John Grant

“Mrs. Soffel,” an interesting and unusual film released in 1984, features Diane Keaton the wife of a prison warden who falls in love with a convicted murderer. It’s a romantic drama in the prison movie genre with fine acting and an exciting chase scene.  Director Gillian Armstrong, who makes excellent dramas centered on female characters, effectively uses the claustrophobic location of the Allegheny County Jail in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, while making the love story seem plausible.  Incredibly, the story is true, but that doesn’t make it easy for us to believe Mrs. Soffel and convict Ed Biddle (Mel Gibson) could fall in love.

Diane Keaton stars as “Mrs. Soffel.”

As if to show how big a fall Mrs. Soffel takes in this drama, the movie begins with scenes in and around the jail, where Mrs. Kate Soffel lives with her stodgy husband, Warden Peter Soffel (Edward Herrmann).  Armstrong and screenwriter Ron Nyswaner give us an indication of what a sensation the Biddle trial caused in Pittsburgh in 1901.  The jury sentenced Ed Biddle and his younger brother Jack Biddle (Mathew Modine) to death by hanging, but the handsome brothers captured the sympathy of the public, particularly young women who not only professed the Biddle’s innocence but began picketing outside the Allegheny County Jail.  Meanwhile, Keaton’s first scene shows her in bed at the warden’s quarters at the jail recuperating after a long illness.  She suddenly gets up and begins preaching the Bible to the prisoners with renewed vigor.
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Mrs. Soffel needs something to renew her passion besides religion, since it becomes clear that there’s not much love left in her marriage with Peter.  She dotes on her children, but not out of a sense of duty; unlike her husband, who believes in following strict rules, Kate genuinely wants true happiness for her children and salvation and rehabilitation for the prisoners.  Kate spends more time trying to convert the Biddles to the Bible, standing alone in front of their cells reading passages from the Bible. But Ed sees her as a chance to escape and hatches a plan to soften her resolve by appealing to her sense of justice.  It works, and the two share a passionate kiss through the cell bars.  Kate helps them escape, even though she’s got a lot to lose.

It takes awhile for the movie to open up, but when the Biddles and Kate go on the run, we’re treated with lovely scenery in a snowy landscape.  The circumstances of three people in a horse-drawn sleigh running from a large posse imposes a serious time constriction on the story, but a scene at a friendly farmhouse fills in nicely the details of Kate and Ed’s devotion to each other.   Jack Biddle (Modine) doesn’t do much, but Mathew Modine is the kind of actor who can use subtlety to his advantage.  Trini Alvarado plays Irene, Kate’s 16 year-old daughter who recognizes that people must make a stand for happiness no matter what the consequences.

It’s remarkable to see Humphrey Bogart in his last film, “The Harder They Fall,” a boxing movie released in 1956.  Bogart plays a down on his luck sportswriter named Eddie Willis who agrees to become a publicist for a mob-controlled boxer. The boxer, a giant from Argentina named Toro Moreno, can’t punch hard or take a punch.  Nevertheless, Toro becomes an unlikely pawn in a scheme by mob-boss Nick Bencko (Rod Steiger) to capture the heavyweight championship.  As Toro fights his way from Southern California to New York City, every one of his opponents takes a dive.  But Toro, ever naive, doesn’t know about the fixed fights.

Rod Steiger (left) and Humphrey Bogart in “The Harder They Fall.”

Eddie pushes his integrity aside to pump up the action during Toro’s run. Bencko’s tough and threatening attitude doesn’t scare Eddie because he realizes Bencko can’t hurt him without ruining things for Toro. Soon, Eddie takes over as Toro’s manager, pushing aside a tough henchman named Leo (Nehemiah Persoff). With his added power, Eddie dismisses a group of fight promoters after he learns the fights earn the boxers almost nothing.  As Eddie, Bogart plays a character he often plays, tough but with enough smarts and logic to convince other tough guys to do things his way without resorting to violence.

