Chicago (2002)

Miramax

Directed by Rob Marshall
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Miramax)

Best Picture
Best Supporting Actress - Catherine Zeta-Jones
Best Art Direction - Set Decoration
Best Costume Design
Best Editing
Best Sound
Nominated: Best Director
Nominated: Renee Zellwegger - Best Actress
Nominated: John C. Reilly - Best Supporting Actor
Nominated: Queen Latifah - Best Supporting Actress
Nominated: Best Cinematography
Nominated: Best Original Song
Nominated: Best Adapted Screenplay

The perennial Broadway musical gets a modern jolt and ends up looking like a sleazy Madonna video with a huge budget. Roxie Hart is as unlikeable as ever as the self-absorbed murderess after fame and fortune. Richard Gere is the lawyer who is even more egotistical and unethical to boot. Finally, there is Catherine Zeta-Jones who lives for the limelight, only to lose it to Roxie, but will stoop to anything to get it back. Flashy editing techniques, over-the-top costuming and set design can't hide the fact that every character is corrupt to the core. However, the whole film may be nothing more than the fantasies of Roxie, as implied by the opening zoom-shot into her eyeball.

The Whisperers (1967)

United Artists

Directed by Bryan Forbes
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Nominated: Edith Evans - Best Actress

Depressing story of the elderly in the UK. Edith Evans lives alone in a small apartment in a poverty stricken neighborhood. She hears voices and talks to herself. One day her son visits and hides a bag full of money. She accidentally discovers it and is at first overjoyed. However, when she flashes it to a stranger she is kidnapped, mugged and left for dead. She makes a long recovery in the hospital. Her old husband shows up, and he's a no good bum who spends her money on prostitutes and gambling. It's a well-photographed study of abuse and abandonment.

An American Dream (1966)

Warner Bros.
Directed by Robert Gist
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Nominated: Best Original Song

A Norman Mailer novel is somehow turned into a trashy 60s film noir. The dialogue is over-the-top and simply awful, to the point this becomes a cultish "so bad it's good" candidate. Eleonor Parker is a wealthy, drunk, venomous socialite married to TV talk-show host Stuart Whitman. In the first 30 minutes they do nothing but spit vile comments at each other in an entertaining fashion. When he pushes her over a 30th floor balcony in a fit of rage he tries to cover it up by claiming suicide. The police don't buy it, but can't prove otherwise. He boasts about "spreading her brains" across the street to her father. Eventually he ends up on the same balcony with visions of Hitchcock's Vertigo, complete with Janet Leigh from Psycho. The UK title is "See You in Hell, Darling", which is actually more appropriate.

General Spanky (1936)

MGM
Directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and Gordon Douglas
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Nominated: Best Sound Recording

Core Our Gang members Spanky, Buckwheat and Alfalfa get to play Confederate soldiers in their only feature film. Spanky and Buckwheat fall off a river steamboat and end up at the mansion of a southern gentleman. They have secret meetings in a cave with other kids including Alfalfa and fight the Yankees. The kids are very young here, and struggle with their acting. They are still a few years from their prime.

Ruggles of Red Gap (1935)

Paramount

Directed by Leo McCarey
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Nominated: Best Picture

Fish-out-of-water story of stuffy English manservant Laughton in wild western town. Laughton mostly plays Ruggles like a deer-in-headlights, staring bug-eyed into space whenever confronted with some kind of affront to his gentlemanly British sensibilities. His opposite is played by Charlie Ruggles, a loud-mouthed, checkered-suit-wearing, down-home American millionaire who wins Ruggles in a poker game. Well, ole Ruggles eventually warms up to those crazy Americans, and even shows them up by reciting the Gettysburg Address word-for-word. Enjoyment of the film will completely depend on your tolerance for the antics of Laughton, and mine wore thin pretty fast.

The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929)

MGM

Directed by Charles Reisner
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Nominated: Best Picture (unofficial)

MGM introduces audiences to "talkies" in this all-star revue. Unfortunately, it's poorly shot, atrociously edited and the dance numbers make High School Musical look like Busby Berkeley. Jack Benny is the Master of Ceremonies, and he does an adequate job of moving things along. His jokes are mostly predictable one-liners. However, his bit with Lon Chaney was the only time I laughed. Chaney had a fake arm and Benny was left on stage alone with it screaming like a girl. Somehow I made it to the final dance number, in sickening color.

