REEL 13
Best Movies by Farr
  • December 15, 2011

    Darker Jimmy Stewart

    by John Farr

    Following World War II, James Stewart decided he needed to pursue roles that reflected the darker atmosphere of the Atomic Age. He found them in westerns.

    Winchester ’73 (1950)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    Lin McAdam (James Stewart) is roaming the prairies, looking to settle an old score with one Dutch Henry Brown (Stephen McNally). Unfortunately, when the two meet up, they’re in Marshal Wyatt Earp’s jurisdiction and must surrender their weapons. The two do compete in a shooting contest for a brand-new Winchester ’73 rifle, the finest firearm made. McAdam wins, but through an act of treachery, loses the rifle. McAdam goes after Dutch Henry again, only this time, he wants his rifle back too.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    James Stewart wanted a change from his folksy, everyman roles, and in a risky move, chose a western to give his image a harder edge. Director Anthony Mann and he would collaborate on four more oaters after this outing, which proved a huge success. “Winchester” brought a new complexity of character to the Western form, literally resuscitating a fading genre. This role also revived Stewart’s career by displaying the actor’s impressive range: Stewart’s McAdam is a dark, conflicted, angry fellow, far removed from the Mr. Smiths and Elwood P. Dowds of the world. Film also features sterling support from Dan Duryea, Millard Mitchell, and a comely Shelley Winters as a sweet-natured showgirl. Also look fast for Rock Hudson playing an Indian brave.

    The Naked Spur (1953)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    Kansas rancher-turned bounty hunter Howard Kemp (James Stewart) faces a stubborn obstacle in his effort to return fugitive killer Ben Vandergroat (Robert Ryan) for a $5,000 reward: old timer Jesse Tate (Millard Mitchell) and dishonorably discharged cavalryman Roy Anderson (Ralph Meeker) turn up at an opportune moment to help Kemp corner Ben and his feisty gal, Lina (Janet Leigh), and now they want a share of the money. But it’s a long way from the Indian-inhabited Colorado mountains to Kansas, and everyone, it seems, is watching out for number one.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    Filmed in Technicolor in the gorgeously rugged Rocky Mountains, Mann’s gritty, thrilling Western hinges on the hidden motives of its five protagonists, each of whom is running from a sordid past. In a none-too-wholesome role, Stewart is brilliant as a bitter war veteran whose fiancee abandoned him while he was away at the front-and made off with the title to his ranch. Mitchell’s no-luck miner and Meeker’s unsavory, no-account soldier vie with Kemp as Ryan, cackling like a jackal, sets all parties against each other while plotting his escape. The radiant Leigh rounds out the cast playing Lina, a misguided gal longing for a new life in California who falls for Stewart. “Spur” is a tough, bristling horse drama by noir director Anthony Mann.

    The Man from Laramie (1955)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    Laramie native Will Lockhart (James Stewart) rolls into Coronado, N.M., with a wagon train of goods he aims to deliver, but his real motive is to find the person responsible for selling rifles to the Apaches who killed his brother. Lockhart soon learns the town is part of a vast empire owned by Alec Waggoman (Donald Crisp), an aging patriarch trying to decide whether to leave his vast holdings to Vic (Arthur Kennedy), his right-hand man, or his only son Dave (Alex Nicol), a dangerously unhinged cretin. Lockhart’s dust-up with Dave soon puts him into conflict with the Waggomans and town authorities.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    Anthony Mann’s first picture in CinemaScope was also his last with frequent collaborator Jimmy Stewart, terrifically gritty here playing a former Army captain with a chip on his shoulder who becomes embroiled in a family’s Shakespearean conflict. Shot on location in New Mexico desert, “Laramie” has a stark visual flair to match its tough cattlemen (Kennedy is great as Waggoman’s cunning second in charge) and dark psychological themes of vengeance and greed. Saddle up!

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  • November 21, 2011

    Berlin + Astaire

    by John Farr

    The music of Irving Berlin and the fancy footwork of Fred Astaire combined for some of the finest musical cinema of the century. John Farr selects his favorite three.

    Top Hat (1935)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    It’s love at first dance for performer Jerry Travers (Fred Astaire) and the stunning Dale Tremont (Ginger Rogers) , until, for reasons I won’t disclose, Dale gets the wrong idea that Jerry is already married. This case of mistaken identity leads to a series of comic shenanigans, punctuated by Irving Berlin songs and stunningly choreographed dance numbers.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    Finally, the long-awaited Astaire-Rogers classics are being released on DVD, and “Top Hat” (arguably the best of the series, along with “Swing Time”) has never looked or sounded better. The plot is soufflé-light, but runs on the divine hilarity of its ensemble players, in particular Eric Blore as persnickety butler Bates, and Erik Rhodes as Beddini, rival to Dale’s affections. Beyond that ineffable Astaire-Rogers chemistry, the real stars are the buttery Berlin score (highlight: “Cheek to Cheek”) and dancing sequences that define beauty and grace in motion. Heaven-I’m in heaven!

