Gentleman Jim

Gentleman Jim
1942 - Warner Brothers
Directed By Raoul Walsh



SYNOPSIS

The outspoken Jim Corbett (Errol Flynn)is a bank teller, but wants to become a prize fighter. Soon he's invited to join an athletic club where he soon proves his talent. After many hard-fought battles Corbet faces John L. Sullivan (Ward Bond,) the heavyweight champion of the world!



MY THOUGHTS

Released at the height of World War II, Gentleman Jim is perfect war-time entertainment. The film takes you to a different place filled with many colorful characters and is a whole lot of fun. Plenty of excitement to forget your worries.

Raoul Walsh had been directing films for nearly 30 years by this film's release... and had a master's touch. He used all of his tools to tell the tale (with many liberties) of the legendary 19th century boxer 'Gentleman Jim' Corbett.

The biggest visual treat is the fight scenes. Each fight sequence builds upon the last and becomes more ambitious and thrilling. The camera angles and quick editing help to generate more excitement than fights in most boxing films. In my opinion, boxing is the sport that best translates to film, and these fights show why.

Even when not in the ring, the film benefits from perfect pacing. It never drags as we travel from city to city watching Corbett's rise.

Jim Corbett is a character which would easily come off as a very unlikeable ass, if not for Errol Flynn's portrayal. He balances the ever-growing ego with a sense of good cheer that makes him hard to hate, even though many characters dislike him.

Alexis Smith's character is one. Her love/hate relationship with Corbett is much more fun and far more interesting than the usual bland 'devoted girlfriend/wife' type that's usually the norm sports films.

John L. Sullivan, played by Ward Bond, is Corbett's equal in the ring and in the insanely large ego department. Bond is hilarious in his tough guy role... and also touching in his final scene. It's a shame he doesn't have more screen time.

The rest of the cast is rounded out by many familiar faces of the Warner Brothers stock company.

Gentleman Jim is light entertainment. Several social issues do get brought up, like class struggles, but these are left in the background of the story. The film exists solely to entertain. And it does a very good job.

Under My Skin

Under My Skin
1950 - 20th Century Fox
Directed By Jean Negulesco



SYNOPSIS

American expatriate jockey Dan Butler (John Garfield) fails to throw a race in Italy, angering some mobsters. He and his young son (Orley Lindgren) flee to Paris to meet his old friend. That friend died many years ago and his girlfriend (Micheline Prelle) blames Butler for his death. The mobsters show up just as the two begin to fall in love. With some lucky bets at the track, Butler is able to pay off the mob and buy a horse, who he makes a champion. But the mob wants him to throw one last race...



MY THOUGHTS

Tough guy John Garfield scores again with Under My Skin.

The film is based on an Ernest Hemingway short story and Garfield fit in perfectly with the typical Hemingway hero-type.

John Garfield provides another strong performance and it fits in with his persona as well. He often played a man with strong ideals who is willing to face death itself in order to maintain them.

This was his third to last role of his career. He suffered a serious heart attack while making the film. That and the incessant bullying by HUAAC helped to bring his outstanding career and life to an early demise.

Orley Lindgren is almost equally good as Garfield's son... impressive for a child actor.

The relationship of the troubled athlete father trying to raise a smart boy alone and in a very unconventional way reminded me of Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper in The Champ. It's done more realistically here and their relationship is one of the film's strong points.

Butler's relationship with Micheline Prelle's nightclub singer isn't as strong.
In fact, it doesn't ring true. She hates him yet somehow warms to him, we assume because of his son, but it's not very clear. Also not clear is how her several years of resentment would just wash away and turn to love. It's all very hokey.

Still, the film is very entertaining and any fan of John Garfield would not want to miss this one.

Fletch

Fletch
1985 - Universal Pictures
Directed By Michael Ritchie



SYNOPSIS

Investigative reporter Fletch (Chevy Chase) is working undercover as a junky on a story that will uncover major drug ring involving cops. Meanwhile, a businessman (Tim Matheson) hires this 'junky' to kill him. Fletch begins investigating the man as well and realizes this might all be related!



MY THOUGHTS

Chevy Chase's finest hour!

