Furious on Film 06.07.06: Issue 44
Posted by Arnold Furious on 06.07.2006
Classics Live: Nine parts for Alec Guinness and four Marx Brothers along for the ride...
The aim of this ongoing column was simple. I've been watching films for a long, long time but along the way I've somehow found myself watching some absolute crap on a regular basis. I've seen every episode of A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th and Halloween. Is there any real need for that? Should I have seen Catwoman? Batman and Robin? Tank Girl? I'm appalled at my own decisions. So I'm now on a crusade to try and be more adult about my film watching. It's time to spread my wings and watch a wider range of films. The biggest problem I've encountered when taking on this challenge is my choices of viewing material aren't always at the level I'd hope for. There are times when I abandon my high and mighty campaign and instead watch whatever my brain decides I need. This can happen at any time but I'll still try to keep up a turnover of films that are challenging in some way.
Seeing as I'm getting close the aim is to do something different for Furious on Film #50. Any suggestions? Maybe a Top 50 type list column? Give me a shout with some ideas and I'll give it some thought. Best idea thus far is for a Top 50 Directors column. Could well be tricky but not impossible. Any other thoughts?
Warning – could well contain minor spoilers throughout. Films are rated on a ***** scale. This week we have…
The Last Waltz, The Ladykillers, Kind Hearts and Coronets, Shadow of a Doubt, Duck Soup
The Last Waltz (1978)
EXPECTATIONS – Martin Scorsese, as I'm sure I've mentioned before, is my favourite director based almost entirely on the fact that Goodfellas is my favourite film. That said I've not seen everything he's done. The Last Waltz was a film I was generally avoiding because it's a documentary about The Band. I don't particularly like The Band. Although there are some quality guest stars on the concert footage like Muddy Waters and Eric Clapton that kind of swayed me into wanting to see it.
PLOT – None as such as the entire film is a documentation of The Band's final gig in San Francisco and the various guest stars that appear intertwined with some comments from The Band themselves about why they're calling it quits after 16 years on the road.
OPINION – I can't believe a film this dull came from Martin Scorsese. He was obviously enamoured with the gig itself and thought it was so entertaining that he didn't need to add much to it. That's not quite my take on it because I generally don't care much for just watching bands play. If I wanted to see bands play I'd go to more concerts. There's not enough footage of the Band away from the stage. What is filmed is revealing with everyone looking very regretful. They look knackered and glad to be finishing with this way of life. It's sad in a way to see a group that had so much success look so incredibly jaded. To the point where they felt they couldn't tour anymore. That part I actually quite enjoyed. But the gig itself is a big slap on the back for the Band as they invite out various stars to play with them. The biggest of which is Bob Dylan who joins them at the very end to play a few songs. Considering they used to play together all the time there's no chemistry at all and there's almost a sense of cold, detachedness about the whole thing. Dylan isn't the only one going through the motions. Several of the other stars involved look either bored or disinterested (or high). Of course Muddy Waters manages to do his thing like a consummate professional even if he's not there in spirit. I found myself fast forwarding the majority of The Band's solo stuff because I just wasn't interested in it. That's the problem with watching a documentary on something you don't particularly enjoy. You're hoping for something you can understand. A reason to really get into the concert footage. But the interview segments just drove me further away from being interested in the concert. Interesting though they are it's hard to get past a bunch of musicians that don't want to play music anymore because it's such a chore. You want to try getting a job and working for a living. So what should be a celebration of a career winds up as a morose study of how crap it is to be in a successful band. My heart bleeds.
BEST BIT – Muddy. Or maybe Joni Mitchell who have the two best performances for entirely different reasons.
RATING - *. Some of the music was entertaining but the direction was nonexistent, which I just don't expect from Scorsese. By the end I was glad it was over and that The Band were gone. Unless you REALLY dig your music I wouldn't bother with this.
The Ladykillers (1955)
EXPECTATIONS – Written by William Rose who also penned It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, which was one of my favourite films growing up. The great cast includes Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Hebert Lom and Frankie Howerd. Almost a who's who of British comedy at the time. The Ladykillers was one of the big films from Ealing Studios, which churned out hits during the 40's and 50's. Alex Guinness is best remembered for his role as Obi Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars trilogy but also starred in big budget successes like Lawrence of Arabia, Bridge on the River Kwai, Doctor Zhivago and a series of successful British films like Kind Hearts and Coronets (which is next), Great Expectations, Oliver Twist and the Lavender Hill Mob. He reportedly hated working on Star Wars and hated getting fan mail for something he detested working on. Having said that he was a big fan of the Simpsons so he can't be all bad!
PLOT – Five criminals plot to steal cash from a secure truck from the nearby house of an elderly lady named Mrs Wilberforce (Katie Johnson). The leader Professor Marcus (Alec Guinness) rents a room at her house and invites the others over to help organise the job under the guise of a string quartet. The robbery is successful but Mrs Wilberforce discovers evidence of it resulting in the gang deciding to bump her off in order to make their escape.
