FORBIDDEN GAMES (1952)

A.K.A.: Jeaux Interdits

Country: France

Genre(s): Drama / War

Director: Rene Clement

Cast: Brigitte Fossey / Georges Poujouly / Amedee

Plot

Orphaned by German bombs, a little girl is taken in by a family of farmers.  She befriends the youngest son of the family and the pair begins constructing a cemetery for dead animals.

What I Liked

*spoiler alert*

The most impressive aspect of “Forbidden Games” are the moving and convincing performances from its two child leads, Georges Poujouly as Michel and particularly little Brigitte Fossey as Paulette bring all the necessary innocence and emotionality to their characters and rarely come off as child actors, but rather child characters.  Six year old Fossey’s believable performance as the traumatized, confused, frightened, and loving Paulette is the real source of the movie’s emotional impact.  She never seems to be reciting lines some off screen adult just told her; her emotions and tears seem completely genuine; and the filmmakers never go the easy route of idealizing the little girl either.  She seems like a real child caught up in events far beyond her control that are thoroughly confusing her.  Poujouly’s portrayal of wild Michel, the older boy who looks after Paulette and helps her steal crosses for the cemetery, is equally believable.  Michel is imaginative and unrestrained, but also thoughtful and idealistic (without being idealized).

One of the most striking themes of the film is that the adults are every bit as immature, selfish, and irrational as one would expect the children to be.  The opening scenes showing the terror and absurdity of war are of course the most blatant depictions of this, yet even on a smaller scale, the grown-ups are so concerned with family feuds and judging others that their actions are sometimes comic relief and at others horrifically tragic.  Ultimately, it is the children who are the most loving and moral, only to see their trust and honesty martyred by the adults.

What I Disliked

“Forbidden Games” is a tale of rural people adherent to their rustic traditions, feuds, and daily chores.  Outside of the historic backdrop of Nazi invasion, one will find little here in the way of action or even melodrama. A slice-of-life, coming-of-age story, those who seek high adventure, star-crossed romance, or epic production values will be disappointed by how slowly the plot progresses.  The climax comes unexpectedly, not with a roar or blast, but with anguished realism.

Most Memorable Scene

*spoiler alert*

For a film that begins and ends with heartbreak, my choice is between the opening and closing moments.  Ultimately, the sadness of the opening scene only heightens the further unhappiness of the ending, so it is the ending which becomes the most moving and leaves the viewer with its most memorable image of a desperate little girl lost in a mass of equally desperate strangers.  I should have expected an unhappy ending to this film, but somehow the coming-of-age story and the rustic setting must have instilled some denial in my mind that allowed me to be totally crushed by the events of the film’s conclusion.

My Rating: 4 out of 5

IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (2000)

A.K.A.: Fa Yeung Nin Wa

Country: Hong Kong

Genre(s): Drama / Romance

Director: Kar Wai Wong
Cast: Tony Leung Chiu Wai / Maggie Cheung / Ping Lam Siu

Plot

Two neighbors, a man and a woman in 1960s Hong Kong, believe that their respective spouses are having an affair.  Brought together by this, they form a meaningful but complicated friendship.

What I Liked

Just as “The Bicycle Thief” is poetry in the form of motion picture (as I mentioned in a previous entry), so is “In the Mood For Love.”  Much of the importance in this story and its characters is in what goes unsaid, indeed what is impossible to put into words.  Thus “In the Mood For Love” can’t be anything but a movie.  Its impact and beauty would be weakened in the format of a novel, a painting, a song, or even a written poem.

What makes this film interesting and moving is the way the characters relate to each other, their approach to their situation.  They never fully confront the infidelity of their spouses or what to do about it; nor do they openly discuss their mutual attraction to one another and what to do about that.  Yet they never ignore either issue, approaching them sideways, passively, and sometimes cleverly, veiling their hurt in politely uttered pleasantries, discussions about short stories, and even pretend to be their unfaithful spouses, rather than themselves.  Indeed, their story is most effectively told not in what they say but in their facial expressions, their glances, their walks and their gestures.  The physical movements of both characters as they constantly flirt with the space between each other have all the balletic elegance of a great dance performance, yet these are simply two lonely people moving beautifully through their daily lives and through each other’s lives.

