Wednesday, October 11, 2006

THE SANDS of IWO JIMA (an arsonplus afterward)

Just because I’ve just caught a trailer and the HBO First Look for the first part of Clint Eastwood’s Sands of Iwo Jima two parter (read: FLAGS of OUR FATHERS), I’m going to type out bit about director William Wyler’s post war drama from 1946 … THE BEST YEARS of OUR LIVES:

“We've been having lectures in atomic energy at school, and Mr. McLaughlin, he's our physics teacher, he says that we've reached a point where the whole human race has either got to find a way to live together, or else uhm...”


Like I “said,” it’s 1946 and intertwined accounts of veterans returning to the same small town at the end of World War II. Middle-aged sergeant Fredric March resumes his life as a prosperous banker, while much-decorated flying officer Dana Andrews must take work as a soda jerk. Harold Russell, a non-professional actor who lost both his hands in a military training accident, won an Academy Award for his moving portrayal of a sailor who returns to his fianceé (the unassumingly beautiful Cathy O’Donnell) with hooks instead of hands. Can the ashamed sailor return the girl’s undiminished love?

“I'm glad to see you've all pulled through so well. As Mr. Milton so perfectly expressed it: our country stands today... where it stands today... wherever that is. I'm sure you'll all agree with me if I said that now is the time for all of us to stop all this nonsense, face facts, get down to brass tacks, forget about the war and go fishing. ”


Fine support by Myrna Loy, as March’s wife; Virginia Mayo, as Andrews’s roundheeled spouse; and Steve Cochran, who stayed home, romanced Mayo, and profited while others fought. Poignant Americana.

Posted by Peter Collinson at 11:13 PM | | Comments

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

THINKING A BRICK WALL


Tonight, on ArsonPlus Entertainment I’m gonna spend a moment typing about … Village of the Damned!

"Good morning. Uh, would you get me Major Bernard at his Whitehall number? Thank you."

It’s 1960 and the small English town of Midwich gets itself mysteriously stopped dead one day, every resident rendered unconscious. Nine months later, the women of Midwich give birth to babies who grow up to be blond, emotionless child geniuses who, we quickly discover, are not entirely of this world. Great suspense, startling moments of violence, and a general air of intelligence, thanks to director Wolf Rilla and writer Stirling Silliphant, adapting John Wyndham’s must-read SF novel, The Midwich Cuckoos (a great title, as cuckoos take over the nests of other birds).

“A brick wall... a brick wall... I must think of a brick wall... a brick wall... I must think of a brick wall... a brick wall... brick wall... I must think of a brick wall... It's almost half past eight... brick wall... only a few seconds more... brick wall... brick wall... brick wall... nearly over... a brick wall...”

George Sanders (FIVE GOLDEN HOURS) and the lovely Barbara Shelley (of DRACULA: PRINCE of DARKNESS fame) are excellent as perplexed, unhappy parents; young Martin Stephens is chillingly good as their child, who is the leader of the soulless children.

Posted by Peter Collinson at 9:20 PM | | Comments

Sunday, October 08, 2006

WE ALL GO A LITTLE MAD, SOMETIMES


Pauline Kael once observed that Psycho (1960; Alfred Hitchcock) is the film that forever altered the dynamic existing between movies and moviegoers; henceforth, filmmakers had no responsibility to treat their audiences kindly. I couldn’t agree more. Indeed, viewers were now fair game--to be shocked, tortured, disillusioned. This film’s legendary technical deftness is complemented by the oh-so dark humor in Hitch’s direction and Joseph Stefano’s script.

“..."Mother, she's just a stranger"! As if men don't desire strangers! As if... ohh, I refuse to speak of disgusting things, because they disgust me! You understand, boy? Go on, go tell her she'll not be appeasing her ugly appetite with MY food... or my son! Or do I have tell her because you don't have the guts! Huh, boy? You have the guts, boy?”


Beautifully played by all, particularly Anthony Perkins, as the insane killer who, against our will, we come to root for. After all, our leading lady (Janet Leigh) has been taken from us, so who else is there? Psychological considerations aside, Hitchcock demonstrated that he could easily slide into the new mold of low-budget thrillers and create the best one to date. Bernard Herrmann’s all-string score belongs in everybody’s CD library.

“You know what I think? I think that we're all in our private traps, clamped in them, and none of us can ever get out. We scratch and we claw, but only at the air, only at each other, and for all of it, we never budge an inch.”


NOTE: Robert Bloch, author of the source novel (in which Norman is a roly-poly butterball) took his inspiration from the Ed Gein case, which occurred in northern Wisconsin when Bloch was living in Milwaukee.)

Posted by Peter Collinson at 1:30 PM | | Comments