Barbary Coast (1935)

Samuel Goldwyn

Directed by Howard Hawks
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, MGM)

Nominated: Best Cinematography

Edward G. Robinson must have loved this flamboyant role: he gets to wear an earring, order everybody around and beg for the love of a woman. He's never been more entertaining. And what can you say about Walter Brennan's "Old Atrocity"? There has never been a better character actor, and maybe this is his best role. Hawks and cinematographer Ray June capture some unbelievable shots in the fog-enshrouded harbor to open the film, it's a clinic for black and white photography. My only complaint is Joel McCrae, or more specifically his character, who is a wimpy, poetry-spouting gold prospector. He is supposed to be the opposite of Robinson's hard-nosed Luis Chamalis who is incapable of love, but McCrae's pseudo-romanticism is just as fake. I just could not believe that Miriam Hopkins would fall for him so easily.

Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938)

20th Century Fox

Directed by Henry King
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, 20th Century Fox)

Best Music Score
Nominated: Best Picture
Nominated: Best Original Story
Nominated: Best Original Song
Nominated: Best Film Editing
Nominated: Best Art Direction

A fun film that is practically wall-to-wall music. There are a couple of romances thrown in for good measure, but mainly it's a history of the small ragtime band who started out in the saloons of San Francisco and ended up at Carnegie Hall. Alice Faye is the lovable singer, Tyrone Power is Alexander, Don Ameche is the romantic rival and piano player, even a young and cute Ethel Merman gets some time singing. The Movietone reel provided as a bonus on the DVD shows that this was a blockbuster back in 1938, and it is irresistible entertainment.

Zorba the Greek (1964)

20th Century Fox

Directed by Michael Cacoyannis
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, 20th Century Fox)

Best Cinematography, Black & White
Best Set Decoration, Black & White
Best Supporting Actress - Lila Kedrova
Nominated: Best Picture
Nominated: Best Director
Nominated: Best Actor - Anthony Quinn
Nominated: Best Adapted Screenplay

Anthony Quinn was born for this role, as he is Zorba, full of a passion for life. He ends up working for the mild-mannered, bookish Englishman Alan Bates, who has inherited an old mine on the island of Crete. They spend their free time courting local women, Zorba an old prostitute, and Bates a mysterious widow. The native men all lust after the widow as well, and when she spends a night with Bates tragedy follows. Apparently it's a local custom that is not well explained by the film. In fact, the local Greeks are portrayed mainly as cruel, selfish and downright evil at times, which is strange given this was made by a Greek director in Greece.

Dodsworth (1936)

Samuel Goldwyn

Directed by William Wyler
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, MGM)

Best Art Direction
Nominated: Best Picture
Nominated: Best Director
Nominated: Walter Huston, Best Actor
Nominated: Maria Ouspenskaya, Best Supporting Actress
Nominated: Best Sound Recording
Nominated: Best Screenplay

A middle aged, wealthy couple retire and go to Europe. It doesn't take long before they are bickering with each other. The wife, played by Ruth Chatterton, has brief flings with a dapper Englishman on the boat, a dashing Frenchman and a young Austrian. The husband, played by Walter Huston, has had enough and goes back to America to see his new grandson. He eventually returns to Europe to get a divorce. He starts a new relationship himself with an Italian, but when his wife's relationship falls apart he must decide between the two. A little too much relationship drama for my tastes, but Huston in particular is good and the ending wraps things up quite nicely.

Road to Morocco (1942)

Paramount
Directed by David Butler
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal)

Nominated: Best Sound Recording
Nominated: Best Original Screenplay

Bob and Bing are shipwrecked on an old Paramount set from the Arabian Nights. They zing one liners at each other, sing a little and flirt with Dorothy Lamour. There is a talking, animated camel.