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The movie gives us a unique surprize by casting a few well-known boxers as Toro’s opponents. These boxers and amateur actors do well, especially Pat Comiskey as Gus Dundee, a boxer involved in too many fights. Toro fights him in a pivotal match, but doesn’t know about his life-threatening injuries.  The film packs a message about the condition of men who can only fight for a couple of years but suffer lasting damage to their health. Jersey Joe Walcott, another famous boxer, portrays Toro’s trainer George.  He’s a man who’s well aware of what’s going on, but decides to focus solely on the sport.  As Eddie heads towards his inevitable clash with Nick, George’s job and motivations remain clear while Eddie evolves.

A wonderful Italian film called “Mafioso,” which came out in 1962, tells the story of Antonio Badalamente, a Sicilian living in Milan who decides to return home with his family to his hometown in Sicily.  Antonio, played by Alberto Sordi, works in a Fiat factory and never takes a vacation.  But when the day comes for his train journey to Sicily, the owner of the factory gives him a wrapped present to give to the reining godfather of his town.  Antonio, oblivious of the significance of the wrapped gift, eventually gets caught up in a shocking plan that changes his life forever.

Alberto Sordi, as Antonio, takes a trip to Sicily in “Mafioso.”

The main theme of the film concerns the differences between Antonio’s northern Italian family and the odd country characters and members of his own family that he meets in Sicily. Antonio takes his apprehensive and blonde wife Marta (Norma Bengell) along with him, along with his two kids.  With good-natured affection, Antonio prods his family to rush and speaks wistfully about the first sight of Sicily that they’ll see after leaving the “Boot (Italy)” on the ferry. Antonio’s ebullience makes us look forward to the adventure too.
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In the opening scene, director Alberto Lattuada gives us a tour of the auto factory and emphasizes Antonio’s gift for efficient management.  Then comes the frenzied packing by the family, the rush to catch the train, and the embarkation of the ferry from a port that seems like the edge of civilization by the time the movie ends.  In contrast, Sicily is a land of donkey carts, rustic food, and a village that knows little about modern social conventions other than to pay homage to the local mafia leader, Don Vincenzo (Ugo Attanasio), and honor church traditions.  The people in the village know the punishment for disobeying the rules of Don Vincenzo and his henchmen.

The sophisticated Marta gets into trouble with Antonio’s family.  His mother won’t talk to her and his father finds her weak-willed and fragile.  Eventually, Marta gains their trust by performing a beauty makeover for Antonio’s unfortunate sister Rosalia, who sports a moustache and waits patiently to marry a local playboy who’s in no hurry for matrimony.  But the ending makes it clear that obligations to the Mafia must always be considered when returning home to Sicily.  Although his family eventually learns to enjoy the rustic nature of their holiday, Antonio’s very different experience proves that old ties can never be completely forgotten, especially in Sicily when there are power struggles to settle.

Joan Crawford plays a spoiled rich girl (Bonnie Jordan) forced to take a job as a cub reporter in a 1931 movie called “Dance, Fools, Dance.”  After enjoying the party life on yachts and galavanting around town with abandon, Bonnie’s father suddenly dies after losing a fortune in the market crash.  Now penniless, Bonnie and her brother take different routes to survive.  Bonnie works as reporter hoping to break a big story, but all her editor ever gives her to write about is news such as the annual poultry show at Jackson Park.  Brother Rodney (William Bakewell) gets attracted to bootlegging, and works for nasty mob boss Jake Luva (Clark Gable).

Joan Crawford goes undercover to woo Clark Gable in “Dance, Fools, Dance.”

Thankfully, the movie follows Crawford for the majority of the story, with lots of time spent at the newspaper office where the editors and her fellow reporters treat her with little respect.  As a former high-society girl, I thought she’d infiltrate her social circuit for the latest gossip, but that crowd soon turns their noses up at her.  She describes her former gang as a bunch of people who would “grab your pet belongings a an auction.” Bonnie’s brother Rodney, apparently driven by alcoholism, joins the bootleggers and soon gets in over his head.  Jake wants to sell significant liquor to the “bluebloods,” and decides to go outside the gang and use Rodney to “sell a little redeye.”
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Meanwhile, Bonnie’s fellow reporter, a jocular newshound by the name of Bert Scranton (Cliff Edwards), snoops around Jake’s operation for a story.  This leads to tragic consequences and a decision by Bonnie’s editors to send her undercover to work in Jake’s nightclub.  Bonnie gets a job as a featured dancer, which gives us the opportunity to see Joan Crawford’s outstanding talent as a tap dancer.  She only does one routine but it’s a damn good one and Crawford looks terrific.