    Holiday Inn (1942)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    After a painful bust-up with his girlfriend, song-and-dance man Jim Hardy (Bing Crosby) decides he’s had it with the big city and retires to a farm in New England, which he converts into an inn, complete with floor shows, but open only on public holidays. Friend and co-headliner Ted Hanover (Fred Astaire) wants to make a film about the inn, but things get complicated when he tangles with Hardy over lovely leading lady Linda Mason (Debbie Reynolds).

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    Conceived from an idea by composer Irving Berlin, Mark Sandrich’s “Holiday Inn” is a humorous, festive Crosby/Astaire musical that finds both performers in tip-top crooning and toe-tapping form. Famous for introducing “White Christmas,” the best-selling single of all time and an instant favorite with troops overseas, “Inn” is consistently tuneful and entertaining, with a sublime Irving Berlin score that covers not just Christmas, but all major holidays. Watch for the July 4th rave-up “Let’s Say It With Firecrackers,” one of many musical highlights.

    Easter Parade (1948)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    Dumped on Easter by longstanding dance partner Nadine (Ann Miller), Don Hewes (Fred Astaire) rashly wagers he can still draw crowds even teamed with the greenest of chorus girls. Hannah Brown (Judy Garland) is his pick, and Don begins grooming her for stardom.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    In this joyous musical romp, MGM producer Arthur Freed paired Garland with the recently “retired” Astaire after original lead Gene Kelly injured his ankle. Combining Astaire’s moves and Garland’s pipes with a phenomenal Irving Berlin score adapted by Johnny Green and Roger Edens, highlights include the vaudevillian duet “We’re a Couple of Swells” and Astaire’s excellent solo to “Steppin’ Out With My Baby”. The movie was a big success in 1948, and no wonder! By all means, step out with this title.

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  • November 14, 2011

    Crucial Cage

    by John Farr

    Although his reputation has faded somewhat due to questionable role choices, Nic Cage was once one of Hollywood’s brightest stars. John Farr recommends you revisit three crucial Cage classics.

    Leaving Las Vegas (1995)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    Depressed Hollywood screenwriter Ben (Nicolas Cage) arrives in Las Vegas with one goal: to drink himself to death. On the Strip one night, he picks up fresh-faced hooker Sera (Elizabeth Shue), who takes a liking to the self-destructive Ben. As their friendship turns into a damaged love affair, they accept each other unconditionally, with Sera agreeing never to ask Ben to stop drinking-no matter what.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    Filmed on a shoestring by Figgis, who also contributed the haunting jazz score, “Vegas” is a fearlessly downbeat love story about desperation and despair that was rapturously received at the box office in 1995. Cage won an Oscar for his gritty, go-for-broke portrayal of the suicidal Ben, and Shue made the leap from TV’s “Melrose Place” to the big screen with her convincingly raw, Oscar-nominated performance-especially in one horrific motel scene. Adapted from John O’Brien’s novel, “Vegas” is one cinematic bender that leaves a strangely blissful hangover.

    Face/Off (1997)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    Deranged criminal mastermind Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage), currently in a coma, has planted a biological weapon somewhere in LA and only his equally psychotic brother Pollux (Allesandro Nivola) knows where. Crack FBI agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) has a long, painful history battling the Troys, and undergoes a radical medical procedure transferring Castor’s face to his own, in hopes that once he’s reunited with Pollux in prison, the ever loyal little brother will talk. But the insensate Castor’s got life in him yet, and unfortunately, Archer has left his own face behind.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    Despite the grotesque, almost preposterous premise, Hong Kong director John Woo’s second American-made actioner has all the savage bite, black humor, and balletic fight choreography of his best-known Asian films. Deliberately mythic in concept, “Face/Off” probes questions of honor, identity, and morality while giving Travolta and Cage plenty of leeway to stretch their archetypal good-and-evil personas. Ingenious, kinetic and reveling in its choreographed, over the top violence, “Face/Off” is a complex thriller that’s bloody good fun.

    Adaptation (2002)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    Sad-sack, chronically self-doubting Hollywood screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage) is hired to script “The Orchid Thief”, written by New Yorker scribe Susan Orlean (Meryl Streep). Obsessed with the foxy author, and struggling with how to faithfully adapt the tale of Orleans’s intriguing friendship with a renegade rare-flower expert John Laroche (Chris Cooper), Kaufman becomes increasingly stressed, unhinged, and of course, innovative in his approach. Meanwhile, studio producer Valerie Thomas (Swinton) is breathing down his neck.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    This brilliant meta-narrative and hilarious spoof of Hollywood’s formulaic approach to telling stories, “Adaptation” is the brainchild of Jonze and real-life writer Kaufman, who had teamed earlier on “Being John Malkovich.” In fact, Kaufman really was hired to adapt the Orlean book, and took a chance writing a zany, highly inventive script about his neurotic inability to wedge it into a conventional plot structure. He also invented a fictitious alter ego, twin brother Donald, who despite being a noodle-brained philistine, knows how to write a crack blockbuster. Cage’s sweaty, uncomfortable turn in both roles is pure angst-filled genius, and pros Streep, Swinton and Cooper (who nabbed an Oscar) match his inspired playing throughout.

