an eight year old video game junkie glued to the screen, and you have something special. I returned the disks two days late at $2 a day. It was worth it.

AMRU 4.5. Now maybe I can get the boys to watch Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Seven Samurai (1954) - part 1

Seven Samurai (Shinchinin no samurai) is the story of a farming village in 16th century Japan. Roaming bandits rule the landscape. When one farmer overhears bandits say they will plunder the village when their barley crop ripens, the community is thrown into despair.

After a long discussion, the decision is made to try and hire Samurai to defend the village. The problem is that all they have to pay them with is rice. They must find hungry Samurai. A motley band of seven arrive to a village of people who both desperately need and fear them.

Seven Samurai is a movie of great reputation. IMDb voters have ranked this foreign language film as the 15th greatest all time. Entertainment Weekly placed it twelfth. It is called the first modern action movie, with many of the cinematic elements either invented or refined here. The Magnificent Seven (1960) was based on it.

At first I was apprehensive to start this movie. It's over three hours long and I didn't know if I had the stamina. Imagine my surprise that not only did I totally get into the movie, but so did my 8 and 13 year old sons. This, a black and white movie with subtitles and surprisingly little action.

Now, imagine my frustration when the DVD flaked out on me at the end of chapter 10 (of 12) on disk one! On close inspection I found that the disk had been cleaned with what looks like find grit sandpaper. Disk two looked slightly better, but I wasn't going to play it without seeing the rest of disk one. I've tried it in the Playstation to see if I got better results, but no dice.

I've requested another copy from the library. I'll hold off giving it a rating, but as of now it's a 4, at least. Woonsocket Harris library, you're getting yours back!

Killers From Space (1954)

Peter Graves is Dr. Martin, a young Air Force officer working on a project involving nuclear bomb testing. It's called Operation: Nuclear Bomb Test. He is flying around a test explosion taking readings, when he notices a flash of light on the ground. So, he abandons the project to have a look. On his way, the pilot loses control of the aircraft and crashes.

Later, Martin arrives back at the base without any memory of what happened from the time of the crash to when he arrived at the gate. Upon inspection, they find a mysterious scar that couldn't have happened in the accident. His behavior and loss of memory leads them to think he might be an impostor.

The first part of this movie is a mystery. What happened? Our only clues is that the title implies that someone or something from space mean to kill us. I'll ignore the obvious plot flaws and horrible visual effects, which are truly awful. This part of the movie actually works, at least a little. After Martin steals test information, he is captured and given truth serum. Then he relates the story.

Note: this is not a spoiler. I simply am retelling everything that happens in the film. This movie was spoiled the day it came out.

Bug-eyed aliens, resembling Retarded Blue Man Group, brought Martin back from the dead to use him to steal the test information. Their plan is to take over Earth by using close up images of lizards and bugs. Martin won't cooperate, so they brain wash us ... I mean him. Martin thinks to himself and figures if he cuts off power for ten seconds, it will overload their "resistors" and kill all the aliens. The feds aren't buying it, so he has to go to the power plant himself and cut the circuits. The only security guard was busy ticketing his illegally parked car.

Long story short, the aliens blow up and earth is saved. One word about the visual effects. (I call then visual effects because the only thing special about them is the note pinned to their sweater.) Without an effects budget, this movie should not have been made. Or at least made as a mystery rather than Sci-Fi. The alien's bug eyes were made from egg cartons, their outfits looked like sewen up bath robes, and much of the military and nuclear testing scenes were stock footage. When Martin's plane is circling the test site, you can see through it. And he appears to be circling with a diameter about three times the plane's length. Man, were the effects bad!

Now, remembering that the effects were stock footage, poorly dressed aliens in a cave, and close up of bugs, look again at the poster for the movie. The poster depicts exactly what this film was not. I'd sue for fraud. Hey, is that a topless chick in front? Even that wouldn't have saved this.

I like B Sci-Fi films, even bad ones, so I'm tempted to give this a higher rating that it'd otherwise would get, but I have to be realistic. The poor acting was the BEST part of this film. The dialog, story, and effects all sucked. AMRU 2. Wanna see it anyhow? Click here. The movie is free.