Dead Reckoning

Humphrey Bogart puts his faith in yet another dame, only to face betrayal and violence in “Dead Reckoning,” a 1947 film directed by John Cromwell.  Bogart plays Captain Rip Murdock, who travels to Gulf City to find his paratrooper buddy dead and accused of killing Coral Chandler’s husband.  Chandler, played by Lizabeth Scott, formerly worked as a nightclub singer at the casino of the town gangster, played by Morris Carnovsky.  She may have also worked as a prostitute in Detroit.

A proper dose is to be consumed with water only, preferably 30 levitra price minutes before engaging in sexual activity to get the hard and bigger. It cheap cialis can help impotence guys get hard erections which hampers his sexual performance. Now, http://frankkrauseautomotive.com/cars-for-sale/2006-toyota-rav-4-limited/ order viagra usa your mind might be clicked with how sleep could have impact on erections. It is just the tip of the iceberg. viagra ordination loved this As a typical film noir, Dead Reckoning includes a psychotic henchman, played by Marvin Miller, and cops who stay one step behind the anti-hero Murdock.  Bogart’s Murdock gets beaten up and drugged a few times, but hangs around long enough to eventually figure things out.  Lizabeth Scott closely resembles Laurin Bacall, and that helps us understand Bogart’s fascination for her.  But she seems bad from the beginning, and I wondered how Bogart’s Murdock character kept giving her the benefit of the doubt.

In films that require Bogart to solve a murder, we can’t expect a happy ending.  In the ending for this film, a bad thing happens to Coral Chandler, but Lizabeth Scott plays the scene very calmly.  The dialogue wraps up nicely, with a visual that alludes to Murdock’s paratrooper duties, but the scene plays with very little emotion.  Murdock displays no feeling at the end.

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San Francisco Silent Film Festival

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival announces the roster of films for their 17th annual festival, set for the Castro Theater in San Francisco from Thursday, July 12 to Sunday, July 15, 2012 —

  • Thursday, July 12 — 7 PM — Wings (1927)

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  • Friday, July 13 — 10:30 AM — Amazing Tales From the Archives; 1 PM — Little Toys (1933); 4 PM — The Loves of Pharaoh (1922); 7 PM — Mantrap (1926); 9:15 PM — The Wonderful Lie of Nina Petrovna (1929)
  •  Saturday, July 14 — 10 AM — Felix the Cat Silent Cartoons (1925-1929); 12 noon — The Spanish Dancer (1923); 2:30 PM — The Canadian (1926); 5:00 PM — South (1919); 7 PM — Pandora’s Box (1929); 10:00 PM — The Overcoat (1926)
  • Sunday, July 15 — 10:00 AM — The Mark of Zorro (1920); 12 Noon — The Docks of New York (1928); 2:00 PM — Erotikon (1920); 4:30 PM — Stella Dallas (1925); 7:30 PM — The Cameraman (1928)

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The Mad Miss Manton

One of the best things about the Hollywood studio system is that it offers a chance to see great stars paired up in more than one picture.  Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck appeared in 3 films together, including Preston Sturges’ masterpiece, “The Lady Eve” in 1941.  Their first film together, “The Mad Miss Manton” from 1938, features Stanwyck as Melsa Manton, a socialite who can’t help sticking her nose into police business — including a murder investigation.

Barbara Stanwyck as Miss Manton.

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Henry Fonda plays Peter Ames, an ineffectual newspaper editor who provides the love interest for Miss Manton.  Even though the two stars provide enough chemistry, the script makes it seem unlikely Ames and Manton would ever become a pair.  The studio, RKO Radio Pictures, offered the film to Katherine Hepburn, which would have given us a Henry Fonda-Katherine Hepburn pairing years before 1981’s “On Golden Pond.”

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Eternal Sunshine

It’s interesting that “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” from 2004, deals with memory, because I wanted to forget seeing two previous Charlie Kaufman-written films, the awful “Adaptation“ from 2002, and the mediocre “Being John Malkovich” from 1999.  Perhaps the director really does make a difference, since Spike Jonze directed both Adaptation and Being John Malkovich “ while Michel Gondry directed Eternal Sunshine.  In Adaptation and Malkovich, I didn’t like or care about any of the characters, so why are they wasting my time doing silly things?  And, having read the book on which Adaptation is based —  “The Orchid Thief” by Susan Orlean — I left the theater slightly outraged that the filmmakers could make such a mess out of a fine book.

Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey.

I know what you’re thinking “Adaptation is supposed to suck because it’s really not an adaptation.“  Get it?  No, I don’t get it.  Movies should be good.  Gimmicks don’t work unless there’s a strong story.  As for Being John Malkovich, couldn’t the characters and screenwriter have picked a more interesting actor to inhabit“ or is that the point too?  Clint Eastwood wasn’t available?  After all, Charlie Sheen is in the movie.  Why not call it Being Charlie Sheen.  That works better.
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But then I see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and think that this Kaufman guy isn’t half bad.  The story concerns two people in a relationship who know each other really well and genuinely love each other, but can’t get past a few unpleasant and painful differences.  Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet play the lovers. At the beginning of the movie, we don’t know why Jim Carrey is sooooo sad, so movie time shifts to bring us up to date.  Director Gondry paces the time-shifting well, so I didn’t end up thinking “Why don’t they just play the movie backwards?“ as I did with “Memento“ from 2000.  (Note to screenwriting teachers:   Please stop teaching Memento.  Stick with “Chinatown” from 1974 or “Big” from 1988.)

