7 creepy things from Dietrich's "The Scarlett Empress" (1934)

Gosh, I suffered watching this film. My brother says I'm a coward, but really, how can you stand this level of creepiness, especially when you're watching it alone at night? Of course, this is not a terror movie, but dark films with suffocating atmospheres make me even more unease. It happened to me, for example, with Orson Well's The Trial and Touch of Evil. For those who haven't seen this film, The Scarlett Empress (1934; Josef von Sternberg) is the story of Catherine the Great  and how she became Empress of Russia. And here are its 7 creepiest things:

7. Count Alexi (John Lodge): The first time we meet the guy is when he travels to Prussia to present the intentions of Peter III of Russia to marry young Sophie Friederike Auguste (soon to be Catherine). Well, until that moment we've seen a luminous scene of young Marlene swinging, so his presence is very dark and tough and presages something wrong. But at this point you don't know about the creepy things coming ahead that will make Count Alexi look lovely. 

6. The way Marlene looks at the beginning: I'm not talking about her appearance, but the way she chose to use her eyes when she's portraying young Catherine. She has them really wide open, and her pupils go from one side to the other really fast. She stopped doing that when her character became Empress.

5. The bedtime stories they told Catherine when she was a kid: I mean, how would you like go to sleep after hearing about massacres, decapitations and tortures performed by people like Ivan the Terrible? In that sequence, we see what Catherine is being told about: women being raped, women being burned at the stake, a guy tied by his feet and swinging inside a big bell, hitting his head with each side, etc. On a side note, the kid was played by Marlene's daughter, Maria Riva. Oh, and the doll she had in the picture above was from Marlene's collection.

"Well, lieutenant, you're fortunate...very fortunate"

4. The relationships: I know this is true, but it was really creepy to see how everyone behave at  in those times. Young Catherine has to marry, and more importantly, have a heir for the throne ASAP with a man she has never seen, Peter III. The guy has a crazy mistress. His old mother has a lover: Count Alexi. Catherine loves Alexi, but she's disappointed about his affair with the old woman. So he meets a random soldier in the yard and has the famous heir with him. Then she had like 436248723467845683475 lovers. The end.

3. The settings: This is one of the creepiest features of this film. Everything, everything in the old and dark Russian castle is creepy: check, for example, the candlesticks (1), the paintings (2), the statues (3), the chairs (4) and even the the ornaments at the dinner table (5). How would you like to put a skull in it when is not Halloween?

2. The lighting: When you mix all these elements with von Sternberg's photography their creepiness is maximized. He manages to visually concentrate the attention in what she's showing in each scene; he doesn't allow you to think that the real setting is wider than what he's showing you in the moment, and that creates a suffocating atmosphere.

1. Peter III: If it wasn't for this guy, maybe I could have tolerated this film a bit more. But the way he's presented is even more creepy, especially if you're watching the movie from Catherine's point of view. When the young woman is told by Count Alexi how her husband looks, she's anxious to meet him. I mean, seriously:

Would you like him to be better looking than all men, tall and gracious? Well, he is all that and more. He's the handsomest man in the Russian court, tall and formed like a Greek god, a model in fashion and deportment which all of us strive to follow. His eyes are like the blue sky, his hair the colour of ebony. He is stronger than a team of oxen, and sleepless because of his desire to receive you in his arms.

But the creepiness of the moment in which innocent, young Catherine finally meets him, while the old Empress Elizabeth accentuates the fact that they must have a son very soon, can't be explain with words. Watch:

Gosh.Marlene's shocked expression is priceless. LOL. Sam Jaffe portrays Peter showing his teeth like you just saw the whole movie, with his eyes looking in all direction like a crazy man, playing with soldiers, etc.

Well, at least now I can say I've seen 6/7 films starring Marlene and directed by von Sternberg. The Devil is a woman is the only one left :)

"The flame & the arrow" or another reason to love Burt Lancaster

Remember when I recommended The crimson pirate because Burt Lancaster was awesomely acrobatic in it? Well, guess what, I found another movie in which you can appreciate his terrific physical skills. It's so cool to see a guy his size having such control and harmony with his body. Oh, wait, yes, the movie has a plot by the way and more actors. It's really entertaining.

In The flame and the arrow (1950; Jacques Torneur) Burt plays a guy named Dardo living in the forest in medieval Lombardy. He's an outlaw with a kid to look after...alone, because his...wife? girlfriend? left him several years ago and ran off with a noble man. The people in the town near the forest want him to fight to free Lombardy and he's only convinced to fight when his kid is taken away, etc. It's very Robin Hood-ish.

Super anecdote: Burt had an amazingly acrobatic partner, Nick Cravat, with whom he worked in nine films (The crimson pirate was one of them). They used to work together in the circus as "Lang & Cravat". According to Imdb, in the two movies I'm mentioning ad-nauseam Cravat's characters were mute because he had a strong Brooklyn accent he couldn't hide. LOL. The interesting thing is that Burt and Nick died the same year, 1994. Partners till the end, uh?

