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How to Murder Your Wife (1965)
It's a Comedy - Enjoy!
First saw this film when it was new and when I was about 15. I thoroughly enjoyed it then, and still do, some 57+ years later. Stereotypes abound, but it is a comedy in spite of its title, and as such uses that broad painting of the human condition to make its point.
The always wonderful Lemmon's character has an idyllic bachelor's life as a successful syndicated newspaper cartoonist until it's turned on its head in a moment of weakness when he ends up married to a more than gorgeous Italian bombshell, the incredibly stunning Virna Lisi. His life is turned on its head, with the help of the meddling wife, played to a "T" by the incomparable Claire Trevor, of his bumbling and hen-pecked lawyer (Eddie Mayeoff -- channeling a bit of Paul Ford, perhaps).
After hatching a plan with his mysogynistic butler (Terry-Thomas in a tour-de-force performance) to vicariously rid himself of the source of his troubles, he ends up in court for a crime he didn't commit. No spoilers here, but it is a comedy.
Screenplay by George Axlerod, who had a keen eye for the foibles of the modern man and his dealings with life and love. And wonderful direction that has just the right touch for this sort of thing by Richard Quine -- just check out the scene where Mrs. Ford discovers her alter-ego has been "done in".
Also includes some great New York City scenery from the mid-1960s along with a pitch-perfect score by Neal Hefti.
Don't take it too seriously, those involved didn't, and have some fun for a couple of hours.
The Best House in London (1969)
Many Too Serious Here
This is British sex farce that puts all others to shame -- except there is no shame here.
If you can accept it for what it was -- not what it isn't, now -- and resist being revisionist about it, then you can enjoy it in spite of yourself. The ladies are lovely, the stories are silly and the acting is more than adequate throughout. Appreciation of it is helped if you were in at least your late adolescence when it was made, in 1969, can still remember what society and culture were like then, and haven't yet lost your sense of humor and the absurd. And to see the sets from "Oliver" and "Scrooge" in a decidedly different kind of film only adds to the enjoyment.
It's also worthwhile considering it as a Joanna Pettet double-feature, with the other one being Casino Royale (1967), which is also guaranteed to offend many currently but is still worth a watch to fully appreciate those times and mores. Might want to give "Barbarella" a look, too, for a David Hemmings tie-in.
The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970)
Robards and Peckinpah in Fine Form
Charming story about a down-on-his-luck prospector who makes good (sort of) when he discovers a way to succeed in the desert. Robards is the compleat good guy, reminiscent his portrayal of Cheyenne in "Once Upon a Time in the West", as he deals with a delightful Stella Stevens, also in fine form -- and doing a stellar acting turn-- and the vicissitudes of making a business out of nothing. Great supporting cast, including Slim Pickens as a stagecoach hostler, David Warner as a sinful preacher, and Strother Martin and L. Q. Jones, who create troubles for him, or try to, but having bit snake-bit once, he's ready for them the second time. Great scenic photography in the Nevada desert adds to the story as the advent and perils of the modern age prevail.
Rage (1966)
Unexpectedly Good
Watched this on TCM recently and was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. Glenn Ford was always the consummate professional in all his works, even his earliest ones, so an impressive performance from him was not much of a shock. He portrays an alcoholic physician in an out-of-the-way village in Mexico that currently is home to a highway construction crew. Stella Stevens gives a fully-formed and more-than-believable and convincing performance as a member of an itinerant band of musicians/entertainers/hookers who attempts to lure Ford back from the depths of his boozy despair. The supporting cast of Mexican actors and actresses is also strong, and I didn't catch any of them "acting". Filmed entirely in Mexico (Durango area as I understand it) with a Mexican production company, and the gritty environs are decidedly a part of the grubby ambience of the film, but there are landscapes of great beauty in the film as well.
Argo (2012)
Stranger than fiction
For those reviewers who haven't realized it, entertainment enterprises (films, Broadway, publishing, etc.) love stories about their own businesses or that involve their own businesses, especially when they put those businesses in a good light. A best picture Oscar is seldom out of reach when preaching to the choir.
Argo is a tightly-paced thriller based on real events during the Iranian revolution in 1979 (as those of us who lived through them know all too well). While it may not be always strictly factual and takes liberties with some of the events for the sake of its story-telling, that in no way diminishes its ability to hold our interest and raise our anxiety level as the events unfold.
Good acting all around, with Alan Arkin and John Goodman especially convincing as a pair of Hollywood manipulators putting all their skills to good use to help the U. S. out of a jam.
Definitely worth watching.
The Rockford Files: Nice Guys Finish Dead (1979)
But these nice guys will always be with us
Played for laughs and there are plenty of them in this one, one of the best in the last season of a wonderful series. Great reprised performances by Tom Selleck as Lance White, as perfect as always, James Whitmore, Jr. As Freddie Beamer, the penultimate nebbish and Simon Oakland as the overbearing Vern St. Cloud. Rockford does his best but comes up short in this one, perhaps Beamer's incompetence has affected his abilities. This episode has all the elements, skillfully presented, that made The Rockford Files so good in its day and still enjoyable and worth watching forty-four years later. Erica Hagen as the ridiculously named hypnotist Brandy Alexander adds to the fun. Try to not get as distracted by her as Beamer did. Definitely worth a watch.
Bewitched: A Most Unusual Wood Nymph (1966)
A spritely episode
One of the best and a good fit for the first color season, given Kathy Nolan's "Irish" good looks. My family were devotees of The Real McCoys, Ms. Nolan's earlier, popular series but I never realized until this episode how attractive she was. And a good trip back in time to olde Eire for the always gorgeous Sam in her period costume, although her California tan looks a bit out of place there.
Elizabeth Is Missing (2019)
Nothing missing here
A gripping story of an older woman's struggle with her current spells of dementia and her memories of an earlier, unresolved tragedy in her life, as she tries to convince those around her that her friend is, indeed, missing. Ms. Jackson's portrayal of Maud is nothing short of revelatory in its grasp of the extremes inherent in her condition as she moves back and forth between present and past, from lucidity to uncertainty. Extradordinary work in its insight and depth. Highly recommended.
Bewitched: Sisters at Heart (1970)
Time passes but things remain the same
December 2020
This episode was broadcast 50 years ago and we've come far, yet much remains the same. Let's hope the next 50 years are such an improvement in race relations that the racism shown here will be unknown.