Gladiator (2000)

Dreamworks
Directed by Ridley Scott
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Dreamworks)

Best Picture
Best Actor - Russell Crowe
Best Costume Design
Best Visual Effects
Best Sound
Nominated: Best Director
Nominated: Best Original Screenplay
Nominated: Joaquin Phoenix, Best Supporting Actor
Nominated: Best Cinematography
Nominated: Best Set Decoration
Nominated: Best Editing
Nominated: Best Original Score

One of the best examples of a film that puts style above substance. Ridley Scott's epic tale of a fallen general resurrected as a vengeful gladiator has all the modern trappings: over reliance on CGI, flashy editing and almost too much attention to detail. All of these things distract from the character and story, which literally get lost in the mix. The film also displays an almost monochromatic color palette, reminiscent of old sepia tone techniques from the silent era: scenes are mostly a cool blue or warm brown. I am not a big fan of Russell Crowe, he relies mostly on cliche facial expressions and a mumbling delivery, both on display here. Joaquin Phoenix is better as the emperor, but did he really need a scar on his face to make us see that he is "evil"? Connie Nielsen as his sister spent nearly the entire film crying. Only old timers Richard Harris and Oliver Reed provide any real spark.

My Cousin Rachel (1952)

20th Century Fox
Directed by Henry Koster
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Fox Movie Channel)

Nominated: Richard Burton, Best Supporting Actor
Nominated: Best Cinematography, Black and White
Nominated: Best Set Decoration, Black and White
Nominated: Best Costume Design, Black and White

Gothic romance starts out strong but ultimately is nothing more than a melodrama. Richard Burton falls head-over-heels in love with his best friend/father figure's widow Olivia de Havilland. He inexplicably gives her his entire fortune, even when it is obvious she is only after his money. After that decision, he gets whatever he deserves. Hitchcock handled a similar Du Maurier novel much better with Rebecca.

Captain Fury (1939)

United Artists
Directed by Hal Roach
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Nominated: Best Art Direction

Standard programmer that takes a western plot and places it in Australia. George Zucco and John Carradine are among a cast of B regulars working with a poor script and a low budget. Brian Aherne is "Captain Fury", an Irish revolutionary sentenced to the Australian penal colony. He escapes and is soon leading another revolution for the local farmers. A long subplot involves a love affair with local girl June Lang.

Pacific Liner (1939)

RKO Radio Pictures

Directed by Lew Landers
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Nominated: Best Original Score

Cholera breaks out below decks of a mid sized ship crossing the Pacific from Shanghai. The "firemen", who feed coal to continuously burning boilers, fall ill one by one, leading to a power struggle among the men. The ship's doctor, played by Chester Morris, tries to save the sick ones and keep the fires going. The ship's nurse, Wendy Barrie, is a distraction to everyone.

Five Star Final (1931)

First National Pictures

Directed by Mervyn LeRoy
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Nominated: Best Picture

Scathing indictment of tabloid journalism starring Edward G. Robinson as the editor who runs a story that has unintended tragic results. Boris Karloff is a reporter who poses as Reverend Isopod to get the scoop. Marian Marsh gets the best scene when she shows up at the newspaper office with a gun and gives them a piece of her mind.

Imitation of Life (1934)

Universal

Directed by John M. Stahl
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal)

Nominated: Best Picture
Nominated: Best Assistant Director
Nominated: Best Sound

The history of Aunt Delilah (Jemimah) pancakes serves as the backdrop for an examination of racism in the 1930s. Claudette Colbert and her eyebrows (or lack thereof) stumble upon the secret formula for the famous pancakes when she hires a black woman as her housekeeper. She opens a grill on the Atlantic City boardwalk, then a customer suggests she "box it" and soon she is selling boxes of mix by the millions. Meanwhile, Aunt Delilah has a light-skinned daughter who can pass for white most of the time. Problems arise when Delilah shows up at school or work, and people realize she is black. However, the film seems to want to spend more time on the pancakes than the far more important issues raised by Delilah and her daughter.

The Racket (1928)

Paramount

Directed by Lewis Milestone
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Nominated: Best Picture

Pedestrian story of cops and gangsters failed to hold my attention. The gangsters are gun-toting, pin-striped caricatures, in fact I was wondering if this was supposed to be a comedy. The police are mostly bumbling, corrupt fools, with the exception of Police Captain McQuigg, who is sent to the country after trying to arrest one of the more influential gangsters. Marie Prevost does add some spice as the blonde, flirtatious bombshell.