So yeah, this film is really awesome to watch because it has Burt and Nick in it. And they jump, run, ride really fast in horses, jump backwards, climb, walk over a joist, jump forward, etc etc.

Oh, just this week I started noticing Viriginia Mayo. I had seen her in The best years of our life, but on Monday I saw The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and she was really effective and fun in it (oh, bad news, Ben Stiller is making a remake of that film). In The Flame and the Arrow she plays a noble woman, Burt's prisoner and love interest. My favorite scene from her is when she tries to seduce Nick Cravat and then another guy so they can free her, but they don't pay attention to her.

One of the few things I didn't like, is the fact that they chained the prisoner (made me remember the case of Ingrid Betancourt). The problem is, IMO, the decision to make the scene in a festive mood. I'd prefer they used a tense music in the background in the first scene she's chained, denoting that this was like the dark side of the outlaws, that this wasn't a cool thing to do. A similar situation occurs in The black swan, when Tyrone Power beats Maureen O'Hara at the beginning, and directionally speaking, they don't seem to care. I don't know if details like this distract you too.

Oh, because my reviews are oh-so-serious, I want to end with a praise for Technicolor. I loved Virginia Mayo's red riding hood, it looked gorgeous.

The end. LOL. Thanks for reading!

Youtube Alert! : This movie is available to watch online, in one file.

Three comedies from the 1960s: LOL

It seems that when you get in the mood for a comedy from the 60s, well, you just can't stop watching them. The other day I read over MC's blog about Come September (1961), a movie starring Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida. I must confess something: when people talked about Miss Lollobrigida, I imagined she was a brainless actress, only famous because of her physical attractiveness.

I had never seen her on anything, so it was a great surprise to discover a fine performer with excellent comedy timing. I won't review Come September, you can read MC's post, but I will talk a bit about my second Gina Lollobrigida film. And then I'll review a classic I hadn't seen AND another Mitchumovie.

Buona sera. Mrs Campbell (Melvin Frank, 1968)

I wanted to check another movie from Gina, so I googled and someone mentioned Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell as one of his favorites. I watched it. Now, we're gonna make this post a little more interactive, OK? Guess the movie: a woman in a small European town had a daughter but doesn't know who is the father. There are three possibilities, all American guys, and they show up all at once.

Any idea? You're right, Mamma Mia is based on a musical based on this film. What do you know! Of course that the story has differences, as Mrs. Campbell said to the local people that the father was an American colonel who died; and also made the three guys believe the daughter was theirs, so they supported her; and they travel to Europe with their families; and...whatever. The guys --Telly Savalas, Peter Lawford, Phil Silvers-- are not really attractive like the men in Mamma Mia (well, maybe Peter is), but they're really funny, most of the times.

Besides it has more room for a more realistic and human point of view of this difficult situation, without losing the comedy aspect, for example, the fear of being criticized by the local society is one of Gina's character motives for hiding the truth; the daughter suffers and confronts her mother when she founds out; one of the dads thinks of her Italian daughter as his proof of not being infertile, so the end is really emotive in this character's case. Gina is fun to watch and the script was perfect for her, because it allows her to show her Italian power in the comedy parts, combining it with sensibility in the most dramatic scenes. A fun little movie.

The great race (Blake Edwards, 1965)

I won't talk much about this Blake Edwards film, I guess most of you have seen it. This movie is constructed based on stereotypes. First, the characters: the hero (Tony Curtis), the feminist independent woman (Natalie Wood), the bad guy (Jack Lemmon), the bad guy's assistant, etc. Then, the different stages of the car race around the world are a parody of the movie genres: adventure, comedy (including slapstick), musical (loved the "karaoke" scene and the song), swashbuckler, romance, epic, etc. The result is a very entertaining, well-acted film, with music by Henry Mancini, in which you just have to enjoy the ride without asking questions.

What a way to go! (J. Lee Thompson, 1964)

I'll develop a point here. I know there are early parody films, like comedies starring Abbot and Costello, Bob Hope, etc, but seems like in the 60s the movie industry started parodying the movie industry using super stars. The great race is a (very elaborated) example. Paris when it sizzles (1964; Richard Quine), one of the...how should I say it?...less appreciated movies from Audrey Hepburn and William Holden, is another. If you don't take them for what they are you're gonna probably hate them. But, if you watch them considering this point, you might enjoy watching legends laughing at themselves, laughing at the way the industry works, laughing at how the movies are constructed and how they try to appeal to the public, etc. Watch Paris when it sizzles again, it's a great parody film IMO (yeah, I'm like the only person in the world who likes this movie).

What a way to go! is an even more obvious parody film. Shirley Maclaine is so lucky! She worked with Dick Van Dyke, Dean Martin, Gene Kelly,  Robert Mitchum AND Paul Newman speaking French...I mean, c'mon! (watch the behind scenes with super interesting material). Shirley starts remembering the life with her different husbands and it seems that every time she married a guy he got rich and then died.That's the plot. Really.

