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Reviews
Flamingo Road (1949)
Joan in another gutsy role
I find it amusing to see Joan at her age playing a carny cooch dancer. Notice that she is dressed in black when you first see her, so your eyes immediately travels to her swinging & swaying. (do you serve fries with that shake?) This is not the first time she has progressed from waitress wedgies to alligator pumps in a movie. She falls for a local "Johnny law," only to incur the wrath of the town's mayor, played by Sydney Greenstreet, who resemble a scrotum with legs. His laugh is something you'd hear on an obscene phone call. He doesn't like poor Joan & gives her a hard time at every turn. I like Gladys George as Lute Mae. the owner of a local road house (read as "brothel in disguise), who doesn't take guff from anyone. It's fun to watch, predictable, but fun.
With a Song in My Heart (1952)
I am now a happy camper
I am now a happy camper, as this wonderfully inspiring film is now on DVD. I had a copy off of TV, and the color & sound wasn't the best, but I made do until today. Miss Hayward has always been on of my favorite actresses, and she is surrounded in the biopic by a perfect cast of supporting players. David Wayne as her first husband & manager, Rory Calhoun as her second husband who she meets and falls in love with during the course of the movie, and the ever tart tongued Thelma Ritter, a nurse with a rough exterior, but a heart of gold. Also in the cast is a very young Robert Wagner, who has two wonderful scenes with Miss Hayward.
Miss Froman's story is an amazing one, from contract player to major star, and Miss Hayward is astonishing portraying her.
The Black Dahlia (2006)
too many plots spoil the soup
This could have easily been called "The Black Dull-ia." I gave it a three because of the production value. It seemed to be trying to imitate "Chinatown" and "L.A. Confidential," and failed on both counts. A word to Mr. Hartnett, stop mumbling & learn to emote, other than that scene when you break down and cry, your facial expression never varies. There were some interesting performances in this film, but none of them raised the clarity of the plot to a believable level. Everyime you turned around, someone else was adding more confusion. k.d. lang had an interesting cameo as a singer in a lesbian bar. This was a real waste of time.
Valley of the Dolls (1967)
Valley of the Dollars
I give this a "10," as a classic of how NOT to make a movie. I was in High School when THAT BOOK came out, and as tepid as it seems today, it was juicier than an over ripe pear back in those days. It was a real piece of trash, but between the people who read it openly & admitted it, and those who hid their copy in a shoe box in the closet, it was a runaway best seller. Now on to Hollywood & it's version of it. There was no way that all the lurid details of the book could be filmed, let alone get past the censors, so yes, it had to be watered down, which is OK, but this ended up drowning in a sea of bad dialog, scenery chewing acting & bad directing. All the leads are good in their roles, Patty Duke as the poor man's Judy Garland, Barbara Parkins as the poor man's Jacqueline Susann & the late Sharon taste as the poor man's Marilyn Monroe. Each of them has their crosses to bear & their own individuals Hells to wallow in. Patty attacks her role like a starving man at an all you can eat buffet, Barbara Parkins seems to glide through the movie as if in a trance, batting her eyes every so often to let us know she's still awake. Miss Tate does an admirable job as the doomed Jennifer North. The supporting cast with Susan Hayward as one of the Gorgon sisters, now rehearsing on Broadway for a musical named "Hit The Sky." (After seeing that giant mobile gyrating, it should have been called "Hit The Deck.") Lee Grant wears a sphinx like "hair don't" & spouts lines like "I'll go heat up the lasagna," and seems to lurk in the shadows waiting to pounce on anything that passes by. There's been much written & said about who was supposed to be who in this turgid melodrama, who was fired, etc., so i won't go into all of that. Let me suffice to say that 20th Century Fox finally came to their senses & released this on a 2 DVD set that is a hoot, grabs some friends, get out the Lipton Onion soup & sour cream dip, the cheese curls & fondue pot & make it an evening of unintentional hilarity.