For years I'd thought I had seen this film, but it turns out it was its far inferior sequel Fletch Lives. I've never been a huge fan of Chase's and enjoyed his other SNL cast member's film so much more. I'm so glad I finally saw this film.

However, Chevy Chase did make several great films prior to this (Foul Play, Caddyshack, National Lampoon's Vacation) but Fletch seems like the perfect showcase for his ambivalent, bizarre one-liner filled comic persona.

Fletch (an 'expert' in disguises) assumes many other characters while investigating. He's Harry S. Truman, Igor Stravinsky, G. Gordon Liddy, Don Corleone, and Ted Nugent. Each is funnier than the last... yet is barely different from the man himself.

The plot is based on the book by Gregory McDonald, yet it seems like it's straight out of the noir stylings of Raymond Chandler, combined with a major head injury! The always-entertaining story transforms intrigue into hilariousity. The one liners and humorous situations rarely miss and have oodles of laugh-out-loud moments and memorable quotes.

The only fault with the film is the obnoxious score by Beverly Hills Cop's Harold Faltermeyer. Any spare minute of dialogue is crammed with his dated and annoying music.

The music never drags down the film and Fletch remains a hilarious film 25 years later. There's been many problems in adapting a third Fletch adventure in the years since, but lets hope those problems can be ironed out and a new adventure can live on the big screen.

Alice In Wonderland

Alice In Wonderland
2010 - Walt Disney Pictures
Directed By Tim Burton



SYNOPSIS

Alice (Mia Wasilkowska) has dreamed about a magical place since she was a little girl. Now 20, and while being asked for her hand in (what would be a loveless) marriage, she spots a rabbit in a coat and follows him and tumbles down a hole, winding up in the land she only dreamed about... but it seems it was no dream.



MY THOUGHTS

Literary purists may cry foul, but Tim Burton's take on the Lewis Carroll classic is a feast for the eyes.

Alice In Wonderland is my first foray into the 'new' rage of 3-D films. Not having seen anything in 3-D, apart from some theme park attractions, this was a very new and very eye-opening experience. I was blown away. Fantasy CG-heavy films like this are the perfect material for 3-D.

The visuals are amazing and I highly doubt Grace Slick was seeing anything as stunning when she wrote Jefferson Airplane's White Rabbit (no doubt while chemically-enhanced!)

The story is somewhat lacking. It's set up as a sort of sequel with Alice several years older, yet when she arrives back in Wonderland or (as it's called here Underland) the film is a rehash of some of the best moments in the original. Also the roles of the Red Queen and The Mad Hatter are beefed up to showcase two of Tim Burton's most oft-used stars
Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter deliver two of the most entertaining characters of the film.
Carter's Red Queen looks the closest to Sir John Tenniel's drawings in the original book than in any previous screen version. She steals practically every scene she's in with her delightfully hammy performance.
Depp is also strong and adds more depth to the Mad Hatter than was there in the original text. The way Depp changes the Hatter's voice and accent really show a character that may be genuinely mad with multiple personalities... but the Hatter's personality never changes. That just leaves me confused.
The emphasis of these two characters ultimately derails the pace of the film.

Frequent Burton collaborators Christopher Lee and Michael Gough also provide voices. They are barely heard, along with dozens of other great actors who all seem to be providing support to Depp and Carter.

It's a wonder why it's taken Tim Burton 25 years of film-making to finally put Crispin Glover in a film. The actor's unusual quirkiness is right at home with Burton's band of actors. Though the

I highly recommend seeing this in 3-D. I imagine the film's faults would be far more evident if viewed in standard 2-D.

Red Planet Mars

Red Planet Mars
1952
Directed By Harry Horner



SYNOPSIS

A scientist (Peter Graves) is intent on sending messages to the planet Mars. When he receives an answer, it sends the whole world in a panic. But when the ongoing messages turn toward a biblical slant, the world unifies in ways never seen before... but did the messages really come from Mars?



MY THOUGHTS

A unique cold war sci-fi film, Red Planet Mars features brains over action.

The film is very intelligent and its approach to the scientific method and a more cerebral attitude lifts it far above the usual "aliens are the enemy" message of other films of the era. The film is nearly as intelligently made as Forbidden Planet.