The cool thing about this movie is that each memory correspond to a type of film: silent, musical (with splendid music and choreography by Gene), French cinema (my gosh, a very tongue-in-cheek hot sequence with...Paul Newman), glamorous Hollywood movies (you have to see this sequence, you get tired of watching Shirley with a different amazing Edith Head dress in every take).

Maybe the plot is pretty weak, maybe some of the parodies are not very elaborated, but it was a fun film with an all-star cast to watch once.

Note: I wanted to post this entry last Friday, but a Coca-Cola truck cut the telephone wire and just today I got it repaired. "Open Happiness" my @·#.

Holiday Affair (1949): a super nice Mitchumovie

I finally started reading Baby I don't care, Robert Mitchum's ultra recommended biography. That means that from now on I'll start to spam with Mitchumovies, just like I did with Maureen O'Hara last week. You've been warned.

I just reached page...25, but I had a Mitchumovie I hadn't seen and sounded great: Holiday Affair (1949; Don Hartman) with Janet Leigh, so I decided to watch that one. It was so cute!

The plot told in a very confuse way: Janet Leigh is a widow and has one ultra adorable kid, Timmy, to support. They seem to manage very well together, their relationship is so warm and natural  AND they call each other Mr. and Mrs. Ennis...aww. But there are some problems: Janet works as a "comparison shopper", so she has to go from store to store buying certain products to check them and compare the competition.

She doesn't earn too much money and things get complicated when, just before Christmas, a handsome salesman (Mitchum, obviously) discovers her tricks. The guy understands her motives and gets fired for covering her. Besides, Janet has a fiance (Wendell Corey) who wants to marry her since the beginning of time, but she's completely unsure. And the adorable kid hates the guy. And then loves Mitchum, obviously.

Besides the lovely performance by Janet and the kid, I loved Mitchum's character, a man that is saving money to buy a boat and go to South America (so cool) and likes to go to the Central Park and eat in front of a seal and feed a squirrel. He has great chemistry with Janet, so great that they make you forget the fact that the fiancé was a really good, supportive, caring guy, that only wanted to have a family with Janet and her son, but after two years was left for Mitchum's coolness.

I also liked the fact that every character, even when they're minor (like the judge, Janet's parents, the owner of a big store, etc), seem to have a background which makes everything more believable. And it's so entertaining when movies show different aspects of the life in the cities where they're located (like people riding in a crowded bus, or the Park, or people buying in the stores, or how neighbor kids accompanied each other while their parents worked, etc).

So, what's my awesome conclusion? Well, there are terrific Mitchumovies in which Robert plays creepy characters that want to kill boys and nice Mitchum movies in which his characters are great with kids. Like this one. You should see it. 

• TCM.com has some clips of this movie (I couldn't embed them). 
• My previous reviews of two Mitchumovies: Cape Fear (1962) & Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957)

The Maureen O'Hara Week

I know, it sounds pretty official, but I'm just calling that way the fact that the past week I saw seven movies from the Irish red-head filmography. I usually do that when I'm reading bio/autobiographies of actors or actresses. Here are some brief thoughts about them:

• "Against all flags" (George Sherman; 1952): Awesome pirate film! Errol Flynn and Maureen look great together and they ooze energy and chemistry. Combines humor, romance and action and it was filmed in Technicolor. Loved the costumes. My favorite scene:

• Re-watched "The quiet man" (John Ford; 1952): What can I say? "Impetuous! Homeric!". I know you all love it, so I won't say much about it. Instead, I'm going to tell you a story. The other day I said to myself "If the first cover I see in the next DVD store's showcase is The Quiet Man, I'll buy it". Well, I bought it :)

• "Sitting Pretty" (Walter Lang; 1948): I loved, loved this movie. It's a funny little film, starring Clifton Webb and Robert Young. Maureen and Robert decide that they just can't cope with her children anymore, so they hire a nanny. The problem is that the new nanny is a strict man with mysterious hobbies. The only thing I didn't like is that Robert's character, the dad, was kind of annoying: because he's jealous of Mr. Beldevere, he prefers to send Maureen to sleep in another house, leaving his little children alone with a "stranger". Oh, discovered over Sarah's blog that there's a series about the same character. 

Japanese Cinema Blogathon: "Only yesterday" (1991)

UPDATE (Dec. 2015): More than 2 decades late, this film is being released in North America. Hope it can finally get the praise and attention it deserves :)

Please give a hand to our brothers in Japan. The Japanese Cinema Blogathon is hosted by CinemaFanatic and Japan Cinema to raise financial aid for this country after the earthquake and tsunami. Having experienced something similar the past year here in Chile, I can assure you that  it's really important for the victims to know that people around the world care about them. So please, click the donate link at the end of the post and give whatever you can give.

The movie I chose to review today, is an unforgettable film you must see, but sadly it's not officially distributed in the States (the country in which most of my readers live) because Disney, the owner of the rights, is sometimes a weird company. I beg you to try to get it (somehow) and see it. It's called Only Yesterday (1991) and it was produced by Ghibli and Hayao Miyasaki, the studio and mind behind masterpieces like Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle and Princess Mononoke.