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  • November 11, 2011

    Serious Slasher Cinema

    by John Farr

    Follow-up this week’s suspenseful Reel 13 Classic, Dressed to Kill, with three of the greatest slasher films ever made.

    Psycho (1960)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) wants to make a new life for herself, and flees hometown Phoenix with a stolen bag of cash from her employer. She then makes a fateful stop at the Bates Motel, run by one Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), a nervous, awkward but seemingly innocuous man. Marion learns too late he is anything but, and soon her sister Lila (Vera Miles) and Marion’s lover Sam Loomis (Gavin) have teamed up to discover what happened to her.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    Made at the peak of his career in 1960, “Psycho” was suspense master Hitchcock’s last and most famous black-and-white picture-and a film that inaugurated the sub-genre of slasher movie. By the standards of today’s gore-fests, it’s a fairly restrained murder mystery, but disturbing nonetheless, achieving its chills more by what is withheld than shown. Hitchcock knows just how to heighten our dread of who or what might be at the top of the stairs, or beyond that shower curtain. The terrifying “Psycho” stands above most any psychological thriller made since.

    Black Christmas (1974)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    As their Pi Kappa Sigma peers begin to leave for the Christmas break, sorority sisters Jessica (Olivia Hussey) and bawdy Barbie (Margot Kidder) stay behind for a Yuletide party. The cheerful mood is marred, however, by a series of frighteningly obscene phone calls. The girls get nervous enough when their friend Clare (Lynne Griffin) fails to meet her dad for the ride home, and then a teenage girl is found murdered in a local park, prompting a concerned visit by police lieutenant Kenneth Fuller (John Saxon). Is a psychopath loose, or could this be more personal?

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    Three years before the release of John Carpenter’s “Halloween” brought the term “slasher film” into our movie lexicon, Bob Clark (the director of “Porky’s”!) helmed this Canadian-made psycho thriller starring Hussey, Kidder, and ubiquitous ’70s character actor John Saxon, playing a detective who suspects Jessica’s jilted boyfriend (Dullea) is a killer. With its menacing atmosphere and see-less-scare-more dictum, “Christmas” avoids all the clichés that were to follow in gorier films to come. When the shrill ring of a telephone makes your nerves jump, you know Clark’s dread-and-distress horror film has gotten under your skin.

    Halloween (1978)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    Michael Myers, who butchered his sister when he was six, has escaped from an asylum and returned to his small Illinois hometown just in time to wreak more carnage and mayhem on Halloween. Baby-sitter Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is unlucky enough to fall in Michael’s path, which interferes with her trick-or-treating. Meanwhile, Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasance), Michael’s psychiatrist, is frantically tracking his patient, but how much blood will get spilled before he finds him?

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    John Carpenter’s first and best entry in a long series, this movie gives the slasher pic a good name (that is, until you sit through all those pale re-treads). This lean feature works because it’s both original and daringly basic: Laurie is a young teenage girl up against a monster, with only her wits and her two feet to protect her from the wrong end of a large butcher knife. Will Laurie and her young charges make it to Thanksgiving? You’ll remain on the edge of your seat finding out.

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  • November 4, 2011

    Robert Aldrich Revisited

    by John Farr

    John Farr selects three great pictures from the oft-overlooked Robert Aldrich.

    Attack! (1956)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    Ordering his men to attack a well-guarded German pillbox, Lieutenant Joe Costa (Jack Palance) expects backup from his senior commander, Captain Cooney (Eddie Albert). The captain balks out of fear, and a squadron of Costa’s men die as a result. Infuriated, Costa curtly informs Cooney that if it happens again, Cooney will pay for his cowardice with his life. Days later, Cooney dispatches Costa’s men to the Belgian front, where the fighting is even fiercer than before.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    Offering a hard-as-nails depiction of war and the ugly flipside of frontline bravery, Aldrich’s “Attack!” revisits the decisive Battle of the Bulge with a realistic tale of mutinous revenge. The always intense Palance delivers a riveting performance as an aggrieved lieutenant at the end of his rope, but it’s Albert, in a superb turn as the scurrilous, yellow-bellied captain, who earns top honors. Great support from Marvin, as Cooney’s corrupt, high-ranking pal, Colonel Bartlett, and William Smithers, as a conscientious soldier, round out a fine cast. This gritty, searing war drama ranks with “Kiss Me Deadly” director Aldrich’s very best work.

    Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    Baby Jane Hudson (Bette Davis) was a highly successful child performer in vaudeville, but sister Blanche (Joan Crawford) overtook her in adulthood, becoming a huge movie star before a freak accident ended her career. Now years later, Jane takes care of her wheelchair-bound sister, but as Jane’s sanity drifts away, her long-simmering jealousy erupts into truly unhinged, sadistic behavior.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    Aldrich’s campy cult classic still chills, thanks to a deliciously creepy premise which borrows from “Sunset Boulevard” in exposing the mental disintegration of a one-time star. Still, this is a more ghoulish affair, with Jane finding a variety of sinister ways to torture poor Blanche. Leads Davis and Crawford had parallel Hollywood careers, and their rivalry was famous, yet they’d never worked together before this (nor would they again!). Davis in particular is fearless as demented harridan Jane, and corpulent Victor Buono adds a revolting touch as Jane’s smarmy accompanist.

    The Longest Yard (1974)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    Warden Hazen (Eddie Albert) wants to put together a big football game pitting his prisoners against the thuggish, but well-seasoned guards’ team, so he cuts a secret deal with former-pro inmate Paul Crewe (Burt Reynolds) to throw the game in exchange for parole. Crewe assembles his convict squad, dubbed the “Mean Machine,” and morale is high. But when game time arrives, he faces a choice between freedom and loyalty to his team-mates.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    Robert Aldrich’s crowd-pleasing prison/football comedy makes us favor the irreverent convict-outsiders (played by a who’s who of 1970s NFL stars) while disdaining the opposing bulls, led by ruthless warden Hazen and the vicious Capt. Knauer (Ed Lauter). Real-life collegiate player Burt Reynolds scored his first post-”Deliverance” hit with his assured, charismatic portrayal of Paul Crewe. Aldrich and Oscar-winning editor Michael Luciano infuse energy and urgency into the climactic game itself, spanning a whopping 47 minutes on-screen, which helps make “Yard” a winner by any measure. Beware the recent re-make.

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  • October 27, 2011

    Blake Edwards’ Best

    by John Farr

    John Farr selects three of A Shot in the Dark director Black Edwards’ best efforts, including his only non-Pink Panther picture with Peter Sellers.

    Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    Charming, bubbly Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) leads a peripatetic life in Manhattan, attending swanky parties and living off the largesse of her gentleman acquaintances, who keep her attired in the very best designer outfits. Intrigued by Holly’s coming and goings, as well as her bouts of wistful loneliness, upstairs neighbor Paul (George Peppard) falls for the neurotic socialite. But is there something hidden behind Holly’s sophisticated facade?

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    Adapted from Truman Capote’s novella, Edwards’s fleet-footed romantic comedy would not be the cultural touchstone it is without the effervescent presence of Hepburn. As Holly Golightly, a small-town Texas girl with her feet planted firmly in the glitz of New York’s party scene, Hepburn is irrepressibly charming, a vision of elflike beauty in Givenchy and pearls. But she is also a frail creature harboring secrets, and Hepburn plays both sides exquisitely. Peppard is solid and likable as writer Paul, Holly’s admirer and confidante, while Neal chews on her steely role as Paul’s wealthy older mistress. A chic, iconic romance, memorably set to the Oscar-winning strains of Henry Mancini’s “Moon River.”

    Days of Wine and Roses (1962)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    After an awkward meeting at a boat party seems to put them at odds, publicist Joe Clay (Jack Lemmon) and Kirsten Arnesen (Lee Remick) fall madly in love. The social and professional demands of the public-relations racket are nothing new to Joe, but gradually he turns tee-totaller Kirsten on to the pleasures of swilling cocktails at any hour. Over time, alcohol becomes integral to the young newlyweds’ relationship, and threatens to destroy their blissful existence.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    A downbeat love story pickled in bile and booze, this melodrama of addiction by the great Blake Edwards skirts the same terrain as “Lost Weekend” without ever getting preachy. Instead, Edwards examines the sullied yet undying connection between his two self-destructive protagonists, played by Lemmon and Remick with unblinking honesty. (Two specific scenes-his in a madhouse and hers in a motel-are wrenching.) Charles Bickford lends terrific support as Kirsten’s widower father, as does Jack Klugman in a small role as Joe’s AA sponsor. “Days” is a hard-hitting drama about love in the ruins, buoyed by Henry Mancini’s melancholic jazz score.