I mentioned earlier that “In the Mood For Love” could never work as a painting.  While that’s true, there are visuals here that certainly have the feel of a moody painting.  Director Kar Wai Wong makes seductive use of colors, be they glowing neons or cool shadows, which makes the viewer an unknowing but thoroughly mesmerized participant in his own absorption into the moment.  This is not only a unique and honest depiction of human relationships, but it is also a gorgeous piece of escapism that absolutely transports its audience to another time and place.

What I Disliked

I won’t say I disliked any of this, but I will admit the film is slow and difficult to categorize.  Indeed, I had to take it in at multiple sittings to refresh my attention span because what I was shown in this film didn’t fit easily into the conventions to which I am accustomed.  Don’t let the title fool you and approach this one looking for the type of romance story traditional in Western film.  There is little to none of the tear-drenched melodrama or disarming quirkiness Americans like in their love stories.  Shot without a script, this film lacks a traditional narrative structure and it would be hard to point to a moment in this film that can easily be recognized as a climax, which would require rising action, and that never comes into play either.  Nor will you be treated to a pre-packaged happy ending; yet nor is it sad.  It just is.  The conclusion feels real, perfectly keeping with the situation and the characters; and that’s because this film, despite a visual beauty that borders on fantasy, seeks truth in every shot, line, and scene.

Most Memorable Scene

There are at least a half a dozen points where dialogue is completely abandoned for sequences that are accompanied only by music, the same music each time.  It is a stunning song played on violin that perfectly accents each of the visuals it accompanies (It's in the trailer above).  I'm not prone to saying this, but it's really some of the most moving music I've ever heard.  None of these moments stands out above another, so I will pick them all.  Here that dance of daily life I spoke of earlier glides at its most poignant level, helped by some smooth, Scorsese-esque camera movement.  These are the scenes that elevate this film from an unusual tale of love to a masterful work of art rendered in moving pictures.

My Rating: 5 out of 5

ONE EYED JACKS (1961)

Country: U.S.A.

Genre(s): Western

Director: Marlon Brando

Cast: Marlon Brando / Karl Malden / Pina Pellicer

 

Plot

After being betrayed by his partner and spending five years in a Mexican jail, bankrobber Kid Rio arrives in Monterey, California looking for revenge, only to learn that the man he intends to kill is now town sheriff.

What I Liked

The most striking thing about “One Eyed Jacks” is the cinematography.  Granted, a lot of westerns make use of panoramic shots of vast landscapes and there’s a fair amount of that here too (particularly moody is the early scene where Kid Rio finds himself trapped atop a cliff in a sandstorm with a party of Mexican lawmen closing in).  But I actually found the interior shots most interesting here.  The positioning of different characters on the screen, their relationship to the doorways, windows, and furniture in the rooms, and of course the many close-ups of Marlon Brando’s Rio as he struggles to contain his hatred and bloodlust.

Speaking of Brando, he does bring an extra psychological depth essential to his complicated character.  His brooding obsessiveness is really the thing which keeps the viewer watching, making up for his unconvincing Elvis Presley accent.  Brando just has that natural charisma, that star power quality that some call “It,” undefinable and uncoachable.  However, even if it is Brando who is responsible for the soulfulness of the movie, Karl Malden (in the role of his nemesis Dad Longworth) is able to compete with him on fairly even ground.  Longworth is a character who can be sadistic, respectful, jovial, refined, or venomous, depending on the circumstances, and Malden plays each of these various personalities with equal genuineness and personality.  Where Brando sometimes seems awkward in his role, particularly for the scenes requiring a macho brutality, Malden is constantly believable and fascinating.

With its morally dubious hero, many close-up shots, and portrayal of a more natural feeling West than was common in most American genre films of the day, “One Eyed Jacks” sometimes feels more like it belongs among Sergio Leone’s spaghetti western oeuvre than it does to the traditions common to the American Western.  It’s a movie ahead of its time, but not without its flaws.