Broadway Danny Rose (1984)

Orion

Directed by Woody Allen
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, MGM)

Nominated: Best Director
Nominated: Best Original Screenplay

Woody Allen is an energetic but mostly ineffective agent for a variety of New York lounge acts, including a blind xylophonist, a one-legged tap dancer, a pair of elderly balloon folders, and Lou Canova, aging crooner in the Sinatra style. Lou's big chance comes when Woody runs into Milton Berle and convinces him to catch his act. Only problem is Lou can't perform unless his girlfriend is there, and they have a falling out on the same day. Woody follows her to a party where he is mistaken for her new boyfriend. Soon, Woody has a couple of mob hit men after him and is falling in love with the girl. Not to be didactic or facetious, the helium gag doesn't work, but otherwise Woody is firing on all cylinders.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)

20th Century Fox

Directed by Ronald Neame
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, 20th Century Fox)

Best Actress - Maggie Smith
Nominated: Best Original Song

Interesting character study of a middle aged school teacher and her influence on impressionable young students at an all-girls school in Scotland. Maggie Smith is Jean Brodie, world-traveller, historian, poet, and lover, who lusts after the art teacher by night and music teacher on weekends. Meanwhile she teaches her students to be true to themselves and live passionately. Pamela Franklin takes the advice to heart and begins an affair with the art teacher herself. Student and teacher are soon on a collision course not of the heart, but of ideologies.

The Snake Pit (1948)

20th Century Fox

Directed by Anatole Litvak
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, 20th Century Fox)

Best Sound
Nominated: Best Picture
Nominated: Best Actress - Olivia de Havilland
Nominated: Best Director
Nominated: Best Music Score
Nominated: Best Screenplay

Poor Olivia de Havilland gets married and proceeds to have a nervous breakdown. She goes to the state mental hospital and meets nice Dr. Kik. She can't remember a thing so gets shock treatment and then is hypnotized. Eventually she remembers that her father died, then a fiance, and she felt guilty about both. Meanwhile she is moved from ward to ward, where a lower number, say ward one, is for those about ready to be released while higher numbers, like ward 33, are for the real loonies. Well, she goes from one to 33, where people are dancing with themselves, crouched in the corners, etc. This is where she has the "snake pit" fantasy of being in a deep hole with the other animals. A shocker in its day, the impact is much less now.

A Beautiful Mind (2001)

Universal/DreamWorks

Directed by Ron Howard
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal)

Best Picture
Best Director
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Connelly
Nominated: Best Actor - Russell Crowe
Nominated: Best Editing
Nominated: Best Makeup
Nominated: Best Music

This is essentially a variation of the gimmick used in The Sixth Sense. I felt stupid, and worse used, for falling for it again. The movie ceased to be interesting from the time the gimmick is revealed. Russell Crowe mumbles his way through the dialogue, to the point I thought subtitles would have helped. He's like a schizophrenic Forrest Gump. The relationship between Crowe and Connelly is overemphasized and overly-romantic. It's all typical for a Ron Howard movie, based on fact but ironically impossible to believe.

Only When I Laugh (1981)

Columbia

Directed by Glenn Jordan
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Nominated: Marsha Mason, Best Actress
Nominated: James Coco, Best Supporting Actor
Nominated: Joan Hackett, Best Supporting Actress

Recovering alcoholic Marsha Mason comes out of rehab when her teenage daughter decides to live with her. Kristy McNichol gives another fine performance as the daughter, who has her life together compared to Mason. There is also a trio of friends, Joan Hackett is the aging glamour girl and James Coco basically plays himself as a struggling gay actor on Broadway. The ensemble cast is fun to watch, even if Simon's screenplay becomes a bit predictable.

Juarez (1939)

Warner Bros.

Directed by William Dieterle
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Nominated: Best Supporting Actor - Brian Aherne
Nominated: Best Cinematography, Black & White

Napoleon appoints an emperor for Mexico which is met by a revolution lead by Juarez. A very boring political drama, with Muni in particular playing Juarez as stiff as the portrait of Lincoln he idolizes. Bette Davis has the most interesting scenes as the emperor's wife, but her nervous breakdown towards the end is overly dramatic. A couple of beautifully lit scenes can't make up for the overall length and tediousness.