    The Party (1968)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    A fat-cat Hollywood producer decides to throw a splashy dinner party (“Anyone who’s anyone will be there!”), and as bad luck would have it, Indian-born actor Hrundi Bakshi (Peter Sellers) mistakenly makes it onto the guest list. Though Bakshi knows few of his fellow guests, they will certainly get to know him before the night is over.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    Sellers inhabits another accident-prone character in his continuing partnership with Blake Edwards. Bakshi is a gentle person, but his innocent curiosity about his surroundings (or is it bewilderment?) manages to wreak havoc most everywhere he goes. Though detractors claim the comic momentum flags by picture’s end, Sellers’s brilliant characterization and some sublime set-pieces make this worthy viewing. In particular, what transpires when the guests are first seated for dinner may be one of the funniest sequences ever captured on film. In addition, French actress Longet is adorable as the party’s prettiest guest, who befriends Bakshi. Don’t miss this riotous sixties bash!

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  • October 20, 2011

    William Powell Perfection

    by John Farr

    William Powell made so many magnificent pictures it’s difficult to choose three recommendations to watch after After The Thin Man this weekend, but John Farr makes the tough choices, all from one year: 1936.

    The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    This enchanting film traces the colorful life of early twentieth century showman Florenz Ziegfeld from carnival side-show barker to producer of the immortal Ziegfeld Follies, the most glamorous and elaborate stage show ever mounted, including the world’s prettiest chorus girls and the country’s top vaudeville acts, including comedienne Fanny Brice and hoofer Ray Bolger (who both appear in the film).

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    This top MGM musical recreates the glory days of the musical theatre, before movies overtook Broadway as our primary form of entertainment. The charming Powell reflects ideal casting for Ziegfeld, and frequent co-star Myrna Loy is also on hand playing second wife Billie Burke. Winner of that year’s Best Picture Oscar, Luise Rainer also won a statuette for her portrayal of “Ziggy”‘s first wife Anna Held (her culminating phone scene is justly famous). Long but dazzling, “Ziegfeld” combines backstage drama with on-stage spectacle- in particular, don’t miss that immortal “Pretty Girl” musical number.

    My Man Godfrey (1936)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    Through a contest only the idle rich could invent, a daffy family hires a forgotten man from skid row to become the new butler in their zany household. Younger daughter Irene (Carol Lombard) proceeds to fall in love with him. Godfrey (Powell), however, is not precisely who, or what, he seems.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    Gregory La Cava’s sublime “Godfrey” blends screwball elements with more serious overtones on Depression-era class injustice, to create a wildly entertaining yet thought-provoking movie that holds up beautifully. The term debonair was indeed coined for Powell, and Lombard makes for an adorable ditz. (Trivia note: the two stars had been married briefly several years earlier, but had divorced amicably, and remained good friends). Highlights: comic actor Mischa Auer as Mrs. Bullock’s “protégé”, along with the rotund Pallette as Mr. Bullock, the family’s frustrated industrialist father, who appears more like an impotent keeper at an asylum.

    Libeled Lady (1936)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    The ever-smooth Powell plays Bill Chandler, a freelance journalist hired by his old newspaper to squelch a libel suit brought by society heiress Connie Allenbury (Myrna Loy). To do this, Bill must make Connie fall in love with him and then place her in a compromising position. Ultimately, he melts her icy exterior, but ends up falling in love himself. What’s a smitten newspaperman to do?

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    Nominated for a Best Picture Oscar in 1936, Jack Conway’s underexposed screwball comedy is a raucous farce buzzing with zany humor, thanks to a flurry of impeccable one-liners delivered by Powell and Loy, reunited from their pairing in “The Thin Man.” Playing Haggerty, the newspaper’s frantic editor, and Gladys, his continually jilted fiancée, Tracy and Harlow round out a stellar foursome in this fast-paced, ingenious laugh-fest.

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  • October 13, 2011

    PI Pictures

    by John Farr

    On the occasion of the broadcast of Reel 13 Classic The Thin Man, John Farr tips his fedora to three classic PI pictures.

    The Maltese Falcon (1941)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    Humphrey Bogart is private detective Sam Spade, playing opposite Mary Astor as the shifty and cunning femme fatale, Brigid O’Shaughnessy. She needs help finding a jewel-encrusted statue of a bird that goes back centuries. A host of other nefarious types, including The Fat Man (Sydney Greenstreet), is after the same thing. Spade is locked in tight since the case has also resulted in his partner’s murder. The new three disc, special edition version includes a fresh digital transfer of this timeless classic, along with a new documentary on the making of the picture, and two prior filmings of Dashiell Hammett’s story.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    After years of playing villains for Warner Brothers, this picture demonstrated once and for all Bogart’s star quality. “The Maltese Falcon” is the definitive private eye film, where we see crooked human beings grabbing for their pot of gold in a bewildering urban jungle. An impressive debut feature for John Huston behind the camera, the film holds you in its grip throughout. Wait for that immortal ending! And-with Warner’s extra-filled re-issue, “Falcon” fanatics will have even more to sink their teeth into, including two earlier film adaptations that are fun in themselves but also point up what elevates the Bogie version. This new set is a must for any serious film fan.