Dancing Lady (1933)
MGM's answer to WB's musicals
As a whole, "Dancing Lady" isn't a really bad film, it just seems to lose it's direction at times. As a fellow "commentor" said, the musical numbers are but two, and the story line is familiar. Joan seems to be fine in her non-dancing parts, but when she hoofs it, she's far from graceful. She began on Broadway as a "pony" in the chorus line, so called because she was short. I'm sure she was good in the line, but her ability to hold her own is a bit questionable. Clark Gable seems to be in a constant state of aggravation, barking orders & yelling at people. May Robson is quite funny as Franchot Tone's dotty Grandmother. Franchot Tone is here for decoration. The "Heigh-Ho, the Gang's All Here/Let's Go Bavarian" number is clunky at best, with the former having shots of the emotionless chorines speaking their lines about "Let's all have beer." The songs in those numbers are dull and uninspired. The "Rhythm of the Day" number isn't bad, but there's never any big production value to it. The kaleidoscopic shots in the last few minutes of the film are very well done, it's just a shame that more of this imaginative camera work wasn't used earlier. look fast for Eve Arden as a "southern belle."
Hello, Dolly! (1969)
"Hello, Barbra!" was more like it
Don't get me wrong, I like La Streisand, it's just that she was as wrong for this part as Lucille Ball was for "Mame." Barbra was, and many others will agree with me, too young to play the part of a matchmaker. As I watch this film, I never get the feeling she knows what her character motivation was, it's like watching Barbra sing her way through this film, without any of the emotion that needs to be there. There are hints of her doing a Mae West imitation from time to time, then she slips back into her songstress role. Some of the numbers seem to go on a few minutes too long, minutes that s t r e t c h. The title tune and the one preceding are two of them. When she glides down the stairs in the Harmonia Gardens, why isn't she wearing the signature red dress? Why do directors (and of all people Gene Kelly) feel they need to change things that work just fine? Louis Armstrong was a great musician, but his part in this movie is just a token appearance, totally unnecessary. It's a shame, because the production design, set decoration and costumes are stunning, but the weakness of the two leads makes it all for naught. Cornelius, Barnaby, Eileen & Minnie Fay are the standouts.
The Broadway Melody (1929)
creaky but good
The Broadway Melody is, as I said, creaky but good. When you watch it you need to realize how primitive the camera and sound equipment were. Bessie Love is great as the tough as nails half of the Mahoney Sisters & Anita Page has some good scenes as Queenie. Ms Page went on to star with Joan Crawford in a few films, but it seems as if her career slowly faded. Bessie Love was Vivien Leigh's dresser in "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone," and her determined delivery comes through in that movie as well. It's a shame she wasn't in that film longer. I had to laugh at the chorus girls, bouncing on one foot off the stage, some one said they looked like they spent more time at the dessert bar than the ballet bar. If you get the DVD, watch the extras, "The Dogway Melody" is a riot & there's an Emcee named Harry Rose who flits about the stage & sings a song entitled "Frankfurter Sandwiches." (yes, you read that right!) For film buffs & fans alike, "Broadway Melody" is worth it.
Atlantis: The Lost Continent (1961)
not bad, could have been a lot better
"Atlantis, The Lost Continent," starts out rather interestingly enough, but it soon dovetails into cliché heaven. After seeing some other George Pal productions I was amazed and amused that this would be one of his lesser ventures. John Dall seems to be doing a quasi-imitation of the cartoon character "Snidely Whiplash," jeering and leering as needed. Barry Kroeger as the surgeon is appropriately evil & one can't help but cheer to see what happens to him in the end. The two main leads are adequate enough, let's face it, this isn't high drama, more like high camp. The film suffers from too much use of footage from other movies, "Quo Vadis" and "The Last days Of Pompei" come to mind, as well as passages from the film score from the original "Time Machine." I found myself laughing at the costumes, and I see in the credits that no one was named, and maybe it's a good thing. Edward Platt as the high priest is given the task if wearing a birthday cake on his head, while something that looks like a distant relative if "Big Bird," does double duty on a couple of heads. It's as if the designer (if there was one) couldn't decide on one style or period. It's a good "rainy afternoon film."