OPINION – The Ladykillers isn't just a film about trying to kill a little old lady. It's a metaphor for English society in post war Britain. The criminals are the new breed of Englishmen, opportunist and ambitious in the light of their victory in WWII. Meanwhile Mrs Wilberforce represents the status quo of England, and the olden Victorian way of doing the right thing with honour. Professor Marcus is the criminal mastermind behind this caper and he's joined by Claude (Cecil Parker), Harry (Peter Sellers), Louis (Herbert Lom) and One-Round (Danny Green). Each character has different character flaws. Claude is possibly the greediest of the bunch while Louis the most cold hearted. One-Round is clearly the dimmest. It's his error that leads to Mrs Wilberforce's discovery and moves the film in a different direction. In fact it was all too easy for the gang before his foul up. The robbery is a fun but quick set piece before the escape is somewhat hindered by Mrs Wilberforce getting into an argument with barrow boy Frankie Howerd who's funny as ever despite having little to work with. The dark comedy of the Ladykillers is way ahead of it's time. Mrs Wilberforce is so charming and dainty that it should be no problem for the gang to sweep her to one side and make their escape. However this becomes increasingly tricky because even though this is a new era of Britain the same code of honour applies and all of them, even Louis, find the idea of killing a little old lady to be distasteful. The result is a comedy of errors seeing the criminals pit against each other over the situation and some of the darkest humour comes into play as bodies are disposed of onto trains coming out of nearby St Pancras station. Herbert Lom and Alec Guinness are particularly good while Peter Sellers is almost shunted into a relatively obscure third string part. Quite the surprise to see such a genius of the comedy world being treated in such a fashion but everyone has to start somewhere.
BEST BIT – "Come, One-Round, Major Courtney has a train to catch"
RATING - ****. Hard to see why they'd need to re-make this. The Coen Brothers have way too many original ideas to feel the urge to steal from 50's British comedies surely? I probably won't see the re-make much like I'll be avoiding a lot of the forthcoming re-makes that Hollywood seems insistent on doing.
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
EXPECTATIONS – From director Robert Hamer who made only a dozen feature films before dying just after the successful School for Scoundrels in the early 60's aged a mere 52. This is his most famous work by some distance and regarded as his masterpiece. Stars Dennis Price in his most famous role. Although in his later years he appeared in a great deal of horror movies. Also stars Alec Guinness playing no less than EIGHT parts. All of which are very different and one of which is a woman. Regarded as Ealing's best comedy it's also it's darkest. Even darker than The Ladykillers.
PLOT – Louis Mazzini (Dennis Price) is a distant relative of the Duke of Chalfont. His mother having been cut out of the Chalfont family fortune for marrying a commoner. The d'Ascoyne family have a high and mighty attitude towards Mazzini at first but he's determined to become the Duke of Chalfont himself and not to be denied his birth right he goes about killing the entire d'Ascoyne clan. He also develops a complex love life as he attempts to woo to former wife of Henry d'Ascoyne, who died at Mazzini's hands, and continue his affair with Sibella (Joan Greenwood), his childhood friend, who is married to a client of the d'Ascoyne family bank. That becomes Mazzini's job once he sneaks into the family business as another relative, the Banker's son, died. Also at Mazzini's hands.
OPINION – The film opens with Mazzini in jail awaiting execution. He's become the Duke of Chalfont so the only remaining story to tell is exactly how this came about and subsequently how he was caught out. The remainder of the tale is told in flashback with Mazzini telling the yarn. And it is a ripping yarn complete with an assortment of oddball characters from Alec Guinness. There's Duke Ethelred d'Ascoyne who is subtle as a brick and fond of hunting, the elderly unnamed Banker who appears to be genuinely 80 or so years old despite being played by a relatively sprightly Guinness, Reverend Lord Henry d'Ascoyne the pious drunkard and another drunkard in the shape of young Henry d'Ascoyne who's snared by his love of photography. Mazzini finds a way to get to all of them. My only real quandary with Kind Hearts and Coronets is that Mazzini in his pursuit of getting rid of the troublesome and hoity toity d'Ascoyne family Mazzini becomes one of them. You end up hating him far more than the other d'Ascoyne characters. They've always been assholes but Mazzini has become one during the course of the film and doesn't seem to care/notice. I guess that's the point of Kind Hearts and Coronets as it's got certain Animal Farm overtones. As an Ealing comedy it's very dry and cynical. Not to mention extremely dark. You don't get a lot of comedies about serial killing these days. Nor do you often get films where one actor plays eight parts. And Guinness does such a terrific job of all of them. They all seem to come to life in their own way. His use of body language is tremendous. Like many other film fans of my generation Alec Guinness is Obi Wan Kenobi and that's all I know him for. Even though I've seen him in other things he has one of these faces that just blends into the crowds. I think it's his anonymity that allows him such range in the characters he's able to portray. After seeing Kind Hearts and Coronets as well as the Ladykillers I have a fresh sense of appreciation for Alec Guinness's abilities as an actor.