    Murder, My Sweet (1944)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    Former crooner Dick Powell was first to assay the role of Raymond Chandler’s famous gumshoe Philip Marlowe in this screen adaptation of “Farewell, My Lovely”. Here Marlowe is hired by hulking underworld figure Moose Malloy (Mike Mazurki) to find his missing girlfriend, Velma. Being versatile and money-hungry, at the same time Marlowe takes on another assignment to recover a stolen necklace. Could the two cases be linked? Marlowe endures a lot of pain finding out, but then, that’s what he’s paid for.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    Edward Dmytryk’s trim, crackling detective tale has enough twists and turns to befuddle most any snoop, but that’s the whole fun of it. Powell’s gritty, bravura turn as the original Marlowe (Bogie would follow him two years later in “The Big Sleep”) opened up gritty new avenues for the actor, and the sultry Claire Trevor scorches the screen as femme fatale Helen Grayle. Packed with the patter of gunsels and molls in dimly lit, smoke-filled rooms, noir doesn’t get much “noirer” than this. Hard-boiled mystery fans should pounce.

    Out of the Past (1947)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    Private detective Jeff Bailey (Robert Mitchum) is hired by high-ranking mobster Whit Sterling (a young Kirk Douglas), to find the crook’s runaway mistress, Kathie Moffett (Jane Greer). Apparently, the young woman got into some serious mischief and ran off with $40,000. Tracking her South of the Border, Bailey meets and falls for Kathie’s seductive charms, setting off a chain of events that drags him ever deeper into a world of lies, treachery, and betrayal.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    Replete with expressionistic lighting, ominous atmosphere, cynical dialogue, and a sizzling femme fatale, Jacques Tourneur’s “Out of the Past” is quintessential film noir. In a star-making performance, Mitchum cemented his image as a laconic, heavy-lidded fatalist, while the white-hot Greer- radiant as Kathie-executes one of the most sensual entrances in film history. All conspire to make Tourneur’s “Past” damn close to perfect. Remade to lesser effect as “Against All Odds” (1984), with Jeff Bridges and Rachel Ward.

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  • October 7, 2011

    Masterful Joseph L. Mankiewicz

    by John Farr

    This Saturday, Reel 13 will air Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s classic, All About Eve, but before that,John Farr recommends you brush up on three of the master’s earlier works.

    A Letter to Three Wives (1949)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    As three female friends (Linda Crain, Jeanne Darnell, and Ann Sothern) head off on a day-long boating excursion with a school group, each receives the same letter from town flirt Addie Ross claiming she has absconded with one of their husbands. Each woman then has the day to spend wondering if it’s her man who’s missing. Their individual musings take the form of revealing flashbacks into their interconnected lives.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    The legendary Joe Mankiewcz received direction and screenplay Oscars for this sharp little gem, too often eclipsed by his masterful follow-up, “All About Eve”. “Wives” uses a clever narrative device to explore the pettiness of small-town life, and the foibles and insecurities in three marriages, as the three women react to the mysterious note by taking stock of their lives, each knowing one of them is in for a big shock at day’s end. Intelligent, incisive, and adult romantic drama. Look for Kirk Douglas in an early role as one of the husbands.

    House of Strangers (1949)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    Self-made immigrant banker Gino Monetti (Edward G. Robinson) treats three of his four employee sons like dirt, reserving his favor only for Max (Richard Conte), a lawyer. When Gino’s old ways of doing business run afoul of banking regulations, only Max tries to help him, and ends up doing jail time, while the other brothers wrest control of the bank from their broken dad. Once Max is sprung, his first instinct is revenge, but time and the love of a woman (Linda Hayward) make him reconsider.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s scorching tale of a destructive family vendetta is a stylish, well-conceived outing. Though screenplay credit went to Philip Yordan, Mankiewicz’s inspired touch is evident in the film’s tight pacing and sharp, flavorful script. Robinson is masterful as an Italian-American patriarch, and the under-appreciated Conte is also aces as a slick operator who’s not quite as tough as he seems. For a gritty noir you won’t forget, enter this House of Strangers.

    No Way Out (1950)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    Wounded mobster Ray Biddle (Richard Widmark) is brought to a police hospital along with his brother George (Harry Bellaver), where they are treated by Dr. Luther Brooks (Sydney Poitier), a talented black M.D. whom Ray heckles with racist diatribe. When George dies, Ray blames Dr. Brooks, and begins a campaign of hate that boils over into the city’s black community.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    A tense, hard-hitting social drama that earned an Oscar for Best Screenplay in 1950, Mankiewicz’s pioneering film looks squarely at the ramifications of racial hostility while keeping audiences on the edge of their seat. Poitier is magnificent in his debut role, the epitome of coolheadedness and quiet self-regard, while Widmark seethes in a typically explosive role. Mankiewicz builds suspense inside and outside the hospital, and the effect is riveting. Keep an eye out for actors/civil-rights activists Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, playing Luther’s brother and sister-in-law in a tandem debut. A potent powder keg of a film that hasn’t lost its bite–or its relevance.