The director, Isao Takahata (his Grave of the fireflies is one of the most dramatic movies ever) also wrote the story based on a comic book, a story that's so human, so true, cheerful at moments, bitter at others, that really speak directly to you, because it's like life itself. 

So here's an animated film with a warm, precious heart. It's animated but is more real than most of the films I've ever seen. You have to see it to fully appreciate the subtlety and depth in which this story of natural changes, of moving on, is treated.

I would say it's about a journey of no return. A twenty seven-year-old girl starts to remember her school days, specifically the fifth grade, the time she began to become a woman. This memories come to her while she travels to the beautiful countryside, a trip she hasn't made since she was a child. 

Remember when I told you about my feelings about the passage of time? It's a bit about that. It's like leaving behind a portion of your life to become what you have to become. It's the portrayal of the last moments in which you are a caterpillar, in which you somehow resist to go on and you're beaten by nostalgia. Sounds painfully corny, but I don't know how to explain it in a better way. 

The original name of Only Yesterday is Omohide Poro Poro which means something like "memories in large drops". And the way Isao Takahata presents the memories is beautifully true. The main character remembers small things, seemingly without importance, but that left a mark anyway. Maybe a song that helped her to face a situation, maybe a moment in which her dad lost his temper, maybe a school mate that didn't get along with her, the first boy she loved, the first pinneaple she and her family tasted (and ended disappointed), a time of frustration, a time of joy, a time of embarrassment....It's all here, overflowing almost unconnected just like the thoughts in your own mind. 

At the end, the girl is in peace with the changes and the memories of her childhood urge her to go on. I challenge you to not to cry in the last sequence, in which her younger self and her schoolmates say goodbye to her while she walks toward the man she is going to marry.

Other facts I like is that the main character is not gorgeous and looks like a normal person. The colors and the landscapes are beautifully made (now I can't think of them without remembering those terrible images of dark water covering everything). Watching this movie you notice that there are not cultural barriers when you discuss the inner human motivations. We're that, just humans. Do yourself a favor and try to get and watch this unforgettable film.

 Help the people in Japan. 

CLICK HERE.

(If you have a DVD player that is compatible with PAL, non-USA format, Only Yesterday is available on Amazon)

Super fun: "Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake" (1942)

According to Leading Couples, TCM's book guide to some famous on-screen pairings, Tyrone Power and Gene Tierney were "the prettiest screen team in history" (the discussion is open), their pairing in this movie "a faultless match" and of course Son of Fury... (John Cromwell; 1942) one of their essential team-ups.

I had seen That Wonderful Urge (Robert Sinclair, 1948), another of their movies and didn't enjoy it that much, it was kind of boring and the story didn't catch me. But I really liked this one: I started watching it at 3.30 AM (really) but never felt sleepy or lost interest in what was going on. Tyrone and Gene are cute and effective together, even when they appear in the same scene for the first time like half way through the movie. 

The story, based on a novel by Edison Marshall, is appealing and classic and this time I'll have to tell it lengthily to include Gene Tierney in the synopsis: a poor boy, Ben Blake, is the real heir of a fortune, position and titles, but he can't claim them because the marriage of his dead parents was never proved. The bad guy, played masterfully by George Sanders, occupies Ben's position and not only that, he forces him to leave his grandpa to be his servant and beats him whenever he wants. When Ben grows up becomes Tyrone Power, who's in love with George Sanders' daughter (no, she's not Gene Tierney, but Frances Farmer) and is also fed up and wants to kick Sanders' ass. Are you still with me? So he tries to do it but it doesn't work out well and now he must escape or die. He goes in a ship to explore the most remote and austral waters (a map of my country is shown, yay!) and at some point he and a friend (John Carradine) find an island and meet, yes now you're right, Gene Tierney, playing a native girl.

Phew! That was a long paragraph to write. Tyrone and Gene look beautiful, have great chemistry and make you want them to stay together. But you also want Ty to go back with his poor old grandpa and occupy his real position.

Besides the story and the chemistry, there are more positive aspects: the villain is one of them. George Sanders gives his character such a domineering attitude, such confidence and resentment that you really fear for Tyrone's character. And he also is physically strong: he's shown boxing bare chested at the beginning of the film and looks very powerful. 

There are some characters that also are interesting even when the part is small, like the prostitute that helps Tyrone to escape played by Elsa Lanchester aka The Bride of Frankestein. She's like in one scene, but you get the idea that the main character changed a bit her life by treating her well. There's also interesting technical aspects. I loved the sea footage, with whales and dolphins in real open waters, which made the trip more real.

There are a few aspects I didn't like. One: at the beginning, the sudden and "epic" speeches of revenge given by the boy. Not because of the content, but the timing, like in one second he's planning to escape and the next is all serious looking to the horizon and saying he will stay. Second: George Sanders' daughter behavior. She's supposed to be spoiled and all, but the decision she makes at the end was weird. Third: the end. I won't give it away, but look what happen with grandpa. Not cool.