BEST BIT – Louis walks out into the fresh air and is quizzed about having his memoirs published, then realises his crucial mistake.
RATING - ****1/2. This really is a marvellous film. It's wholly amoral, dishonourable and unprincipled. At one point Louis goes hunting with the Duke and claims he wouldn't take part because blood sport offends his principles (after killing half a dozen of the Duke's relatives). That's the level of humour on display. Dark and uncompromising.
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
EXPECTATIONS – Every time I sit down to watch an Alfred Hitchcock film I just know I'm in for a treat whether it's Rear Window, The Birds, North By Northwest, Vertigo, Strangers on a Train or whatever. Hitchcock is a master at building the story up to the point where the tension is almost too much for you. He likes you to creep towards the edge of seat and then stay there for a while. Tense. Shadow of a Doubt is the highest rated Hitchcock film I've not seen. Although that's down to individual opinion I used the list off imdb.com as a reference point. Shadow of a Doubt comes in at #8 just marginally ahead of The Lady Vanishes, which is now the highest rated Hitchcock film I've never seen. Hitchcock made 55 feature films. I've probably seen about a dozen of them. But then that was one of the reasons for doing Furious on Film. I knew there were a bunch of classic films I'd never seen and it was about damn time I sat down and checked some of them out. Shadow of a Doubt suffered the remake syndrome in 1991 when Mark Harmon took over the central role and the directional controls went over to Karen "True Women" Arthur. I've not seen that particular remake but I imagine it sucks balls. It also got a remake in the 50's as Step Down to Terror with the central character going slightly more OTT.
PLOT – Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten) goes to stay with his sister in an attempt to dodge police officers who are pursuing him in connection with the Merry Widow killings out East. The hints are there that Uncle Charlie isn't such a nice guy but he does have an instant rapport with his niece, also called Charlie (Teresa Wright). The two form a strong bond and it's the younger Charlie who first warns off outsiders from bothering her nice Uncle Charlie. But she's also the first in the family to become suspicious of him…
OPINION – According to Hitchcock's daughter Shadow of a Doubt was his favourite film, of his own creation. He apparently loved the idea of a small town being in love with a man who was in fact a menace. Uncle Charlie's evil goes unseen by the majority of those in quiet Santa Rosa, California. Hitchcock filmed in Santa Rosa because it's a typical small town where everyone knows each other. The younger Charlie, for example, already knows the majority of people in the town. It's like a 50's sitcom. But Uncle Charlie isn't like anything out of a sitcom. He has a criminal mind and a charming personality. He's able to charm his way out of any situation with a few words. He's also not careful about what he says though. It's how he says it. When he jokes with Joseph (Henry Travers) about embezzlement over the counter at the bank where Joseph works he simply doesn't care if he gets Joseph into trouble. Even though he's married to Charlie's sister. He tries to pass it off as a joke to the younger Charlie who's quite appalled with him for his choice of words but he really doesn't care. That becomes all the more apparent when he meets the bank's manager and continues to talk down to him. It's like everything and everyone in Santa Rosa is entirely beneath him and he opts to be a nice bastard rather than a complete prick because he knows the cops are watching. I like the use of Joseph to offset Charlie's attitude. Joseph is a good guy who's gotten everything through hard work while Charlie gained his fortune by cheating and stealing. Joseph's only minor character quirk is his obsession with murder. He has a friend called Herb (Hume Cronyn) who comes over to discuss potential ways to kill each other over dinner. Charlie simply ignores this but as the film goes on and young Charlie realises what Uncle Charlie is capable of she starts to get somewhat unnerved at all the talk of death sending her into a rant over the dinner table. Uncle Charlie is a hard part to play. It would have been easy to turn it into an evil caricature but Cotten is wary of that and holds back on his darker side even towards the end when it's obvious that he's a callous murderer. He continues to show elements of devotion towards his niece but tempers that with a cold withdrawn side to his nature. It's a towering performance and Cotten is the centre of attention every time he appears much like Uncle Charlie is in any crowd.
BEST BIT – Little Ann Newton's phone manner claiming she couldn't remember a telegram for her mother because she was "trying to keep my mind free of things that don't matter because I have so much on my mind. Oh, innumerable things". Ann is about 8.
RATING - ****3/4. The ending doesn't quite do it for me. I just think there were other potential routes that weren't so very stereotypical. Maybe it's slightly more satisfying and leaves the cinema viewer to go home happier but I think it hurts the vibe of the film to have such a tacked on ending. Apart from that it's fried gold all the way.
