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Reviews
The Search (1948)
What a movie!! My eyes are red and swollen...
In my family a great movie is one where you come out of the theatre all in tears. This is a great movie. All the sorrows and pathos of your day-to-day existence are purged in this movie. Nothing you may complain about will equal Mrs. Malik's sorrow of losing her family and getting so close to finding her child Karel. The last scene where she leaves for Palestine (pre-1948 Israel) and ....... yes there he is!!! Already I am sniffling as I write this. You will need at least one full box of Kleenex for this if not two. Aline MacMahon is so good in this film. Montgomery Clift is a warmhearted GI that we remember from WWII (The Big One, guys). Wendel Corey is an excellent support. Jarmila Novotna was a great Czech opera singer at the Met and she shines in this film. But Ivan Jandl will rip your heart out with those big blue eyes of his - oy!! See it and do not be ashamed to leave the theatre in tears. A lovely film, so enjoy!!
Hold That Ghost (1941)
One of the best of A&C series!!
A very good comedy with a superb supporting cast: Joan Davis, Mischa Auer, Evelyn Ankers (Queen of the Screamers), The Andrews Sisters and Ted Lewis. Where else can you see Ted Lewis and Chester Davis in the inimitable "Me and My Shadow" routine? "Is Everybody Happy" and "When My Baby Smiles at Me" are sooo campy!! The Andrews Sisters are fantastic as always with "Down by the Banks of the Ohio" and "Aurora" A & C always had great supporting entertainment to take up the slack and this movie has some of the best. Joan Davis is hilarious as always.Richard Carlsen is a monumental bore. The candle scene is right next to "Who's on First" in terms of the A & C classic routines You never get tired of this zany classic!
Apa (1966)
A man's search for his father helps him discover himself
A good film with a nice flow. The beginning shows Hungary devastated by the war and the postwar reconstruction with its communist government. Our hero (Szabo, Istvan) is clearly determined to find out what he can about his father who died young.All he knows is that he was a doctor and perhaps he was an honoured victim of fascism. He never really finds out but his relationship with his mother, his friends and his Jewish girl friend (of course she has to be Jewish - he is the sheygetz) will make him totally independent of this need to find all about Apa or Father. The movie shows a film being made involving the Holocaust and it is a terrific sequence making the extras walk back and forth and back and forth over the bridge to get them miserable and exhausted - an original idea. This film is good and I have seen it several times without being bored.
Groundhog Day (1993)
A perfect tale of redemption
I am totally flabbergasted and delighted to see the amazing number of comments here that agree with me that Groundhog Day is one of the greatest films ever made - yup, pure and simple it is right there at the top. The redemption of a slime-ball weatherman who will become a first class mensch is so like the story of Ebenezer Scrooge and is so well done without heavy moralizing or propagandizing. Bravo to a first class team who made this first class movie. Yes, I can watch this movie over and over again and enjoy it even more than the first time.
Bill Murray"s character's sense of utter desolation is priceless when he says ,"And the worst of it is that tomorrow you will not even remember this.." He brings to us this message of how important it is to avoid that tragedy of a meaningless life.
This is a great movie indeed.
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
A collage of Capote Characters
Breakfast at Tiffany's is a delicious film - a treat for anyone who has an eye and ear for sophisticated New York comedy. It is kinda dated - no blacks nor hispanics, and one can sit in a relatively safe Central Park - how did they film that breakfast in front of the Tiffany's window without getting mugged? hhmmm oh well. Everyone dresses like a mensch, so you can see this film pre-dates the Beatles. Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Mickey Rooney, Buddy Ebsen and Patricia Neal are perfect in their respective roles. Audrey Hepburn was a marvellous Holly Golightly; although perhaps Marilyn Monroe might have been excellent, but we shall never know and who cares? George Peppard was perfect in his role of Paul Varjak. He never tries to overshadow Holly and yet he turns out to be quite a tower of strength for her at the end. Buddy Ebsen was great as the bewildered and good Dr. Golightly who is genuinely loved by Lulamae Barnes i.e. our Holly.
But.....I adored Mickey Rooney's Mr. Yunioshi, since I live in Japan and Mickey Rooney gives a slapstick rendition of all the stereotyped Japanese we admire. No one has such horrible buck teeth and I have yet to find a Japanese who talks like Mr. Yunioshi but hey it's funny!!! I kept laughing till my sides hurt at the opening scene when Yunioshi takes his own picture. No, Japanese men are not that myopic either, really!!! The party at Holly's apartment is fabulous - the cheap tawdry phonies are all there and Martin Balsam.'s O.J. Berman starts off as a true slime ball but later on shows a genuine worth when Holly is in trouble with the law. There are no real boring moments except I felt uncomfortable with Patricia Neal's character - but that is because Neal is so good at it, that we do feel uncomfortable with her. A great film and the music is sooooo good.
PS LOVED that cat!!!
Counsellor at Law (1933)
A yiddisher boychik comes home where he belongs
One of my all-time favorite movies. John Barrymore the ultimate WASP gives a stunning performance as the assimilated wealthy Jewish successful lawyer. He finds himself on a higher level than that of the scum he believed it was worth aspiring to. An unfaithful arrogant wife, spoiled rotten step-children are forgettable personages here. Look for the genuine types: Gold-Hearted Momma Simon who "has plenty time!", the Irish ward heeler who has a lovable spot for Momma Simon, the former crook who saves the day for Mr. Simon, Momma Becker whose son "got such a "klopp"; on the head!" and the son who is the street corner revolutionary (in other words the Mr. Simon who did not succeed). The unforgettable scenes: The discovery of his wife's worthlessness and the "encounter" with Peter J. Malone whose illegitmate son makes Mr. Simon legitimate. Am I telling too much? You'll never get enough of this movie - Foist Kless - voit' a milyun dollehs!