Glenn Erickson's Reviews: Month: April 2020

The Cremator 04/28/20

Horror films aren’t simply for vampires and goblins — Czech director Juraj Herz’s mind-chilling study of a Fascist opportunist communicates truths about aberrant psychology and Fascists, that audiences would never read in print. A bourgeois burner of cadavers leverages his Reich-useful trade into a his own little warped empire of evil. Karl Kopfringl’s modus operandi hardly needs to change, to conform to Nazi standards — the elitist hypocrite already has both his family and employees passively accepting his sick ideas about cremation as the solution to all human ills. Cinematically brilliant, this late picture from the Czech New Wave is one of the best movies ever about conformists, collaborators, and assorted other ghouls. On Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
04/28/20

Sweet Bird of Youth 04/28/20

Not all Tennessee Williams film adaptations are successful, but Richard Brooks’ blend of romance, show biz venality and political thuggery is just too entertaining to dismiss. The entire cast is better than good, with Geraldine Page shining and Paul Newman well-cast. And the ingenue Shirley Knight receives her most iconic role, right at the beginning of her career. It’s sad timing for admirers of Ms. Knight, but still good to see her looking so radiant. Co-starring Ed Begley, Rip Torn, Mildred Dunnock, Madeleine Sherwood and the song Ebb Tide.’ On Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
04/28/20

Alastair Sim’s School for Laughter: 4 Classic Comedies 04/25/20

Step aside Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers — the king of droll Brit comedy comes through with four, count ’em 4, on target laugh-getters. Alastair Sim cornered the business for sneaky crime, dirty tricks and nasty con-games, when he isn’t being flummoxed by the worst thing Britain ever loosed upon the world — boarding school girls. Read ’em and shudder: The Belles Of St. Trinian’s, School For Scoundrels, Laughter In Paradise, and the first ‘official’ Ealing comedy Hue And Cry. Reviewer Charlie Largent recommends these highly. On Blu-ray from Film Movement Classics.
04/25/20

Europa Europa 04/25/20

Director Agnieszka Holland pulls off a difficult task — her true-life Holocaust tale neither trivializes the horror nor glamorizes individualized victims at the expense of the big picture. Marco Hofschneider is the inexperienced German teenager who by strange quirks of fate becomes a staunch Stalinist in a Communist school, then a Nazi war hero and candidate for Hitler Youth honors and adoption by a Nazi officer… if he can avoid being uncovered as a Jew in hiding. It sounds tasteless but it’s not — the true story of Solomon Perel reveals the ‘fluidity’ of ideology when survival is on the line. Our young hero must keep ‘becoming’ what he pretends to be. With André Wilms, René Hofschneider and Julie Delpy as a rabid Hitlerite. On Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
04/25/20

Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life and Ghastly Death of Al Adamson 04/25/20

Exploitation films have their mavericks, their patron saints and their bad boys: this well-researched and lovingly assembled shock-bio introduces us to a particularly talented persistent filmmaker whose sexed-up horror & action grindhouse non-epics proved commercially viable even into the video age. Then comes the Ghastly Death part, a cruelly undeserved finish for a movie guy liked and admired by his collaborators. David Gregory’s docu tells the tale … all the way to the true-life grisly finale. Plus a second entire Al Adamson feature, The Female Bunch. On Blu-ray from Severin Films.
04/25/20

Rachel and the Stranger 04/21/20

Here’s a pleasant surprise: one of RKO’s most popular releases of 1948 has suddenly emerged in an uncut version that’s a full twelve minutes longer than anything most of us have seen. The gentle, family-oriented frontier tale has an attractive trio of star performers, excellent location work and a thoughtful, teasing script. I must have seen the truncated version five times, and yes, it did seem a tad abbreviated here and there. Loretta Young is the bondservant/un-kissed bride with a roving eye. William Holden is the initially unimaginative husband, while good old, Robert Mitchum is perfectly cast as a potential sexual fox-in-the-henhouse. With Gary Gray. On Blu-rayfrom The Warner Archive Collection.
04/21/20