Duck Soup (1933)
EXPECTATIONS – I told you it was classic this week. The Marx Brothers aren't something I was really into when I was younger. Charlie Chaplin, yes, Laurel and Hardy, yes, Buster Keaton, yes but the Marx Brothers weren't something I ever got into. Maybe it was Groucho's painted on moustache or Harpo's blonde afro. There must have been something that was off putting. As a result I don't really have a fondness for them. I figured it was probably time to check out at least one Marx Brothers film and Duck Soup is the one that gets name dropped the most. Other top Marx Brothers flicks include A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races, Animal Crackers and Monkey Business. I get the feeling that Duck Soup had the widest scope of all their films.
PLOT – Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho) becomes leader of Freedonia and proceeds to run the country into the ground leading them into war with neighbouring Sylvania. Their spies are sent to find out more about Rufus and end up interacting with him for the remainder of the film. The spies being Chicolini (Chico) and Pinky (Harpo). The boring Marx brother Zeppo plays one of Rufus' generals only appearing for the odd song and dance. Rufus must convince Mrs Gloria Teasdale (Margaret Dumont) to back him as leader or he's finished. That or killed in the resulting war where the Ambassador of Sylvania, who spends the entire film acting as if he rules the country, decides to lead them into battle as well.
OPINION – Half the gags in Duck Soup are hilarious. I was rolling around chuckling. Half the time. The other half of the time they barely make sense and just die. Either Groucho was making references to something topical, which is dated and therefore redundant, or it's just not funny. But the 50-50 split is pretty strong considering how everything but Chaplin from the same era seems to die of old age. Groucho reels off one liners like a stand up comic throughout Duck Soup like; "I got a good mind to join a club and beat you over the head with it", "You're a brave man. Go and break through the lines. And remember, while you're out there risking your life and limb through shot and shell, we'll be in be in here thinking what a sucker you are" and "Well, that covers a lot of ground. Say, you cover a lot of ground yourself. You better beat it - I hear they're going to tear you down and put up an office building where you're standing. You can leave in a taxi. If you can't get a taxi, you can leave in a huff. If that's too soon, you can leave in a minute and a huff. You know, you haven't stopped talking since I came here? You must have been vaccinated with a phonograph needle". Brilliant stuff, when it hits. Far more of Chico's one liners fall short like the Dollars, Taxes gag. It's also a bit odd that they break into song for no reason every now and again. It doesn't have a musical feel to it then suddenly BLAMMO you're in the middle of a song and dance routine. Harpo's mime style antics are sporadically funny. Nothing compared to Groucho but his love of cutting things with a pair of scissors creates a great series of running gags. That's the thing with Duck Soup, even if half the material falls flat there's another gag along in a few seconds and you might like that one better. The best set piece they conjure together sees Groucho impersonated by both Harpo and Chico with painted on moustaches of their very own leading to two of the three, I really couldn't tell which ones by this point, doing a scene where Groucho thinks he's looking into a mirror but it's really, Harpo? Running around on the other side. Fantastic series of sight gags reeled off one after another.
BEST BIT – "Clear? Huh. Why a four-year-old child could understand this report. Run out and find me a four-year-old child, I can't make head or tail of it" – Groucho strikes again.
RATING - ***3/4. Funny but somewhat uneven comedy. Groucho is the star with some fantastic comedy set pieces. His costume changes during the war sequences were enough to raise a chuckle on their own as he switched between uniforms between scenes and ended up dressed as Davey Crockett. Harpo promptly trims the back off his hat with the ever handy pair of scissors. Running gags are the best. Apparently the best Marx Brothers film it was banned in Italy by Benito Mussolini who took the film as a personal attack upon himself. The Marx Brothers were reportedly delighted by said news.
ELSEWHERE –
Lots of love for Superman and Jaws sequels on the 411 this week. Sirois has Superman III analysis. While Will Helm looks at Jaws IV. I'd rather not. Each to their own.
As per usual Leonard Hayhurst checks in with Ask 411 Movies. Back to the Future quotes ahoy this week. "I'll have a Pepsi Free". "If you want a Pepsi you'll have to pay for it".
Meanwhile Matthew Mills reviews Category 7. I saw that piece of shit. Or at least half of it. Unlucky dude.
I review stuff in the wrestling section too yanno. Hit up this English offering and Starrcade '93. Neither show is any good but that's why there are reviewers.
And OF COURSE you should read Cris Murphy and his Warped News even if he has a distinct lack of titty last week.
In joint efforts I was actually in the June Roundtable for the movies so you should check that out. And also the Top Five to see how grossly over rated Silence of the Lambs is.
NEXT – The Philadelphia Story, Monster's Ball, It Happened One Night, Killing Me Softly.