Mostly, I walked away from Eternal Sunshine thinking Gondry and Kaufman spoke the truth, and I appreciate it.  Gondry’s handling of the sequences when the Carrey character loses his memory seemed linear and not schizophrenic, indicating a desire to both downplay the FX (they are there, but they don’t dominate) while understanding the true nature of a memory.  Gondry also managed a heartbreaking yet positive ending, and I give him a lot of credit for that.

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The Incredibles

The Incredibles,”  a movie made in 2004, is an animated movie that isn’t a comedy.  I’m sure the people at Pixar thought up a whole lot of jokes while they worked on it, but few made it into the movie.  In The Incredibles, a superhero family tries to fit in, but falls short.  The father secretly wants to get back into the superhero game, and his efforts lead the family to a fantastic adventure.

Animation from "The Incredibles."


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The movie delivers an excellent story and exciting action, with exotic locations and interesting characters.  Brad Bird, the movie’s director and writer, also directed a wonderful movie called “The Iron Giant,” from 1999.  I liked The Iron Giant’s dark, gothic quality, and the creaking metal sound of the Iron Giant as he walked.  I prefer animated movies like these rather than nonstop gag and yapfests such as “Monsters, Inc.” from 2001.

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Akira Kurosawa

If you rent or buy Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 film, “Ikiru,” you’ll be treated to an extra disk that contains a documentary about Kurosawa’s filmmaking technique.  He discusses scriptwriting, editing, music, lighting, set design and other aspects of producing a movie.  Kurosawa introduced many innovations during his long and masterful career, including shooting directly at the sun.  Kurosawa used multiple cameras, which forced his actors into a more natural acting style because they couldn’t play to a particular camera.  Kurosawa edited all the scenes shot each day so the crew could understand how the story evolved.  When his cameraman asked him how long to shoot a close-up, Kurosawa held out his arms to signify how much film he required for the shot.

Akira Kurosawa


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There is a blatant honesty that can be achieved in true cinema.   Great cinema doesn’t make you feel self conscious when you experience it.  You become completely absorbed.  Listening to Kurosawa in this documentary, in some ways it seems great cinema seems like an accident.  But it’s an accident that’s planned, and Kurosawa says that usually only a few scenes in a great movie reach the level of high art.  Given the chaos of a movie set, a few scenes of magic are a great achievement.

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Ellen Is Nice

I saw Martin Scorcese’s “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” from 1974 and I think it holds up very well.  It’s well acted and not preachy, and it concerns a very likeable character named Alice Hyatt who decides to follow her dreams after her husband dies.  It’s not about the women’s movement or feminism or radical thinking.  It’s about a person who seems real, and about problems that seem real.  Ellen Burstyn won a well deserved Oscar for performance as Alice, and supporting actors Kris Kristofferson, Diane Ladd, Harvey Keitel, and Jodie Foster all contribute good performances.

Ellen Burstyn with Kris Kristofferson.

Apart from buy levitra canada these food cures, you can find instant relief from male impotence with Kamagra. Specifically stating, impotence refers to buy levitra line the trouble in achieving erection. Dust-free environment is necessary for the storage of this drug, so really do not attempt to buy it illegally or order from the internet, some of this drugs possibly just counterfeit and you really do not attempt to buy it illegally or order from the internet, some of this drugs possibly just counterfeit and you really do not know the course of action with the drug. levitra without prescription Rest viagra prescription free assured that this is completely impossible. Back in my college days, Ellen Burstyn visited our campus to give a speech in the University Auditorium, where I worked backstage.  This sorority sponsored event took place right around the time when Ellen Burstyn won her Oscar.  Burstyn had become a feminist icon because of the movie.  The sorority leaders told me in no uncertain terms that I was not allowed to talk to Ellen.  They said, “Don’t even look at her!” for no apparent reason other than the fact that she was a feminist icon and I’m male.

After her speech, Burstyn went to the auditorium’s Green Room, where a large crowd of sorority women waited to spend some quality time with their heroine.  I stood by the door as Ellen arrived to an awkward reception.  No one in the awestruck crowd greeted her, and Ellen just stood there wondering what to do.  Finally, she walked directly over to me and said, “Hi, I’m Ellen.  Thank you so much for inviting me here.”  Needless to say, I got lots of dirty looks from the women in the room, but I’ve been a huge fan of Ellen Burstyn ever since.