Anyway, I recommend this movie, pure fun.

 Interested in this film? More reviews of movies directed by John Cromwell :

• Anna and the King of Siam (1946) starring Irene Dunne & Rex Harrison
• Caged (1950) starring Eleanor Parker & Agnes Moorehead
• In name only (1940) starring Cary Grant & Carole Lombard
• Made for each other (1939) starring Carole Lombard & James Stewart
• Since you went away (1944) starring Claudette Colbert & Joseph Cotten. 

(The Son of Fury is available on Amazon.)

OMG, Cactus Flower (1969) is hilarious!!

OK, I confess it, I had heard about this movie before (I think it was over Millie's blog), but just saw it (twice) this week because there's a new movie based on it, starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston. I predict that the new version is gonna be a very forgettable one, but Cactus Flower (1969; Gene Saks) is extremely funny. I laughed out loud many times and the most incredible thing ever is that I laughed the most because of Ingrid Bergman's surprising perfect comedy timing.

The plot is simple but I'm gonna tell it in a very confusing way : Matthau plays a dentist who always says that he's married to attract girls (explanation: women take him as an 'honest' man who won't hide anything from them). He finally is in love with a girl, a kook played by Goldie Hawn (won Oscar) and wants to marry her (otherwise she might commit a desperate act). But how can he if he's married? So Matthau asks his secretary (Ingrid), a lonely woman that always loved him, to play his willing-to-divorce-wife. All this, of course, set in the crazy sixties when people wore crazy clothes and danced to crazy funky music, etc.

Matthau is great as always, with his funny facial expressions and curt remarks; Goldie Hawn is perfect as the insistent and kind-hearted kook that wants to meet the wife just to see if she's gonna be OK; but as I said, Ingrid steals the show. 

Her character has many dimensions: she detests and is really sarcastic with some patients (rightfully) but she is very kind with others; loves the doctor but then she's mad at him for asking her such a favor; she hilariously plays the wife as woman with extreme dignity making Goldie feel guilty; then she loosens up...and OMG, she dances and invents moves and delivers the most funny remarks and 'dates' patients to pass as a nymphomaniac (one of my favorite lines is when the patient she hates asks her to dance and she says "I'd rather walk on hot coals" with such a cold expression...). I wish Ingrid had made more comedies, she was hilarious.

So, to sum up:
1. Ingrid (and the rest of the cast) = pure hilarity.
2. The new version is probably mediocre.
3. You should definitely see Cactus Flower.

 More on Ingrid Bergman, sixties movies and kooks :

• Ingrid Bergman's handwriting font + how I met her daughter
• Saratoga Trunk (1945): a half-good movie
• Barefoot in the park (1967)

Another one from Hayley Mills: "That darn cat" (1965)

First, info: I'm going on vacations tomorrow, so I'll be back posting like in 13 days. Hope you don't forget me :)

Having said that, yes, you're right, I've been writing a lot about Hayley's films lately. It's just they're so much fun! That Darn Cat (1965; Robert Stevenson) is maybe the weakest of them, but it's fresh and amusing anyway.

In this one, Hayley's independent cat (that darn cat) is used by a kidnapped woman to send a message of "Hel" (the woman wanted to write Help, but she didn't have time because the violent kidnappers were watching). Hayley is so clever that she connects the "Hel" message with the kidnap case and contacts the FBI. A guy from this organism (Dean Jones) gets the case and transform Hayley's older sister's room in his headquarters, even when she dates a super conservative guy. Oh, Hayley has a surf film fanatic friend and a gossipy neighbor played by The Bride of Frankenstein.

I enjoyed That darn cat, even when at some points it got very silly (the FBI guys were kind of dumb). The cat steals the show; the film keeps you intrigued and there are some really funny scenes. My favorite is when Hayley pretends to be an informant and talks with an accent over the phone, hilarious! The clip wasn't online, so I uploaded it for you:

Like the others movies from Hayley I've reviewed, That darn cat has a cool song, this time by Bobby Darin (lyrics start at 01.51).

See ya in two weeks!

 More from Hayley Mills :

The Moon-Spinners (1964): an entertaining teen mystery film
The parent trap (1961): what a charming film!!

The Moon-Spinners (1964): an entertaining teen mystery film

After watching The Parent Trap, I really wanted to see more Hayley Mills movies, so I chose this one. It was fun, even when it's not the usual film from her: Tuco Eli Wallach and his follower shoot and hurt a good-looking English young man, Hayley is tied up inside of a mill, then she talks with a drunk arriviste woman, etc.

Based on a novel by Mary Stewart, Walt Disney's The Moon-Spinners (1964; James Neilson) founds Hayley and her aunt (Joan Greenwood) in a musical research in Greece (for the BBC). Our heroine meets a nice guy (Peter McEnery), whom for some reason doesn't get along with Eli Wallach, the owner of the inn where they all are staying. Then the mysterious adventure starts and Hayley will have to trust her new friend and face different dangerous situations, all filmed in magic Agios Nicholaos, Crete.
Even when the settings and atmosphere are darkish, Hayley manages to display her usual charm. I love her scene with Pola Negri, especially when she gets drunk (watch on Youtube). Elli Wallach and Peter McEnery are fine in their roles and they punch each other convincingly on a fast moving motorboat. 