What I Disliked

With a whole lot more talking and facial expressions than action, “One Eyed Jacks” won’t satisfy those who are looking for the shoot-outs, cowboys vs. Indians, and fist fights that fill up the standard American western.  Once Rio gets to Monterey, the plot moves along at a snail’s pace and every time it seems the film is approaching a climactic showdown between Rio and Longworth the plot takes a decidedly anticlimactic turn back to conversation and delay.  Sure there’s a gunfight or two, and Rio uses his fists on a couple of guys, but those moments come few and far between.  In a film that is nearly two and a half hours long, this process can be quite daunting even for those who respect the film’s more subtle qualities.

Most Memorable Scene

*spoiler alert*

Once Rio arrives in Monterey to find Longworth a respected man with a wife and step-daughter, he sets about playing the role of the long-lost friend, looking to lull Longworth into lowering his guard.  During these scenes, Brando is magnificent, switching from kindly to spiteful. In a particularly nasty move, Rio seduces Longworth’s beautiful step-daughter (played by Pina Pellicer) and after a night of Oceanside lovemaking, basically reveals to her that he lied to her and took her virginity simply out of hatred for her stepfather – and because he can’t resist his own duplicitous nature.  Pellicer plays her role with such innocence and fragility that the viewer’s heart breaks with hers as her dreams of love and living happily ever after vanish immediately.  Until this moment, the audience is wholeheartedly rooting for Rio.  This moment sticks with the audience for the rest of the film and we can’t help but despise even him, the film’s hero.  You don't just come to town to kill a guy after five years, you also seduce and impregnate his daughter only to break her heart?  Now that's just mean.

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5

THE 39 STEPS (1935)

Country: U.K.

Genre(s): Drama

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Cast: Robert Donat / Madeleine Carroll / Lucie Mannheim

Plot

Accused of a murder he didn’t commit, a man goes on the run, determined to clear his name and expose an international conspiracy involving the theft of top secret defense plans.

What I Liked

In “The 39 Steps” one can see the formation of so much that became signatures of Alfred Hitchcock films.  Concepts and themes like espionage, mistaken identity, nothing being as it seems, sexual tension, and train travel all make significant appearances in this film.  In fact, “North by Northwest” could almost be considered a bigger-budget remake of “The 39 Steps,” with a handful of the details changed.  Everything from the main character being smart-ass English charmer being caught up in international events beyond his control to his being chased across a field by a plane all pop up here.

Also like “North By Northwest,” “The 39 Steps” is never dull.  From the opening scene to the last, the film moves quickly with an entertaining mix of thrills, mystery, and comedy.  Our hero rarely stops moving, evading the police and enemy spies alike, which allows the film to constantly change settings and characters.  In fact, some of the places Hannay ends up are so preposterous that one can’t help but laugh.  Parades, dinner parties, political rallies; the most convenient places to blend in just pop up conveniently throughout his journey.  Amusingly, they often turn out to be more of a burden than a haven.  When Hannay is eventually handcuffed to a lovely blonde who is convinced he is a murderer, the film even takes a temporary turn into screwball comedy territory, as the absurdity of their situation turns into not just more thrills but plenty of banter and one-liners as well.

What I Disliked

I don’t know if it’s the era in which this film was made or just ineptitude on the part of the filmmakers (considering the director, I highly doubt it), but the editing in this film is disjointed and distracting.  The breaks between scenes and camera angles are usually harsh, with the lighting and positioning of characters changing from one shot to the next.  Each time, the eye has to get used to a new look, yet we are supposed to be inside the same scene.  To a modern viewer, this raw splicing appears amateurish.  Still, Hitchcock does throw in one visual effect that is pretty cool.  As the main characters sit next to each other in the back seat of a car rumbling through the Scotting moors, the camera seemingly moves in a twisting manner from the inside of the car out of the door window to then watch the car speed away as if the viewer were standing still on the roadside.  An impressive effect considering the technological limitations of the period, one that convinces me that the broken editing is a product of the period and not limitations of talent on the part of filmmakers.

