Christmas again...

Christmas again. I always tend to be a bit optimistic about the true message of Christmas. Luck many others I get sucked into the blatant commercialism but come to 11.3o on Christmas Eve when I wrap up against the cold and head of to church for the Midnight Mass I know that I have not forgotten what it is about. This year is more difficult. I have friends who are unemployed, a friend who is coping with his lady's descent into mental illness and I have just had to make one of the most painful decisions of my life. I still don't doubt the true meaning of Christmas and the message of Frank Capra's IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE seems particularly pertinent this year as the banks collapse and people lose theie homes and jobs. I just can't help feeling that, just perhaps, the alternative reading of IT A WONDERFUL LIFE as a sort of proto INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS where the expression on James Stewart's face athe finale is one of trapped desperation rather than joy seems more significant than usual.

Have a good Christmas and thanks for reading this blog. Hopefully next year I'll be able to get back to regular reviews. Stick with me,

4SJ DIES AGE 92.

It is with great regret I mark the death of Forrest J.Ackeman. Forry was an editor, collector, writer, journalist, actor, literary agent and through his groundbreaking magazine FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND was an inspiration to a whole generation. I don't propose to write a long tribute to the man as there will be many of those but Forry changed my life and the life of many of my friends by passing on his love of all things weird and fantastic in literature and the cinema. I was lucky enough to meet the great man in 1964 when we both attended the World Science Fiction Convention in London. A sad day for fans everywhere. Thanks for everything, Forry. RI.P. and Rise in glory!

HISTOIRES EXTRAORDINAIRES /Spirits of the Dead(1968)

I think that American International made a half-hearted attempt to sell this as part of their Edgar Allan Poe series but this French production is a very different kettle of fish. Three stories by Poe adapted by famous European directors with big name stars sounds like a sure fire recipe for a superior horror movie. The first episode is directed by Roger Vadim and is based on the tale "Metzegerstein" and stars brother and sister Peter and Jane Fonda. The biggest problem, as you might expect comes from Roger Vadim's usual non-direction but close behind comes the total impossibility of convincing anybody that Jane Fonda is some perverted Countess Bathory wanabe who is forever indulging in salacious orgies and such like - Fonda just looks so sweet and American and innocent even when clad in outrageous and revealing costumes and the dissolute orgies laughable. The second story is "William Wilson" Poe's doppelganger story which stars Alain Delon (who would return to the theme with much better results in Joseph Losey's MR. KLEIN) and is directed by Louis Malle, seemingly without any enthusiasm. Brigitte Bardot also appears but does little to raise the general blandness of the segment. The final and longest story is "Toby Dammit" based (supposedly) on Poe's "Never Bet the Devil your Head" directed by Federico Fellini. Now I'll happily shout from the rooftops that virtually everything that Fellini has done since I VITTELONI leaves me cold. But here he wins hands down. Not because I think his segment is particularly good but simply because the other two are so bland and uninteresting. Terence Stamp plays a wrecked drug addled actor at Cine-Citta who has a more than close encounter with the Devil in the shape of a small child bouncing a ball - an image that Fellini lifted from Mario Bava's OPERAZIONE PAURA made two years previously. At least Fellini steals from the best. Rating **

MAMMA MIA! (2008)

MAMMA MIA!, like THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW, GREASE and even DIRTY DANCING is pretty critic proof. People are just going to keep seeing it time and time again and it is a dead cert to join THE SOUND OF MUSIC on the sing-along circuit. And, to be honest, it is a terrific piece of entertainment with some of the most engaging performances I've seen for some time. Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgaard and Julie Walters are obviously having a ball and its pretty infectious. For me though, the best is Christine Baranski who I've adored since her days on THE CYBILL SHEPHERD SHOW. The woman is hot! Rating ****

THE SCARLET EMPRESS (1934)

How could you describe the work of Josef Von Sternberg to somebody who has not seen one of his films ? Baroque springs to mind, Over the top goes part of the way, but the truth is you just have to experience them. THE SCARLET EMPRESS is Von Sternberg at full throttle. Within a few minutes of the film beginning kindly old Edward Van Sloan announces to the baby princess that he is going to read the history of Russia to her and we are treated to a wonderful montage of murder, beheadings, naked women writhing as they burn at the stake, iron maidens, torture chambers, bodies used as clangers inside giant bells! The princess grows up to be Marlene Dietrich and is whisked off to Russia to marry the drooling moron who is heir to the throne. After the death of his mother the prince turns on his own people and tries to replace his wife. Eventually the worm turns and Dietrich initiates a night of the long knives and takes over - an act which involves Dietrich dressing up in a white leathe cossack suit, mounting her chargers and riding up the main staircase of the imperial palace whith a troop of cossacks while Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries blasts out on the soundtrack. The film has amazing sets, superb photography, a great cast, terrific score and stunning costumes. Hollywood in the 1930's just didn't get much better than this - or more excessive. Dietrich is simply magnificent. Rating *****

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE KING.....

BORIS KARLOFF

BEHOLD A PALE HORSE (1964)

I was working in the publicity office of Columbia Pictures when this film was released, although for some reason I never actually got to see the film. Despite being a commercial flop it turned out to be an important film in the history of Columbia as it was directly responsible for the company being expelled from Franco's Spain. Based on a novel by long time Michael Powell collaborator, Emeric Pressberger, the film seems to have been rarely seen since its release,although it is now available on DVD. Like many overtly political films made in America in the Sixties, this never really has the courage of its convictions - in this case to state openly that the film's nominal hero, Manuel, played by Gregory Peck, is a dedicated communist. Manuel is a former hero of the Spanish Civil War who has lived in exile in France for twenty years. When his mother is dying, his old Police Chief enemy (played by Anthony Quinn) tries to lure him back across the border to Spain where he is still a wanted man. The film is not exactly a classic, not even one of director Fred Zinnemann's better films, but it is nicely made although the performances are, because of miscasting, never entirely convincing. Gregory Peck is solid enough but often seems ill at ease with his complicated character, especially during the first half of the film. Quinn is equally miscast as the police chief but thankfully doesn't play it as another variation on his Zorba the Greek (a tendency that marred many of his latter performances. Omar Sharif comes off quite well as a young priest. Robert Hossein is totally wasted in a minor role. It's certainly worth a look although it seems to me that Zinneman either didn't know how to end the film or didn't really know how to achieve what he wanted. Perhaps he should have taken a look at the ending of Kazan's VIVA ZAPATA! Rating **