Shakespeare in Love (1998)

Miramax

Directed by John Madden
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Miramax)

Best Picture
Best Original Screenplay
Best Actress: Gwyneth Paltrow
Best Supporting Actress: Judi Dench
Best Art Direction - Set Decoration
Best Costume Design
Best Music
Nominated: Best Director
Nominated: Best Cinematography
Nominated: Best Supporting Actor - Geoffrey Rush
Nominated: Best Film Editing
Nominated: Best Makeup
Nominated: Best Sound

Superb period detail and a clever screenplay make this Shakespeare a joy to watch. Ole Will is experiencing writer's block, until he sets eyes on Viola. She inspires him not only to climb balconies for secret seductions, but to write his most famous play, Romeo and Ethyl the Pirate's Daughter. The screenplay, co-written by Tom Stoppard, effortlessly intertwines their relationship with that of the more famous couple in the play, relentlessly moving forward until we get to the debut performance: where not only are they Romeo and Juliet in character but in person as well. I did not like the doe-eyed, perfectly groomed stubble, rushed performance of Joseph Fiennes as Shakespeare, he seemed more like eye-candy for the modern audience, and for that matter so did Gwyneth Paltrow, though at least her Viola was a bit more subdued.

Lilies of the Field (1963)

United Artists

Directed by Ralph Nelson
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, MGM)

Best Actor - Sidney Poitier
Nominated: Best Picture
Nominated: Best Supporting Actress - Lilia Skala
Nominated: Best Cinematography, Black & White
Nominated: Best Adapted Screenplay

Sidney Poitier is driving through the desert when his radiator overheats. He finds water at a nearby house run by nuns. They con him into staying and fixing their roof. This leads to more work, and before you know it he is building them a chapel. A "feel good" movie with barely a hint of conflict.

Arrowsmith (1931)

Samuel Goldwyn

Directed by John Ford
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, MGM)

Nominated: Best Picture
Nominated: Best Cinematography
Nominated: Best Writing, Adaptation
Nominated: Best Art Direction

A dapper Ronald Colman wants to be a research scientist, but after marrying Helen Hayes is forced to be a country doctor. He manages to perform research anyway on some local cattle, and this leads them to return to the big city. They are eventually sent to a Caribbean island where the plague has broken out, with tragic results. Colman is just too stiff for this role, and his relationship with Hayes seems forced. There is a lot of talk about "science", and an ethical dilemma plays heavily in the plot. I'm not so sure their concept of a "control group" is correct, and if this is the case the entire ending falls apart. Nonetheless, some moody photography in fog amongst the dying natives on the island is a highlight.

Dead End (1937)

Samuel Goldwyn Company

Directed by William Wyler
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, MGM)

Nominated: Best Picture
Nominated: Best Cinematography
Nominated: Claire Trevor, Best Supporting Actress
Nominated: Best Art Direction

Juxtaposition of slum tenements and a rich townhouse provides the backdrop for this depression era tale set on the banks of the East River in NYC. It basically takes place on one large, elaborate set, much like a play, where the local slum kids take dips in the river, fight amongst themselves, and make fun of the wealthy socialites who come and go in the townhouse. It's the first appearance on film of the "Dead End Kids", later to expand into the Bowery Boys, and make more than 20 films in the next couple of decades. They worship Bogie, a local boy made good by becoming a famous gangster. The dialogue of the kids is priceless, and one can see why they became so popular. Joel McCrea and Sylvia Sidney are the struggling role models trying to escape their poverty.

George Washington Slept Here (1942)

Warner Bros.
Directed by William Keighley
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Nominated: Best Art Direction, Interior Decoration, Black & White

Jack Benny is a fish-out-of-water as the New Yorker forced to live in a dilapidated house in the country. Ann Sheridan is his wife. It's not bad as far as Benny vehicles are concerned, as he fumbles around the house falling through floors, down the deep water well, down the stairs, etc. Percy Kilbride has already got the Pa Kettle shtick down pat.

The English Patient (1996)

Miramax

Directed by Anthony Minghella
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Miramax)

Best Picture
Best Director
Best Cinematography
Best Supporting Actress: Juliette Binoche
Best Film Editing
Best Art Direction - Set Decoration
Best Costume Design
Best Sound
Best Original Score
Nominated: Ralph Fiennes, Best Actor
Nominated: Kristin Scott Thomas, Best Actress
Nominated: Best Adapted Screenplay

Exquisitely filmed adaptation of the Michael Ondaatje novel. It's basically the story of a love affair between a map maker and his friends' wife in north Africa in the early days of WWII, told from his death bed in Italy. It took some time to warm up to the framing device in Italy, in fact I'm still not convinced it really added much to the story. Juliette Binoche, his nurse, and her brief fling with an Indian bomb diffuser was more of a distraction than anything else. The other problem was Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas, whose characters were rather selfish and cold. It was hard to sympathize with the adulterous relationship that was the heart of the movie. Nonetheless, some very moving scenes, in particular the last 15 minutes or so in the "cave of swimmers".