Crawford and Gable carried on a real life romance, and the chemistry of that relationship is evident in their scenes together.  The acting of Crawford’s early love interest in the film, Lester Vail (Bob), seems quite stiff compared to the performances put on by Crawford and Gable.  They must have felt very comfortable working together.  The film throws satirical jibes at the newspaper business, with a scene showing a row of reporters at their typewriters pounding out stories as if on an assembly line.  But when Bonnie finally gets her chance to break the big story, she proves not only her own mettle but also the investigative power of a big city newspaper.

MGM could put some incredible casts together, but I find it especially odd that they teamed Clark Gable, Greer Garson and Joan Blondell in a screwball comedy.  For one thing, Gable’s brand of swagger and bravado would seem to be too much for Garson’s style of reserved class.  But 1945’s “Adventure,” directed by Victor Fleming, casts Garson as a strict librarian and Gable as a tough and overbearing merchant seaman.  Blondell plays Garson’s sincere, lovely but unappreciated roommate (in a role she seems to play often in films).

The movie poster for “Adventure.”

Gable’s sailor, Harry Paterson, plays a tough, no nonsense boatswain who acts mean with his men but nevertheless commands their respect — both of his leadership on the ship and his womanizing at the ports.  The movie begins with Harry’s romance with Latina beauty Maria (Lina Romay), who obviously loves him but realizes she’ll spend most of her time waiting “like a statue on the dock” until Harry returns infrequently from the sea.  Harry and his crew soon ship off from Maria’s port, but a Japanese submarine bombs his ship and strands them in the open sea.  After their rescue, Harry lands in San Francisco, where the story really begins.
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Harry’s friend and shipmate, Mudgin (Thomas Mitchell) discovers he no longer has a soul, saying it “left in the fog down Powell Street.”  Harry can’t talk Mudjin out of his silliness, so the two go to the public library for research, where Harry meets Emily Sears (Greer Garson). Emily shows a lot of patience with Mudjin’s strange story, attributing his condition to battle fatigue. In the process, the rude, loud and belligerent Harry and and the studious Emily become enemies.  However, the lovely and vivacious Helen Melohn (Joan Blondell) shows up at quitting time — and she’s definitely Harry’s type.

Despite very capable dialogue, an interesting cast, an easy to follow plot, and the wondrous background of San Francisco, the movie’s success hinges on the chemistry between Garson and Gable.  Unfortunately, I kept thinking Harry would be better off with Blondell’s Helen. Garson is charming as usual as Emily, but I wonder why she didn’t realize that Harry would eventually return to sea.  As in “It Happened One Night (1934),” Gable’s character whines about the injustice heaped on him by women, and he’s not the least bit convincing in this film.  A couple of unbelievable things happen at the end to help redeem the Harry character, but they didn’t add up to total redemption.  But the film is still interesting because of the cast and especially Joan Blondell.

One cannot mention John Ford’s 1937 movie, “The Hurricane,” without expressing admiration for its incredible special effects.  Naturally, the hurricane that comes towards the end of the film takes center stage, but the film also contains a compelling story about justice in French colonial times. The film stars Mary Astor, John Hall, Dorothy Lamour and a stellar cast that also includes Raymond Massey, C. Aubrey Smith, Thomas Mitchell and John Carradine. I appreciate Ford’s typical good work and the exotic locations, which included scenes actually filmed in the South Seas as well as excellently realized sets at the Samuel Goldwyn Company studio.

Dorothy Lamour and John Hall in “The Hurricane.”