Most Memorable Scene

The whole film is like an extended chase scene, but there are at times brief interludes where Hannay thinks he has reached safety and the pace slows down, only to begin again when he finds his pursuers are still on his trail.  When this happens to him on a train between London and Scotland, Hannay resorts to some clever tactics to avoid capture on the moving train.  A train is a standard place for a chase scene in film, probably even before “The 39 Steps” was released.  However, in the hands of Alfred Hitchcock, the scene is filled with one “How is he going to get out of this one” moment after another.  Everything about this chase remains intriguing nearly 80 years after its release.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5

MY BRILLIANT CAREER (1979)

Country: Australia

Genre(s): Drama / Romance

Director: Gillian Armstrong

Cast: Judy Davis / Sam Neill / Wendy Hughes

Plot

Dreaming of a future as a musician or writer, rebellious Sybylla rejects the life of marriage and respectability her family expects of her.  However, when a childhood friend becomes her suitor, she is torn between the life others want for her and her own dreams of independence.

What I Liked

With well-developed, likeable characters played to perfection by a talented cast, “My Brilliant Career” is an enjoyable period piece executed with quality at every level.  Never does one have the feeling of watching something contrived.  Director Gillian Armstrong uses a steady hand to accentuate both the elegance and the barrenness of the Australian outback, allowing for some terrific cinematography and beautiful settings and costumes, without ever letting style overcome the realism and naturalness of the setting and characters.  In short, the director, cast, and crew never let their own egos and pretentions once get in the way of telling the story of a time, place, and people.  Judy Davis is utterly believable as head-strong nonconformist Sybylla, a young dreamer too smart and ambitious for her own good.  Sam Neil brings a likable casualness (or is it childish swagger) to Harry Beecham, the cavalier charmer who loves her.  All of the supporting characters are well-written and add to the authentic feel of the setting, each one dealing with the social circumstances the best way he or she knows how.  Their relationships are never simple, but imbued with very truthful combinations of love, respect, joy, frustration, and resentment that are brought to life by the capable cast.

What I Disliked

A young woman, brainy and willful, causes scandal by breaking social convention and looking to marry for love, frustrating her elders and confounding her multiple suitors.  Where have I heard this story before?  Oh yes.  Every period romance.  Ever.

I remember reading a seventeenth century French novel in college called The Princess of Cleves that had a similar plot and much of Jane Austen’s work is extremely close to the plot described above.  "My Brilliant Career" moves the same tale to Australia and gives it a feminist twist that was considered timely in the 1970s; otherwise, the plot is not at all distinct from its predecessors.  Sometimes I think it would be nice to see a novel where the young lady, raised from birth to believe in the necessity of her being married off young to a man of good social standing, does so and lives happily every after.  Both because this might have been the case for a lot of people of the time and because it would be a break from being fed the same plot (just dressed in different styles of ballroom gowns) over and over again.  Of course, I realize that would be extremely politically incorrect and would also mean there would be no conflict, making my proposition unfeasible.  But you get my point.  In terms of plot and conflict, “My Brilliant Career” should be titled “My Rehashed Cliché.”  It’s a good thing that this particular version of the time-worn tale was executed with such excellence, for this film feels neither worn nor cliché at first viewing.

For all of its strengths and partly because of them, "My Brilliant Career" never really feels like a special movie, just a very good one.  Nothing about it feels unique, groundbreaking, or even particularly moving.  The filmmakers went for realism over flash or melodrama and are to be commended for it.  The problem is that it just never really has the feel that it belongs on a list of the elite.

Most Memorable Scene

A pillow-fight romp through a splendorous yard and garden toward the middle of the film bursts with a wonderful sense of fun and escapism.  Not the kind of escapism one finds in fantasy, science fiction, cheap romance, or comic books.  But escapism for the movie’s characters themselves.  They cast off the social weights their elders have put upon their shoulders and break free into the open, laughing, running, and enjoying their lives.  It’s a terrific way to bring Sybylla and Harry close to one another in a quick way that keeps the pace of the film moving without ever feeling their relationship has advanced too unnaturally.  Not to mention it is a joyful moment that is certainly a pleasure to watch.