Braveheart (1995)

Paramount

Directed by Mel Gibson
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Paramount)

Best Picture
Best Director
Best Cinematography
Best Sound Effects
Best Makeup
Nominated: Best Costume Design
Nominated: Best Film Editing
Nominated: Best Original Score
Nominated: Best Sound
Nominated: Best Original Screenplay

Mel Gibson's epic tale of the Scottish rebellion lead by William Wallace features some of the last great battle scenes filmed with real people rather than computer generated ones. There is never any doubt who is fighting who or why, a rather obvious fact overlooked in lesser films. Gibson manages to balance his bloody mayhem with surprising battlefield humor, but it's not just comic relief, those bare arses had a reason for being shown. There are the inevitable romances, a lost love and another one that tries but fails to take its place. Gibson does have a bad habit of using slow motion for dramatic effect. Finally, I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of Gibson in a kilt and pigtails.

In the Heat of the Night (1967)

United Artists

Directed by Norman Jewison
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, MGM)

Best Picture
Best Actor: Rod Steiger
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Editing
Best Sound
Nominated: Best Director
Nominated: Best Sound Effects

Sidney Poitier, at home visiting his mother in a small Mississippi town, finds himself hauled in for murder while sitting at the train station. Police Chief Rod Steiger, in one of his best performances, soon finds out that not only is Poitier innocent, but he is a crackerjack homicide detective. Poitier proceeds to show the good ole boys how to solve a murder case. It's CSI for the 1960s, with a tense racism backdrop. However, the white citizens are too often shallow redneck stereotypes. The resolution of the murder case, in particular the motivation, was also weak. It does have atmosphere to burn and Poitier is fantastic.

Viva Villa! (1934)

MGM

Directed by Jack Conway
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Best Assistant Director
Nominated: Best Picture
Nominated: Best Adapted Screenplay
Nominated: Best Sound Recording

Wallace Beery is the whole show, as the lowly peasant turned revolutionary in old Mexico. He plays villa as a slovenly, womanizing character, hard to love but impossible to resist. However, the film lacks a narrative focus. We see battle after battle, and after awhile it becomes numbing. I don't remember who fought who or why. Epic war films can easily fall into this trap, with the Lord of the Rings trilogy coming to mind. The supporting cast is lost. Fay Wray is some kind of aristocrat killed early. There are some gripping battle scenes, but just as much if not more poorly done back projection in the studio.

The Last Emperor (1987)

Columbia
Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci

My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Criterion Collection)

Best Picture
Best Director
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Costume Design
Best Film Editing
Best Music Score
Best Sound
Best Art Direction - Set Decoration

Three year old Pu Yi is taken from his mother and installed as emperor of China. He grows up in opulence with his every wish granted. These early years are spectacularly filmed in the Forbidden City. As a young adult, he becomes rebellious of his surroundings and seeks change. However, another rebellion outside the gates forces him to seek asylum in Japan. The rest of the film is a rather tedious lesson in the political history of China and Japan, with Pu Yi regaining his crown but at the expense of his own self-respect. In the last scene he is reincarnated as a cricket.

Saratoga Trunk (1945)

Warner Bros.

Directed by Sam Wood
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Nominated: Flora Robson, Best Supporting Actress

This is the one where Gary Cooper shows up at a masquerade ball carrying a dead dwarf. Ingrid Bergman, who is Swedish in real life, plays a French woman in America. Her accent is hopelessly wrong. She has a creole maid in heavy makeup and the aforementioned dwarf is her footman. Gary Cooper is a stoic, awe shucks mam, cowboy who falls for her dainty French aristocratic ways. The film does have one of the best recreations of early New Orleans atmosphere that I can recall seeing in a Hollywood production. However, half of the film takes place in upstate New York, where the most interesting thing that happens is a spectacular head-on collision between two model trains.