The film was Pola Negri's swan song, which means I started watching her filmography backwards (yeah, I haven't seen any other movie from her, recommendations are welcomed). She plays an eccentric millionaire with a yacht, tons of jewels and a super cool cheetah I wish I had. 

So, if you're interested in watching an unusual Hayley Mills film, I recommend The Moon-Spinners to you. Here's the opening, which features the nice main song of the film: 

 Read a fun interview with Hayley on the set of this film : Click here. Thanks Java!

Easy A (2010): easy C-, really

I know, heresy! I shouldn't be writing about a modern movie, I've done that in few occasions and they all were related with old movies (like The Painted Veil review). But, I feel I need to warn you about this one, because everyone was talking about it and it got lots of good reviews. I really don't know why.

Easy A (2010)  is like The Scarlet Letter set in modern times. Like 10 things I hate about you was based in William Shakespeare's play The Taming of the Shrew and Clueless was "based" on Jane Austen's Emma, etc. OK, the connection is really pale, but the main character does mention that you should see the movie instead of reading the book, but one of the old versions, not the one with Demi Moore because her English accent was bad and... whatever.

So...Easy A. Really bad movie. Why? I don't know about you, but I detest scripts that want to break the record of sex jokes per minute, not matter if they end up being gratuitous and unconnected. In this teen film, everyone is obsessed with sex: the school counselor, the main character's parents, her best friend, the whole school, the priest, etc, etc.

Emma Stone plays a girl who accidentally ruins her reputation by inventing she had a one-night stand and gets the attention of her peers. For some reason, Emma Stone's character wasn't noticed by the rest of the students before this polemic episode, so she starts enjoying all the buzz around her and decides to magnify the lies. The result is that the 98% of the people she knows believes she is a slut, which is not funny at all, as she discovers (duh).

Besides the unappealing story, this film contains terribly stereotyped characters, like Amanda Byne's religious fanatic schoolgirl character, the kind guy that always loved Emma but didn't tell her until the end of the movie, Phoebe Buffay  Lisa Kudrow playing the crazy and unhelpful school counselor, the nice teacher that believes in her student and, of course, the ultra liberal parents played by Staley Tucci and Kevin Costner's wife in The Untouchables (Tucci even asks his adopted kid where did he come from). I didn't really connected with any of them. 

Yeah, maybe Emma Stone did a good job portraying the sarcastic, learned, but completely inconsistent main character, but that would be the only positive characteristic of this film. Oh, and the sequence where she gets a musical card with a catchy tune that she doesn't like but ends up singing it in out loud in different moments during a weekend:

End of the fun stuff. So, trust me, don't rent this mash up of that really stupid movie called American Pie and the entertaining  Mean  Girls and save one hour and a half of your life.



PS-- Even when in the film they refer to the 1934 version of the The Scarlet Letter, I plan to see the silent one starring Lilian Gish, looks great!!

The parent trap (1961): what a charming film!!

Sorry I haven't written lately. On the life part of the blog, uhm, I finished watching the first two seasons of a really funny (modern) series, Parks and Recreation, starring Amy Poehler. It's hilarious! Also, I've been enjoying lots of great Australian Open tennis matches (my favorite sport by far, any other fan out there?). Oh, I bought an ukulele because I though it would be easier to play than a guitar, and it wasn't. I've been listening to genius Glenn Miller and even saw his biopic, The Glenn Miller Story, starring James Stewart and June Allyson. Went to see a play and it was kind of funny, but very basic. Also, I reached page 274 in Errol Flynn's entertaining autobiography, My Wicked Wicked Ways; I'll review it soon. End of the report--

Also, on Saturday I watched for the first time the original The Parent Trap with Hayley Mills and Maureen O'Hara. OMG, I loved it! I had seen the one with Lindsay Lohan and Natasha Richardson several times and liked it. But the old one is way better, so entertaining and charming. Hayley, just as in The Trouble with Angels, is super awesome as the twin sisters that want to bring together their divorced parents.

I'm trying to figure out what makes Hayley be so effective in these kind of movies, what made her a super Disney star. Cool British accent, looked innocent but seemed always be thinking in her next prank, the screenwriters gave her witty lines in most of her films so you wish you could behave and talk like her, and most of all, she always seemed to be having a great, summery, colorful, time.

Maureen O'Hara is really funny as her mom and looks beautiful. Starts being all serious, but then she loosens up and the real fun begins: clever remarks against her ex husband's fiancée, punches in the eye with Irish wilderness, being cute with a priest to have him on her side, wearing her ex's robe, etc.

I hadn't seen Brian Keith before, but my mom said she knew him from some series, I don't know which one. He's great as the dad too and he had great chemistry with Maureen. My favorite part is when one of the Hayley Mills wants to tell him the truth about the twins mix up, but he thinks that she wants to talk about sex, which becomes a really awkward and terribly funny scene (click to watch it). LOL.