Billy Liar 04/21/20

Do you ever lapse into daydream fantasies to escape from everyday life? Tom Courtenay and John Schlesinger changed their destinies and that of Julie Christie with this brilliant (black?) comedy about what ought to be a tragic situation. The frustrated Billy rebels against his dull routine with outrageous lies and chicanery, but hasn’t the courage to strike forth on his own — even when invited to do so by the girl of his dreams. Schlesinger’s delightful directorial style applies brash New Wave editing to Billy’s grandiose ‘Walter Mitty’ fantasies. With Wilfred Pickles, Mona Washbourne and Ethel Griffies. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
04/21/20

The Head 04/18/20

A horror goulash without equal! Creepy Charlie Largent reaches for an older German DVD of one of the weirder, sleazier medical atrocity Eurohorrors. This somewhat suspicious import item is the uncut ‘Die Nackte und der Satan,’ confusingly given a re-title that translates as ‘Satan’s Naked Slave Girl.’ Horst Frank’s slimy Dr. Ood keeps the severed noggin’ of Michel Simon (yes, the acting legend) alive in a dish of ‘Serum X.’ He also grafts the head of a hunchbacked nurse onto the body of a stripper from the Tam Tam club — just your average oversexed mad lab horseplay. That mad lab is actually the star of the show — it’s a gleaming Bauhaus concoction by the designer of the original Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Co-starring Christiane Maybach and Barbara Valentin, with audio in English & original German with subs, on PAL Region 2 DVD from Delta Music & Entert. GmbH & Co. KG.
04/18/20

Outcast of the Islands 04/18/20

Lust-filled treachery in the steaming tropics!  He dared to love a cannibal empress! Taglines like that suggest that it wasn’t easy to sell Carol Reed’s phenomenally good adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s classic, a tale of human self-degradation and malevolence in the tropics. Long difficult to see, it’s finally here to dazzle a generation that might appreciate its superb performances. Forget Lord Jim and Colonel Kurtz. Trevor Howard’s back-stabbing Peter Willems shows us the price of total betrayal: permanent banishment from humanity. Co-starring Ralph Richardson, Kerima, Robert Morley and Wendy Hiller. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
04/18/20

The Sound Barrier 04/14/20

Why is David Lean’s stirring ode to British aviation so historically and technically bogus?  Because at heart it’s a science fiction film!  Ralph Richardson drives his test pilots and his own son to die on the altar of aviation R&D, in a tale focused firmly on futurism and the push to the stars. Nigel Patrick and Denholm Elliott struggle to measure up, while Ann Todd hugs her baby and resists. Watching this terrific production, you’d think the Queen had a monopoly on supersonic aviation. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
04/14/20

The Great Gildersleeve Movie Collection 04/14/20

Reviewer Charlie Largent harks back to the days when radio actors could graduate to movie fame. Actor Harold Peary of Fibber McGee and Molly starred in four features framed around his ‘Gildersleeve’ character, a guy described as a ‘befuddled blowhard.’ The shows The Great Gildersleeve, Gildersleeve’s Bad Day, Gildersleeve on Broadway, and Gildersleeve’s Ghost are accompanied by Peary’s guest-shot contribution to the Victor Mature/Lucille Ball comedy Seven Days’ Leave. On DVD from The Warner Archive Collection.
04/14/20

Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman 04/14/20

Timothy Spall stars in a fascinating, surprisingly non-morbid look into the life of Albert Pierrepoint, England’s reluctant celebrity hangman who dispatched hundreds of convicted killers, including Ruth Ellis and John Christie, not to mention 47 Nazi war criminals, in a literal marathon of the gallows. The artist of the noose kept up a double life to separate his execution duties from his domestic marriage … until General Montgomery blew his cover of anonymity. Eddie Marsan and Juliet Stevenson provide terrific acting support in this undeservedly obscure gem from director Adrian Shergold. On Region B Blu-ray from Lionsgate UK.
04/14/20

Night Passage 04/11/20

James Stewart’s final western of the 1950s is a high-gloss family show with more than its share of spirited desperados and adventuresome women. But it’s really the split-up project that ended the productive Stewart-Anthony Mann filmmaking combo. The ‘folksy’ touches could only have come from Stewart himself, who hopefully didn’t show up to parties with his accordion in tow. Opposite Stewart as a ‘good bad guy’ is Audie Murphy, who rises to the standard set by his high-class co-star. If old-time railroads have appeal, this is the show for you: an un-billed co-star is the spectacular Denver and Rio Grande. With Dianne Foster, Elaine Stewart, Brandon De Wilde, Jay C. Flippen, Robert J. Wilke, Hugh Beaumont, Jack Elam, Olive Carey, Ellen Corby and a horse called Pie. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
04/11/20