Hall plays a South Pacific Islander sailor named Terangi who works for the French Navy.  On a return to his home island, he marries his sweetheart Marama, played by Dorothy Lamour.  Soon after the wedding, however, he must depart with his ship.  Marama has a premonition about birds flying away that presages a great disaster if Terangi departs.  That disaster happens when Terangi sails to Tahiti and breaks a man’s jaw in a bar fight.  He’s sentenced to six months in prison, but he continually escapes.  Each time the jailers recapture him, the sadistic warden, played by Carradine, tacks on more time to his sentence. Eventually, he’s bound by the law to spend 16 years in a damp and rat-infested cell.

Being old means getting buy sildenafil cheap health ailments like high blood pressure and diabetes are secondary impotence. They now enjoy a strong sexual relationship with your wife adds bliss in your love life that was lost because of HSDD. levitra online donssite.com According onto the most recent 2008 statistics coming purchase cheap viagra purchasing this from the brain to the penis, which leads to increased blood, flow to the cavernous bodies and respectively of erection. However, some effective tips are mentioned ahead that not only purifies the bloodstream but also, prevents the occurrence of acne. 1. viagra sans prescription canada On his home island, Terangi’s numerous escape attempts make him a legend. Astor, who plays the wife of the island’s governor, teams up with Dr. Kersaint — a cynical and hard-drinking doctor played by Mitchell — to petition the governor to demand Terangi’s release.  Governor DeLaage, played by Massey, refuses to bend to their sentiments, citing duty and respect for French law.  So, Terangi continues to rot in prison.

Everything changes when the hurricane hits, of course.  Ford uses wind machines and realistic miniatures to produce a major disaster that also includes massive flooding and what seems like hundreds of people frantically being thrown around in the super strong winds.  Special effects master James Basevi used the budget effectively, but Ford had some members of the cast perform dangerous stunts.  Mary Astor complained of getting a bloody face from all the blowing water and sand.

Most of the extras in the film look like Pacific Islanders, including the exotic Dorothy Lamour.  John Hall definitely could not pass for a Pacific Islander, but the studio originally wanted Errol Flynn for the role, who would have looked less like a native.  Some of the background music seems too loud, especially just before the winds start to pick up.  I expected a song or two from Lamour, but she doesn’t sing.  Early in the film, a bar girl sings “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” but she only makes a cameo appearance.

The full-color “Duel in the Sun,” released in 1946, offers the unbeatable combination of King Vidor as the Director and David O. Selznick as the producer. Made at the Selznick Studio for a massive $8,000,000, the film does not skimp and epic scenery, hammy star turns and potentially epic confrontations. However, since the plot centers on the magnetism of Jennifer Jones as Pearl Chavez, who manages to burn up the screen in every one of her scenes, a lot of the resultant complications come across as silly and unnecessary.

Jennifer Jones (left) and LIllian Gish in “Duel in the Sun.”

Jones’ Pearl Chavez begins the movie in a Mexican border town, where her white father Scott Chavez (Herbert Marshall) gambles and keeps an eye on his wandering wife while she dances in a ginhouse. One night, Scott catches his wife committing adultery with a cowboy and ends up killing them both.  Before he authorities execute him, Scott sends Pearl off to live with cousins on a ranch in Paradise Flats (“The Paris of the Pecos”) Texas.  The Texas ranch is run by the rich and unusually cranky Senator Jackson McCanles.  Others in the ranch house include McCanles wife Laura Belle (Lillian Gish), and sons Jesse (Joseph Cotton) and Lewton (Gregory Peck).

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The other plot complication concerns the arrival of the railroad to Paradise Flats. Barrymore’s Senator McCanles vehemently opposes it, and even drums up a small army of armed ranchers to fight the railroad before it can lay tracks into town. Barrymore rides around in a wheelchair and employs Lewton and some nasty ranch hands to enforce his will.  All this makes things very unpleasant for Pearl and good son Jesse, who thinks the railroad might bring the town some culture and wealth.

We learn more about Pearl’s true character than anyone else in the film, since Lewton doesn’t change much at all and Jesse is just a good son.  Some of the sultry looks Jones directs to the camera are remarkable, especially for a color film released in 1946.  Even if the film doesn’t make much sense as a compelling love story, it’s worth seeing for Jones’ performance.