HELLCATS OF THE NAVY (1957)

If this was meant to be a tribute to U.S. submarine crews it is totally unworthy of them. To be honest I always thought the film was about Navy fliers - how wrong could I be? The main interest in this boring film today is the co-starring of Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis who later resided in The White House. Reagan's performance is actually the best thing about the film being solid and reliable in a B-list John Wayne sort of way. Nancy, on the other hand, is pretty awful. The film just lacks any spark of life which may be because of the active involvement of the U.S. Navy - even the usually reliable Arthur Franz looks bored stiff throught. Directed by Nathan "Hertz" Juran - the man who brought us ATTACK OF THE FIFTY FOOT WOMAN, a movie of infinitely higher artistic achievement that HELLCATS. Dull, dull, dull. Rating *



The Trailer is better than the film.

THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES (1940)

I've been a Vincent Price fan for about fifty years and have seen most of his films. THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES, based on Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel and directed by Joe May (a German who had been influential in the early career of Fritz Lang) has until now eluded me. Now its here and it is pretty much what I expected given all the ingredients such as cast, director, year and studio. It is good solid Hollywood fare of the 40's. True to the spirit, if not the word, of Hawthorne's work and bearing absolutely no relationship to the later version (also starring Vincent Price) which was included as a segment of the portmanteau film TWICE TOLD TALES. Margaret Lindsay is excellent and George Sanders is despicably good but I expect that most people will by the film for Vincent Price as the wronged Clifford Pyncheon - framed for patricide by his evil brother. Fans won't be disappointed and Price goes from romantic to tormented to vengeful by way of hysterical (some wonderful manic laughter during the courtroom scene) and even manages to sing a song along the way Rating ***

THIRTEEN DAYS (2000)

Culp and Greenwood

Roger Donaldson's THIRTEEN DAYS is a totally engrossing account of the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Although, thank God, we all - at least those of us who were around at the time - lived to know the outcome, the film loses none of its suspense showing the closest we ever came to atomic conflict. Kevin Costner produces and takes the roll of John F.Kennedy's closest aide but in terms of acting the great plus of the movie are the performances of, respectively, Bruce Greenwood and Steven Culp as John and Robert Kennedy. Culp strikes just the right note as Bobby while Greenwood superbly portrays Jack Kennedy's quiet strength and humanity - especially in scenes with his military men who seem all to eager to plunge the world into a nuclear war. Kennedy, fifty years later, is rightly remembered as a great President (while only twelve months after leaving office, George W.Bush is judged by most of the world as a buffoon). There truly were giants in those days. On a lesser note there are striking similarities with IN THE LOOP (the phrase is actually used in the film) but, of course, without the laughs. Rating ***

Rise in glory ?

I hate to be the bearer of potentially bad news but it has just been announced that AVATAR star Sam Worthington will be the latest of a long line of actors to play Bram Stoker's Count Dracula. Why bad news? Well, look at the guy! What is more worrying is that the film, which is to be directed by Alex Proyas - who brought us DARK CITY and I AM LEGEND - and which will be called DRACULA YEAR ZERO refers to Dracula in the press release as a "romantic anti-hero". I'll repeat that, "A ROMANTIC ANTI-HERO" which rather tends to tell you where this film is going. Romantic? Well, there is often a tendency to emphasise romance of sorts in vampire films and I'm sure that it is no coincidence that this film comes along at the height of the TWILIGHT frenzy but I have a yearning for the the path rarely taken where vampires belong to the Max Schreck fan club and have bad breath and rat-like qualities - think of the wonderful Radu in the SUBSPECIES series. We've had romance before and it was done fairly well in both the Langella and Oldman interpretations but let's either get back to basics or...and here's a thought...why not get Frank Langella back to play the Count as written by Stoker? I suspect that Proyas is going back to Vlad the Impaler and the origins of Dracula and that may be a good thing. We'll see.

PERFUME : THE STORY OF A MURDERER (2006)

Once Upon a Time...so begins Tom Twyker's film based on Patrick Suskind's novel "Das Parfum" but we are not in Hans Anderson territory here. The Brothers Grimm were a darker shade but this film goes to a very dark place indeed. Within seconds of the film beginning I found myself thinking "Oh, no, let's not go there!" But we do, again and again. I genuinely felt uncomfortable with this film. Set in 18th Century France it tells the story of Jean-Baptiste, born quite literally in filth who grows up with an almost supernatural sense of smell and becomes obsessed with creating the perfect perfume. Sounds romantic? No, this is a horror film far more horrible and disturbing than any more obvious genre piece produced in tinsel town. Twyker has no mercy on his audience, our expectaions are shattered, our stomach's tested. There is no relief for the characters either as one by one there closeness to Jean-Baptiste decides their fate - one character achieves his moment of complete happiness only to have his house collapse on him!The tone of the film is set b John Hurt's off-screen narration and the unhurried pace that Twyker allows himself to unfold his tale. The film's three central performances are superb from Tom Whishaw's Jean-Baptiste - totally devoid of any human emotion and dedicated to his exceedingly unpleasant quest, to Dustin Hoffman's wonderful Perfumier and Alan Rickman's voice of reason. The climax of the film took an unexpected turn that I certainly didn't see coming and was unsure about but oddly it works. The great Luis Bunuel would have adored the final reel (and, no doubt the whole film). Great photograph, locations, set design, music etc all add to the final result. Others may not go as far but I think it one of the best films I've seen for a long time. Rating ****

Actor Pernell Roberts, fondly remembered as the oldest of the Cartwright Brothers in the classic television Western series BONANZA has died, age 81. Roberts went on to star in the series TRAPPER JOHN M.D. He was the last of the BONANZA cast to day, having been proceeded by Dan Blocker, Michael Landon and Lorne Greene.

PERNELL ROBERTS 1928 - 2008

R.I.P.

And as WILD BILL HICKOK we present...

James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok has been played on the screen by lots of actors - some as unlikely as Howard Keel, Guy Madison, Forrest Tucker and Charles Bronson. Sam Elliott was a better choice in BUFFALO GIRLS and Keith Carradine was pretty good (although I have reservations) in the television show DEADWOOD. But for me the best of the lot was Jeff Bridges in the film WILD BILL. The movie was halfway to being a great Western (the first half) but the performance by Bridges was inspired. Here's Wild Bill himself.....

.....and here is Jeff Bridges in the role.


Convincing? I'll leave you to decide.