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  • September 30, 2011

    Amazing Audrey

    by John Farr

    Audrey Hepburn led a legendary life and career. This week, Reel 13 will air her classic, “The Nun’s Story.” If it’s been a while since you’ve seen Audrey at her best, John Farr has three of her finest to recommend.

    Charade (1963)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    Parisian Regina Lampert (Audrey Hepburn) knew she had marital problems, but when her errant husband gets mysteriously killed, she finds being a widow even more troublesome. It seems her husband was involved in hijacking some significant loot during the war, and now some of his past comrades- including Tex (James Coburn), Herman (George Kennedy) and Leo (Ned Glass), want to know where the money went. H. Bartholemew (Walter Matthau) is the government agent also interested in the case, and suave Peter Joshua (Cary Grant) the gallant older man who serves as Regina’s protector. But is Peter really on Regina’s side?

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    This Hitchcock homage provides a last glimpse of Cary as leading man. At sixty, the actor still brings off his trademark persona superbly. Hepburn is also in top form as the put-upon damsel in distress. Deftly combining mystery, romance, and humor, director Donen creates a chic, sophisticated mood via gorgeous Paris locations and a smooth Mancini score. The villains are mean enough to be taken seriously, but exhibit enough idiosyncrasies to seem human (Coburn has particular fun as Tex). As top-drawer entertainment, “Charade” is the real thing.

    Two for the Road (1967)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    The ups and downs of matrimony are deftly explored via vacations past and present in the lives of affluent couple Joanna (Audrey Hepburn) and Mark Wallace (Albert Finney). We see the bloom of early passion recede as over time the couple adjusts to new life priorities and struggles to maintain their intimacy and affection.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    This smart, knowing romance projects director Donen’s signature style, with Hepburn the essence of sixties chic, and Finney (in his prime) the epitome of a salty, rugged leading man. European locales and a memorable Henry Mancini score add the requisite zing to this mature, nuanced love story. William Daniels and Eleanor Bron are also memorable as another married couple who cause Joanna and Mark to examine the state of their own union.

    Wait Until Dark (1967)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    Blinded in an accident, Manhattan housewife Susy Hendrix (Audrey Hepburn) is terrorized by a gang of killers after a large quantity of heroin stashed in a doll her husband, Sam (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.), unwittingly accepted from a woman on a plane trip. Led by Roat (Alan Arkin), the thugs will stop at nothing to recover the fortune, but Susy’s no pushover.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    Audrey Hepburn ventures into edgy territory in Terence Young’s “Wait Until Dark,” based on the stage play by Frederick Knott (writer of “Dial M for Murder”). The Oscar-nominated actress excels in the role of a sightless woman fighting for her life in a basement New York flat, and Richard Crenna is solid as her unlikely protector. Still, it’s Alan Arkin who really sets your teeth on edge playing one of the screen’s creepiest villains. This nifty suspenser starts slowly but builds to a terrifying climax. Just wait.

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  • September 20, 2011

    Need-to-Watch Norman Jewison

    by John Farr

    Prolific director Norman Jewison has hemled dozens of films, many of them considered classics. John Farr delves into Jewison’s middle 1980s output to recommend three need-to-see films.

    A Soldier’s Story (1984)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    In the rigidly segregated military of the American South during the 1940s, a highly unpopular black sergeant named Vernon Waters (Adolph Caesar) is found murdered.The starchy, all-business Captain Davenport (Howard E. Rollins), a black officer, visits the base to launch an official inquiry, and gets more than he bargained for. Though the investigation proves much more charged and complex than expected, the determined Davenport sees it through to a surprise conclusion.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    Based on Charles Fuller’s play, which he also adapted to the screen, this cerebral mystery operates on several levels, as we get to know the murdered man through flashbacks and see how many people had a motive to kill him. Set on top of this is the condescension with which the inquiry is treated by the white brass. All these ingredients make for a meaty, involving murder tale, shedding stark light on the racism of the time. A young Denzel Washington is particularly strong in an early pivotal role, and the late Caesar was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of the loathsome Waters (note: both had originated their roles on stage.) This “Story” was also Academy-nominated for Best Picture and Screenplay; it’s easy to see why.

    Agnes of God (1985)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    A bizarre occurrence is reported in a Catholic convent: a young nun, Sister Agnes (Meg Tilly), is found bloodied but alive in her room, along with her new-born child, now dead. Court appointed psychiatrist Martha Livingstone (Jane Fonda) is sent to the convent to investigate. There she comes up against formidable Mother Superior Miriam Ruth (Anne Bancroft), who seems as intent on protecting the child-like Agnes as Martha is on uncovering the truth.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    Norman Jewison’s adaptation of the hit Broadway play makes for a gripping spiritual mystery, where no conventional solutions or answers materialize. The movie works as both whodunit and drama, as two strong women, one representing science, the other faith, go head-to-head to explain an unthinkable crime and determine the fate of the innocent at its center. All three leads make the most of what they’re given, with the late Anne Bancroft and young Tilly particularly good (both were Oscar-nominated). An involving, thought-provoking film from skilled veteran Jewison.