Another thing that stand out is that Una Merkel is on it! I don't care if she has like 5 lines as Verbena, the housekeeper, but it was great to see her again. Oh, the dad's girlfriend from this movie had really bad hairdo so you kind felt sorry for her. The actress that played the part, Joanna Barnes, also appears in the new version as the mom of her former character. 

So, I had a blast watching this film, really. It has entertaining summer camp scenes (they are always funny), awesome-non-distracting effects to show Hayley + Hayley, a lovely house near a lake that I wish I had, appealing performances and a great script. Plus a super catchy song, Let's get together, with which I leave you.

 Youtube Alert : This film is available to watch online.

Mini reviews: The black swan (1942) vs. The sea hawk (1940)

[Pirate Talk Mode on] Ahoy...[Pirate Talk Mode off] No, whatever, I don't want to activate the Pirate Talk because both films let me down, so they don't deserve it. Why? Let me explain:

The Sea Hawk (1940; Michael Curtiz): 

One of my brothers loved it, the other was so bored that left the room, I didn't like it very much. I hate when films that obviously are not there to teach us History but to entertain us, waste time showing political speeches that no one will remember and boring reunions of Queens and random guys, etc. This is what happens in The Sea Hawk. Errol Flynn plays a corsair, not a pirate, because he's serving for the Queen (Elizabeth). The whole plot is about the diplomatic relations with Spain, supposedly a friend of England. Well, Errol discovers that they are planning an attack, plus falls in love with Doña María (Brenda Marshall), but he's a very shy pirate so their encounter is postponed. The first part of this movie is very boring; then it takes off, when Errol and his mates are enslaved by the Spanish guys, and then there's fights and action, and everything a pirate film should have. But too late in my opinion. 

The Black Swan (1942; Henry King)

Remember Errol playing a shy corsair? Well Tyrone Power is completely the opposite. In the first minutes and with a happy tune, he aggressively beats Maureen O'Hara playing an aristocrat, leaving her unconscious. So, really, I didn't mind about their relationship and the movie was practically about it. When a friend of Tyrone assumes as Governor of Jamaica, he declares the end of the pirate era. One of them, a cruel guy doesn't agree and with some powerful connections wants to unseat the Governor. Tyrone now has to defeat the enemy and try to win Maureen's heart...after kidnapping her. Of course, The Black Swan has good things, like Technicolor, some funny moments and lots of action, but I couldn't forget that coward slap at the beginning so it was hard to root for Tyrone...and the movie. 

So, Captain Blood remains my #1 pirate movie; followed by The Crimson Pirate with Burt Lancaster (read my review).

PS--  Congrats to everyone who participated, writing, reading or commenting, in the CMBA's Hitchcock Blogathon. It was great!

 More adventure films :

• The thief of Bagdad: an entertaining adventure
• Tarzan The Ape Man (1932)
• The Mark of Zorro (1940)
• Tarzan and His Mate (1934): a sexy film
• Adventure movies or what I'll be watching in the next few days

CMBA Hitchcock Blogathon: Torn Curtain (1966)

The event we all were looking forward to is finally here. Yay! At the end of this post I'll add all the links to the other reviews, try to check them all and comment, I'm sure you will be pleased. 

Let me start this review by saying that one of the reasons I became a Classic Movie lover was Mr. Hitchcock. You can read all about that in Hitchcock or how I became a Classic Movie Lover (duh). I've seen more than 30 of his films, even lesser known movies like Family Plot (I don't remember much about it though).

I decided to review Torn Curtain, a movie that critics didn't love and fans don't remember, but I really like. Probably, if it had been made by any other director, it would have a different reception, but hey, it has to compete with films that always are at the top of the lists of best films ever. It's not its fault that it was made by a genius. Maybe you've heard something about it because it marked the end of the collaboration between Mr. Hitchcock and the great composer Bernard Herrmann, but not because it was a correct suspense film.

My dissection of this underrated film, next:

The story:
I know you'll agree with me, Hitchcock was a romantic guy. In my opinion, all his movies are romantic films set in a suspense climate. This one is no exception. In the middle of the Cold War, an American scientist (Paul Newman) and his assistant (Julie Andrews) are in love. They're spending time together in cruise ship heading to Coupenhagen, where he has a scientific conference. She says that they should marry before honeymooning, but they don't seem to care because in the sixties the movie censorship was practically over. Anyway, Julie doesn't know about the "real" plans her fiancé has. He is going to East Berlin (tearing the Iron Curtain) to try to finish his super duper experiment, Gamma 5 aka The MacGuffin of this film, that was cancelled by the American government. With it, the Cold War would be over. The script had many writers and never completely convinced Hitchcock nor Newman.
 I overall liked it because it was never boring.