My Rating: 3 out of 5

THE NIGHT OF THE SHOOTING STARS (1982)

A.K.A.: La notte di San Lorenzo

Country: Italy

Genre(s): Drama / War

Director: Paolo Taviani / Vittorio Taviani

Cast: Omero Antonutti / Margarita Lozano / Claudio Bigagli

Plot

In 1944, the people of San Martino abandon the town when they learn that the Nazis plan to destroy it.  They secretly set off in the night in search of the American army rumored to be approaching.

What I Liked

Not your typical World War II film, “The Night of the Shooting Stars” is less about war than it is about life and humanity, regardless of the historic details.  While the events of war set in motion the exodus that becomes the story’s plot and the fear and violence that accompany war make memorable appearances through the story, the power of the film is in the people of San Martino, the beauty of their relationships, and their refusal to give up on their way of life.

Homeless, hungry, and lost, these characters still play, argue, tell stories, laugh, and love.  Confronted with heartbreaking loss and desperation, one would think they would find their traditional values, manners, and responsibilities trivial, yet they continue to adhere to these ways, not out of any sense of perseverance or even necessity, but simply because it is who they are.  The triumph here is that the people of San Martino never lose their identity and their community, even when the town itself has been laid to waste in piles of rubble and blood.

Contributing to this theme are the perspectives of the narrator, who was but a six year old girl at the time of these events.  The child has little to no concept of Nazis and Americans and the politics surrounding the events that have sent her and the others off on this adventure.  In the beginning, everything to her seems exciting, with some of the more terrifying events coming across to her as something magical or mysterious.  When the roar of enemy planes has everyone else frozen in fear, the girl seems to interpret the stillness as a game and enjoys trying to balance on one leg as long as she can, oblivious to the threat.  Even when she witnesses several people she loves being shot and killed, she imagines ancient Trojan warriors rising up out of the wheat fields to avenge the deaths.  Thus the film is less of the coming-of-age story for the girl that one might expect, and more of a tribute to childhood’s ability to remain intact through change and tragedy.

What I Disliked

“The Night of the Shooting Stars” does a marvelous job of finding beauty in tragedy and yet I was not moved as profoundly by the movie as I had hoped or as the filmmakers likely intended.  Perhaps the child's innocent, unaware, sometimes surreal impression of it all dampened some of that emotion.  However, I think the greatest problem is that the story is narrated, which might have provided a barrier to getting emotionally invested in the characters of the story.  The while time I felt very much like I was being told a story, not like I was personally experiencing the events on screen.  Thus there was an observer's distance, an objectivity that kept the film from achieving its full potential impact.

Most Memorable Scene:

*spoiler alert!*

Early in the film, the people of San Martino are divided on what to do.  While some make plans to escape in the night and seek refuge from the Americans, others opt to stay and rely upon the promise of the Nazis that they will not kill anyone who gathers in the town church.  Hindsight about the atrocities committed by Nazis and familiarity with the conventions of tragedy in motion pictures makes it easy to predict what will happen to those who stay behind in the church.  Yet, when the moment comes and survivors come pouring out of the church doors, bleeding, moaning, and in shock, the viewer still can’t help but shake his or her head at the waste and evil of it all.

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5

OUR HOSPITALITY (1923)

Country: U.S.A.

Genre(s): Comedy

Director: John Blystone / Buster Keaton

Cast: Buster Keaton / Natalie Talmadge / Joe Roberts

Plot

 Sent to New York as a baby to escape a bloody family feud, a young man returns to his family home in the South years later only to find himself a guest in the home of the very family who killed his father.