    Moonstruck (1987)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    Loretta (Cher) is a young Italian-American widow set to marry Johnny Cammareri (Danny Aiello). Only problem: while Johnny’s away in Italy caring for his dying mother, Loretta falls for Johnny’s wayward younger brother Ronny (Nicolas Cage). Meanwhile, Loretta’s mother Rose (Olympia Dukakis) has her own romantic troubles, trying to keep the embers burning with preoccupied husband Cosmo (Gardenia). Just how will all these messy issues of “amore” work themselves out?

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    Nominated for the Best Picture Oscar and winning statuettes for co-stars Cher and Dukakis, this movie overflows with off-kilter charm and humor. Cher hits all the right notes as the bewildered Loretta, but Dukakis comes off best in the tricky role of Rose – a rare woman who’s as wise about herself as others and faces a challenging personal situation with grace and dignity. A flavorful, heartwarming delight from director Norman Jewison.

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  • September 16, 2011

    Darker Dassin

    by John Farr

    Once a successful Hollywood director, Connecticut-born Jules Dassin turned to Europe to revive his film career after being blacklisted in the years after WW2. Here are three of his darker films from his Hollywood noir days.

    Brute Force (1947)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    Tough, unsmiling inmate Joe Collins (Burt Lancaster) has spent much of his long prison term butting heads with sadistic, power-hungry Captain Munsey (Hume Cronyn). Sentenced to a merciless work detail in the subterranean drain pipe after one of Munsey’s stool pigeons is killed in a machine-shop accident, Collins determines to hatch a breakout plan with his cellmates.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    Made just prior to “Naked City,” Dassin’s gritty prison melodrama puts a twist on the archetypal bust-out scheme by revisiting, in flashback, the pre-penitentiary lives of Collins – ably played by an intense young Lancaster – and his crew, colorfully brought to life by character actors Whit Bissell, Howard Duff, and John Hoyt. In a fine performance, Charles Bickford appears as the prison’s gruff de facto leader and newspaper editor who throws in his lot with Collins. The other ace in Dassin’s deck is Cronyn, playing a corrupt, savage prison guard bent on bringing “discipline” to his inmates, while nursing a megalomaniacal ambition to replace the wimpy Warden. Aside from the ominous noir visuals, Dassin explores issues endemic to prison life and wraps them up in an ugly finale meant to evoke a Nazi bloodbath.

    The Naked City (1948)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    When a high-class model is murdered in her bathtub on New York’s Upper West Side, veteran detective Lt. Dan Muldoon (Barry Fitzgerald) is called in to solve the crime. Tediously reconstructing the previous 18 months of the young woman’s decadent social life, Muldoon, along with sidekick Jimmy Halloran (Don Taylor), pursues a seemingly endless string of weak leads and no-account witnesses in hopes of cracking the case.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    Shot entirely on location in 1940s Manhattan, this semi-documentary police procedural offers a day-to-day look at the life of the Big Apple, its varied denizens, and the routine of two cops-old hand Fitzgerald (who quietly steals the film) and the dutiful but still green Taylor–out to catch to catch the killer of a young model. Soon the fast-talking Frank Niles, who knew the deceased and has no alibi, emerges as the prime suspect. Director Dassin handles all the action with a matter-of-fact directness, but the great achievement of “City” is its verisimilitude of character and place, along with a final chase scene on the Williamsburg Bridge that will steal your breath away. There might be “8 million stories in the naked city,” but this sinister crime drama was the first-and still the best. Trivia note: this film was said to have inspired “Dragnet”.

    Thieves’ Highway (1949)

    WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
    Returning home from World War II, stout-hearted mechanic Nick Garcos (Richard Conte) is angered upon learning that devious trucking boss Mike Figlia (Lee J. Cobb) is to blame for the accident that left his father legless. Vowing revenge, Nick colludes with fellow driver Ed (Millard Mitchell) to expose Figlia’s crooked racket, even if it means breaking the law.

    WHY I LOVE IT:
    Like Raoul Walsh’s 1940 film “They Drive by Night,” Dassin’s drama deals with the hard-line culture of rig drivers who transport goods and produce from state to state, often at great risk to their health and livelihood, and their connection to underworld crime. Cobb is terrific as the pitiless Figlia, and Conte is stalwart as the war vet whose quest for vengeance leads him down a dangerous path-away from alienated fiancée Polly (Barbara Lawrence) and into the arms of prostitute Rica, played by the luscious Valentina Cortesa. Dassin’s second to last film before his blacklist-related exile in France, “Highway” is road noir at its redline best.

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