Our Hospitality 04/11/20

Buster Keaton’s first full feature is a real accomplishment, a little masterpiece that deftly balances comedy and drama. Buster’s star appeal is on full display as an 1830 lad who returns to the hill country to resettle the old homestead and lands in the middle of a murderous feud — with the girl he loves on the other side. It’s an historically sensitive, hilarious comedy, with a hair-raising waterfall stunt set-piece for a finale. Extras include docus and two later short subjects. On Blu-ray from Kino Classics.
04/11/20

Army of Shadows 04/07/20

Jean-Pierre Melville’s most accomplished, most personal movie gets a new reissue. Ignored in 1969 and released in the United States only 37 years later, this somber, ultra-realistic look at the French resistance has never been equalled. Forget thrilling adventure tales with daring escapes, patriotic oaths and beautiful spies; Melville presents resistance activities in the Occupied territory as a fearful grind leading in one direction only. Criterion’s extras include an interview piece with historical operatives, who still argue points of strategy. Starring Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Simone Signoret, Claude Mann, Paul Crauchet, Christian Barbier and Serge Reggiani. On Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
04/07/20

Terminal Station & Indiscretion of an American Wife 04/07/20

Don’t do it Vittorio! The Italian master’s last neorealist project was done ‘in collaboration’ with American producer David O. Selznick, who proceeded to crowbar his way into every directorial decision. The resulting ‘creative differences’ spoiled Signor De Sica’s Italian version, but that wasn’t enough. Selznick put it through a sausage machine for the American release, which is almost half an hour shorter. Jennifer Jones and Montgomery Clift are excellent in both versions, but De Sica’s is far superior — and studying the differences tells why the first demand of powerful directors is to retain final cut. The presentation offers both full films, plus the short subject Selznick added to bring his version up to minimal feature length. With Gino Cervi, Paolo Stoppa and Richard Beymer. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
04/07/20

Their Finest Hour: Five British WWII Classics 04/04/20

Can a war movie be reassuring in a time of crisis?  Each of the films in this excellent collection stress people working together: to repel invaders, escape from or attack the enemy, and just to survive in sticky situations. All are inspirational in that they see cooperation, organization and leadership doing good work. See the ‘other’ great escape picture (The Colditz Story,) the original account of Dunkirk ( Dunkirk ’58,) and the aerial bombing movie that inspired the final battle in Star Wars (The Dam Busters). Plus a tense ‘what if?’ invasion tale (Went The Day Well?,) and a desert trek suspense ordeal that’s one of the best war films ever (Ice Cold In Alex). On Blu-rayfrom Film Movement Classics.
04/04/2

Action of the Tiger 04/04/20

Van Johnson steps into adventure-guy shoes more suitable for Humphrey Bogart in this European-shot thriller. Daring Martine Carol provides the sex appeal as the mystery dame who entices Johnson to smuggle a man out of Red Albania. The movie is practically a proto- James Bond film: it’s directed by Terence Young, features a fight in a gypsy camp and Sean Connery and Anthony Dawson are in the cast list. But Herbert Lom steals the show from them all as a monocle-wearing, oversexed gypsy bandit who can’t abide Commies. A special treat for discerning, high-toned art-movie intellectuals: this is the film’s hotter Continental version. On Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
04/04/20

The Uninvited 04/04/20

Charlie Largent happily looks back to a fine release of what’s perhaps Hollywood’s best pure-bred ghost story. It’s also the best ‘real estate problem’ spook show, in which people discover that they’ve moved into a house with an active and malevolent spirit presence. Beautifully produced and acted, Lewis Allen’s show is told so well that we can readily visualize its unseen, horrific backstory. Ray Milland creates real chemistry with the already haunted-looking Gail Russell, while Ruth Hussey, Cornelia Otis Skinner and a wraith named Carmen Quesada locate the haunting as a mainly female issue — ghosts can really hold a grudge in Paramount’s ultra-classy production. On Blu-ray (quite a while ago) from The Criterion Collection.
04/04/20