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The New Benny Hill

I enjoyed the vehicle film called “So, I Married an Axe Murderer,”  made in 1993.  Mike Myers, who plays a beat poet (complete with a jazz band), falls in love with a butcher played by Nancy Travis. But Myer’s character becomes obsessed with stories of an axe murderer who kills her husband, and he begins to project that role on Travis.  Travis does a lot of suspicious things in this movie, and her profession as a butcher lends itself to proficiency with the title murder weapon.  So, we’re kept guessing.

MIchael Myers plays his own Dad.

Myers plays the poet and the poet’s father, a wacky Scotsman married to a lustful Scottish wife.  She refers to a well-known sensationalist tabloid as “the paper,” so you know right off you are in for a nutty time.  Myers plays the Scottish father,  Stuart Mackenzie, way over the top, but it works.  We expect that in a vehicle film.  Basically, Myers could be the new Benny Hill if he wanted.
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I liked the San Francisco locations.  For the record, North Beach in San Francisco, where I live, does not host a succession of huge poetry houses where the clientele delivers lines of poetry to a young and beautiful crowd.  Occasionally, a very small coffee house hosts poetry nights, which draw quite well. I just found out that “Meats of the World” where the Travis character worked — is the former Prudente Deli on Grant Avenue.  I used to buy my sandwiches there.  Now, it’s call North Beach Pizza.

Hollywood mixes things up.  On the Hollywood map of San Francisco, neighborhoods that aren’t remotely close end up half a block from each other.  In Edtv, from 1999, Matthew McConaughey leaves a video store in North Beach, takes a few steps, and enters the Castro Theater.  That can’t happen in reality because the Castro Theater is almost five miles (eight kilometers) away.

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American Madness

“American Madness,” a great Frank Capra movie made at Colombia Pictures Corporation in 1932, features Walter Huston as Dickson, a bank manager who values character over money.  Dickson’s Union National Bank continually gives loans to regular people and local businesses, despite the protests by the bank’s board of directors.  Once again, a Frank Capra production champions the “little people” over greedy corporate interests.  The film makes me proud of the American film industry in the 1930’s, which often took on controversial or downright subversive issues during one of the most turbulent times of our history.

Walter Huston as Dickson, the bank manager

When gangsters rob the bank of $100,000, a rumor that the bank will fail sparks a run of depositors demanding their money.  As the tills empty, Dickson calls other banks to help shore up the deposits.  But his efforts fail to conjure up a solution as the depositors threaten to mob the bank.  A crooked bank manager, who conspired in the robbery, also conceals a side story concerning an adulterous scandal involving Dickson’s wife.  Only the efforts of a trustworthy clerk, played by Pat O’Brien, helps evert the bank’s financial failure.
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Capra’s movies hum along at a good pace, and this one, much like “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” from 1939, seamlessly balances several characters in support of a very good story.  I love Walter Huston’s confident acting style, and find it a little shocking that he displays such weakness in the third act.  But that’s common in Capra’s films.  The lead character Dickson, full of integrity, passes through uncertainty when he learns of a betrayal, but regains his moral authority at the end.  Decency and courage win the day.

 

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Charley’s Aunt

The 1941 version of “Charley’s Aunt,” directed by Archie Mayo, stars Jack Benny as a student from Oxford who dresses up in drag to help two schoolmates.  The fellow students need a chaperone so they can woo their sweethearts and trick the girls’  miserly guardian into okaying the couples’ marriage.  When the  chaperone aunt from Brazil fails to show up on time, Benny’s character dons a dress and wig.

Jack Benny and Kay Francis in Charlie's Aunt

In these places this discount generic levitra http://www.wouroud.com/presentation.php?ln=en drug especially works to redeem impotency without any complications. levitra 20mg australia John always remembered his mother’s words, although he could not remember his father: “You have no father, Johnny.” With the father and main breadwinner gone, many families would have fallen apart, but not the family of Margaret Bosco. So, something that is done naturally is done with the help of assistance. buy cialis in india No increase in the dose count and a strict gap of 24 cheapest levitra prices hours to be maintained during the moments of hardcore intimacy. All of these gender-bending comedies rely on the audience’s active suspension of disbelief, but the good cast makes it all worthwhile.  I don’t think Jack Benny (as Babbs Babberly) could fool anyone into thinking he’s a woman, but almost everyone in the film falls for his ruse.  Edmund Gwenn plays Stephen Spettigue, who spends most of the film chasing Babbs around the grounds of Oxford.  Since the script (and the original 1892 play by Brandon Thomas) calls for an over-the-top performance, there’s nothing better than seeing Jack Benny play Babbs.  Another personal favorite of mine, Kay Francis, plays the real aunt (Donna Lucia), who eventually returns from Brazil to join the fun.  No one does sophisticated bemusement better than Kay Francis.

On one of Robert Osborne’s special movie nights, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) planned to show this version of Charley’s Aunt.  However, Osborne explained they could not get the proper permissions to screen it.  Instead, TCM played the 1930 version that stars Charles Ruggles.  Ruggles plays a much more frantic Babbs, and his version is closer to the story of the original play.  Both Benny and Ruggles did their versions of this acrobatic role while in their late 40’s, and Benny joked on his radio program about getting hurt on the set.  The college stage productions of this classic play must be even more athletic.

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