I was very surprised the film took a religious angle, which most American movies (even in the 1950's) would avoid at all costs. It thankfully doesn't beat us over the head with the message... though it is a very mainstream Christian one.

The film differs from many 50's alien films.
It never features any Martians. This is both a good and a bad thing. One, we're never forced to see what a very low-budget version of a Martian is supposed to look like, which would no doubt look silly. That's good. The bad is, we never see one, which is a bit of a let down at the same time. Not even a spaceship.

The evilness of the Commie Russians is over-emphasized, but it was the nature of the time in which this was made... at the height of the red scare.

Red Planet Mars does portray the Earth as a truly global place. The contact has an effect on all facets of life. Economic, spiritual, etc... from all corners of the globe.

Peter Graves gives a dynamic performance, as does his wife, played by Andrea King.

Red Planet Mars is perfect for fans of 50's sci-fi who want a change of pace over the usual goofy man-in-a-suit monsters from outer space attacking innocent civilians.

Silent Rage

Silent Rage
1982 - Columbia Pictures
Directed By Michael Miller



SYNOPSIS

Cops take out a deranged man (Brian Libby) after he kills two people. He's rushed into surgery barely alive and a radical procedure not only cures him but renders him invincible. Only the sheriff (Chuck Norris) can stop him now!



MY THOUGHTS

A great Saturday afternoon b-movie is a perfect mix of Walker, Texas Ranger and The X-Files.

Silent Rage is far from a perfect film but it's plenty entertaining.

The acting is atrocious. Apart from Chuck Norris doing his usual thing and the all-too-brief performance of Ron Silver, the acting is below b-movie range.
Stephen Furst is a young cop. He's essentially Flounder from Animal House with a gun and badge. 'Fat drunk and stupid' works well as a fraternity pledge, but it's terrible as a cop. Its a wonder how the character was ever able to graduate from a police academy.
Brian Libby (the villain) seems to be a knock-off of Michael Myers of the Halloween series, just without a mask. He shows little to no emotion and is often more laughable than scary.
Everyone else is completely one-dimensional.

The film features less Norris-style action than it should. Apart from an amazing scene where Chuck takes out an entire bar full of angry bikers, much of the rest of the film is just Chuck using his gun and the occasional fist. Those are nowhere near as entertaining as some of his other films' action scenes. They are plentiful though, so the film is rarely boring.

Silent Rage does add a supernatural aspect that is not present in any other Chuck Norris film. The unstoppable foe forces Norris to be more of an actual super hero than normal. It adds an extra cheesiness that helps to make this a great film for Saturday afternoon TV viewing.

Silent Rage is one of those films that you could easily chime in your own "Mystery Science Theater 3000" style jokes and hurl them at the screen. That would help make this film great... otherwise, its just a sub-par action film with some sci-fi aspects.

The Brothers Warner

The Brothers Warner
2008 - Warner Brothers
Directed By Cass Warner Sperling



SYNOPSIS

The granddaughter of Harry Warner chronicles his and his brothers Jack, Albert, and Sam rise from poor, uneducated young men to become pioneers in the motion picture business... and on to major success. But that success came with a price.



MY THOUGHTS

The Brothers Warner begins with their early years and we're given an idea what these four guys were like as people before delving into their struggles and ultimate successes in the film business. A family member is telling their story and it gives it a much more intimate feeling than a standard documentary.

Several family members, Warner Brothers employees, decedents of heads of other studios, and actors help to tell their story.

The documentary also focuses on the risks the brothers took including their commitment in tackling social issues (I Am A Fugitive In A Chain Gang, Confessions Of A Nazi Spy) as well as the technical side with the development of sound (The Jazz Singer.)

I never knew much of the brothers besides Jack, who was the most outspoken (and loathed by many) so the film helped to fill in the gaps of my knowledge. While informative, it doesn't deliver overly extensive detail like a book would. It does give just enough to keep your interest up, without boring you with minutia.

The film doesn't spare any harsh feelings when Jack Warner sold out his brothers and took sole control of the studio in the 50's. He's made to look like a monster, which really probably isn't far from the truth. It was a pretty low move.

The Brothers Warner is a great look back to old Hollywood, when the name Warner Brothers meant a family business and not some anonymous corporate identity.