Rebecca (1940)

Selznick International Pictures

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, MGM/20th Century Fox)

Best Picture
Best Cinematography, Black & White
Nominated: Laurence Olivier, Best Actor
Nominated: Joan Fontaine, Best Actress
Nominated: Judith Anderson, Best Supporting Actress
Nominated: Alfred Hitchcock, Best Director
Nominated: Best Art Direction, Black & White
Nominated: Best Special Effects
Nominated: Best Editing
Nominated: Best Music, Original Score
Nominated: Best Screenplay

Hitchcock's first American film is a lushly photographed story of a young girl falling in love with a wealthy, older man, only to find herself struggling to emerge from the shadows of his former wife. They meet in Paris, and after a whirlwind romance get married and move back to England. They move into Manderley, a huge English mansion on the sea. The building becomes another character in the story, alive and breathing, echoing the memories of another unseen character, the dead wife whose initials are on everything, like fingerprints. Poor old Joan Fontaine is overwhelmed by it all, but especially by a psychotic maid played to perfection by Judith Anderson. The two have a battle of wills more formidable than a heavyweight boxing match. We slowly learn of the past, of the first wife, how she lived, her friends, how she died. The final stretch devolves into a mystery film, with a trial, some detective work, and a rather melodramatic ending.

Moonrise (1948)

Republic Pictures

Directed by Frank Borzage
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Nominated: Best Sound

A tense film noir about an accidental killing, a cover up, guilt and redemption. The movie opens with a stunning montage, one of the best examples of visual storytelling I can remember. We learn in just a few minutes the entire background of Danny, how his childhood traumas become his adult demons. Dane Clark gives a good, subtle performance as Danny, his growing guilt and paranoia conveyed in facial expressions and actions. Borzage's mise-en-scene is moody if a tad heavy handed: the ferris wheel, the old man in the swamp, the coon up the tree, etc. The symbolism is simply too obvious at times, but I guess this is Hollywood not Fellini.

The Affairs of Cellini (1934)

20th Century Fox

Directed by Gregory La Cava
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Fox Movie Channel)

Nominated: Frank Morgan, Best Actor
Nominated: Best Art Direction
Nominated: Best Cinematography
Nominated: Best Sound

Poorly acted costumer set in 16th century Italy. Frank Morgan is the Duke, foreshadowing his role as the Wizard of Oz a few years later, who tortures those who get in the way of his love affairs. His main interest is beautiful brunette Fay Wray. However, she is also being wooed by the dashing sculptor Cellini, played by Fredric March, who is being pursued by the Duchess, among others. It's all a bunch of silliness. There is a memorably staged "Dance of Death" towards the end.

Casablanca (1942)

Warner Bros.

Directed by Michael Curtiz
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros)

Best Picture
Best Director
Best Screenplay
Nominated: Humphrey Bogart, Best Actor
Nominated: Claude Raines, Best Supporting Actor
Nominated: Best Cinematography, Black & White
Nominated: Best Editing
Nominated: Best Score

The quintessential "classic film" and popular favorite is certainly not the best movie ever made, but it is a fast moving romance/drama with a serious war undertone. Most of the action takes place at Rick's Cafe Americain, where would-be refugees to America bide their time gambling, listening to Sam play jazz at the piano and making deals for visas. German officers come and go, and a memorable scene features a patriotic singing duel. The film is really concerned with the romance between leads Bogie and Bergman, whose doomed relationship has caused many a classic film fan to break out the hanky. Bogie says "here's looking at you, kid" a few too many times (I counted 3), and he never says "play it again, Sam" despite movie lore. It all unwinds in the inevitable farewell scene at the airport shrouded in artistic fog.

Alibi (1929)

United Artists

Directed by: Roland West
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Nominated: Best Picture (unofficial)
Nominated: Chester Morris, Best Actor in a Leading Role (unofficial)
Nominated: William Cameron Menzies, Best Art Direction (unofficial)

Chester Morris is released from prison and joins up with the old gang at the local nightclub. One night he shoots a policeman. His girl just happens to be the sister of a copper who is working on the case. Regis Toomey steals the show as the drunken undercover copper, but Morris does get in some scary, sneering close-ups. The opening scenes display an awareness of German expressionism in their use of lighting and montage techniques, but they are seldom used after the first few minutes.

The Goddess (1958)

Columbia Pictures
Directed by John Cromwell
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Nominated: Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen

Overwrought drama follows young girl from childhood in rural Tennessee to superstardom in Hollywood, loosely based on the life of Marilyn Monroe. Newcomer Kim Stanley takes on too much in her debut role: a poor southern accent, drunken tirades, nervous breakdowns, screaming matches with men, etc. The usually reliable Paddy Chayefsky stoops to a poor imitation of Tennessee Williams, and misses an opportunity to skewer Hollywood morals.