Suspense:

A lot. Warning, spoilers ahead. Like in every movie from Mr. Hitchcock, there are several sources of tension: the main relationship, the many situations that a normal man has to face in a unknown country, the people they meet, the music, the way Hitch shoots some scenes, etc. At the beginning, from Julie's point of view, we are intrigued by the way Newman starts acting, receiving strange phone calls, lying and being aggressive. Then, when the couple finally arrive to East Berlin (and we learn that Paul was working to steal a formula for the benefit of his own country), he has to face really dangerous situations, even killing a man in one of the most remembered scenes of this movie, plus trying to get vital information for his experiment. Finally Paul and Julie, now reconciled but number one on the most wanted list of the country, have to escape from East Berlin.

The last part is the best and contains my favorite scene in the whole movie: the bus scene. The couple is helped by an organization called "Pi", which has a fake bus in which Paul and Julie have to travel in their escape. To make things look real, "agents" of Pi travel in this bus. Well, the whole sequence is great: the real bus approaches and if the officers on the road notice it, they might suspect. It's one of the best examples of Hitchcock's work and just because of it I would recommend this movie.

Newman and Andrews were the studios' choice.

Leading actors:

When I think about improbable casting, I always remember this movie (and well Robert Mitchum + Katharine Hepburn + Robert Taylor in Undercurrent and some others). The thing goes this way: Hitchcock wanted Eva Marie Saint and Cary Grant, but Universal, "suggested"  Julie Andrews who had just released The sound of music and Paul Newman. So, there you have, four incredibly blue eyes put together for the first and only time in a movie. But not everything is great. I've thought a lot about this, and came to the conclusion that maybe some people don't like this movie because Paul and Julie don't seem to have a grrrreat chemistry. They look great together, they're even shown in bed together, but in my opinion their relationship was cold as the Cold War. But I really don't mind, because it works anyway, since they are arguing, being chased or just in different places most of the time. 

With Lila Kedrova who plays one of my fave characters of the movie.

Supporting Cast:

Terrific, they really stand out. We have Wolfgang Kieling as the German agent that follows Paul Newman everywhere. He's tough, solid, menacing, but has charisma. Then there's Tamara Toumanova, who plays a Russian ballerina who's jealous of Paul Newman because he's stealing her all the attention of the press. She's mainly a comic relief at some points, but also represents a menace. Also great was Lila Kedrova as the extravagant Polish woman that needs a "sponsor" to go to America. Lila gave her character such a pathetic quality, that I always remember her.

Plus Ludwig Donath who plays Professor Lindt, the guy who knows the formula and all the "Pi" agents are really great because all of them seem to have a background and not only a being a random character.

Music:

Hitchcock wanted a more commercial score for this movie and didn't like what Bernard Herrmann had done. So he fired him, ending one of the greatest collaborations between a director and a music composer. He hired English composer John Addison, who did a great job in my opinion and it even sounds like something Bernard would have composed. The main theme, a fast melody which features tense violins with some reliefs coming from the clarinets, is one of my favorites and it fits in a great way the bus scene. I also love the Love Theme. 

Some people say that Herrmann's score would have been a great addition to this film; some DVDs include bonus scenes with this score and even people in Youtube have made the experiment with the Intro, After Gromek's death, The Formula, etc. Well, I think it would have been great too, but I don't have problems with Addison's music. You can read more about Herrmann and Hitch in this great article.

Final Thoughts:
This movie should definitely be more appreciated. It contains all the signature elements from Mr. Hitchcock's movies and it's never boring. Maybe Paul and Julie didn't have the greatest chemistry ever but it's not a tremendous con; I've seen Torn Curtain many times and it has never bored me.
I like the fact that Hitch continued using his usual methods even in the mid sixties, like shooting in front of screens.
I don't mind it at all, because his works were from a parallel world, a wonderful world constructed entirely by him and with his own rules.

 CMBA Hitchcock Blogathon: The complete list 

(Updated with the published entries)

Official site: http://clamba.blogspot.com/

1. The Birds – Classic Film & TV Café 
2. Dial M for Murder – True Classics: The ABCs of Film 
3. The Lady Vanishes | North by Northwest | Under Capricorn – MacGuffin Movies 
4. Lifeboat – Classicfilmboy’s Movie Paradise 
5. The Man Who Knew Too Much – Reel Revival 
6. Mr. and Mrs. Smith – Carole & Co.
7. North By Northwest – Bette’s Classic Movie Blog 
8. Notorious – Twenty Four Frames 
9. The Pleasure Garden – Thrilling Days of Yesteryear 
10. Rear Window – Java’s Journey 
11. Rebecca­ – ClassicBecky’s Film and Literary Review 
12. Rope – Kevin’s Movie Corner 
13. Shadow of a Doubt - Great Entertainers Media Archive
14. The 39 Steps – Garbo Laughs 
15. Three Classic Hitchcock Killers – The Lady Eve’s Reel Life 
16. Torn Curtain - Via Margutta 51 
17. The Trouble with Harry – Bit Part Actors 
18. Vertigo – Noir and Chick Flicks 
19. The Wrong Man – The Movie Projector
20. Marnie - My Love for Old Hollywood