What I Liked

Buster Keaton makes fun of the hypocritical nature of personal and familial pride and honor in the aptly named “Our Hospitality,” showing that while honor can demand certain politeness it also can lead to senseless violence.  The title comes from a line uttered by Joe Roberts’ character (“He’ll never forget our hospitality!”) when he learns that his daughter will be bringing a suitor to supper.  When he and his sons subsequently learn that this suitor (Keaton) is in fact the last living member of a rival family, that famous Southern hospitality becomes a constant obstacle in the way of murder.  The irony then becomes that the suitor will of course never forget the family’s constant attempts to shoot him dead.

The emptiness of all the manners and pleasantries is of course the source of most of the humor in the film.  The two families involved are named the Canfields and McKays, a play on the infamous Hatfields and McCoys who carried out a bloody multi-generational vendetta in the nineteenth century.  The absurdity of both the violence and the gentility reach a climax when the Canfields try to force Keaton outside of their home so that decorum will no longer prevent them from shooting him dead.  Keaton resorts to every conceivable ploy and trick to delay this fate, resulting in some wonderfully awkward moments.

As you might be able to tell from my comments above, the funniest moments of the film really come from the satire involved and not the great stunts and slapstick for which Keaton is also famous.  There are, however, plenty of physical gags and sight gags to be had.  It’s just that the social satire is really what makes “Our Hospitality” stand out from other silent comedies.

What I Disliked

While there are some truly creative and funny moments here, in general I found this film relatively dull and, for most of its length, unfunny.  Most of the silliness and goofiness on screen just has not aged well and no longer translate to laughs for a modern viewer.  It could be said that this is a fault of the viewer and not the film, and such an assumption would be correct, as it is always best to view a film within the constraints of its time and place.  However, the best movies have a universality that can transcend both time and place.  The truth is that, with a few exceptional scenes, the majority “Our Hospitality” – particularly the first half hour – fails as entertainment for today’s jaded eyes.

Most Memorable Scene

About a quarter of the film’s length concerns the southbound travels of Keaton’s character as a passenger aboard what might be the most unusual train in film history.  About the most rickety form of mass transit you can imagine, the train and its charm are impossible to describe in words.  To be honest, the physical gags that ensue on this train ride just don’t hold up any longer.  Even without many laughs, the sheer creativity, production values, and art of the effects, the stunts, and the camera work are unforgettable.

My Rating: 2.5 out of 5

BRAVEHEART (1995)

Country: U.S.A.

Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Epic / War

Director: Mel Gibson

Cast: Mel Gibson / Angus MacFadyen / Patrick McGoohan

Plot

Scottish commoner William Wallace rallies his people in rebellion against the tyranny of English King Edward I.

What I Liked

One would be hard-pressed to find a movie as inspirational as “Braveheart.”  From its few versus the many plot, unforgettable dialogue, and rousing battle scenes to its stirring romance, visceral violence, and gorgeous cinematography, the film refreshes the passion to be found in the simplicity of a standard good versus evil conflict.

Marvelously acted, every character is portrayed exactly as heroic, mad, soulful, dastardly, or cowardly as he or she needs to be.  In short, the actors, director, and screenwriter have given us characters that we can’t help but root for or against with unselfconscious enthusiasm.

Though its notoriously graphic violence might render it difficult to watch for some, it is nonetheless one of those fantastic films with something for everyone, providing the perfect amount of cheers and tears to satisfy every kind of viewer.

What I Disliked

“Braveheart” does rely on certain conventions and stereotypes as a means of inspiring love, awe, and derision from its audience.  Easily discernible among these is the portrayal of King Edward’s son, who, it is strongly insinuated, is gay.  It is true that the historic Edward II was widely rumored to be homosexual or bisexual.  However, the Edward portrayed in this movie is self-centered and weak, both of which are assumed to be byproducts of his sexuality.  It is a less than creative approach relying on age-old misconceptions.  Just because someone is gay does not of course mean they are automatically weak or selfish.  Of course, it is also true that someone being gay doesn’t preclude them from being those things either.  So there’s no way of telling for sure if the filmmakers are in this case horribly prejudice or just lazy.  Either way, none of this gets in the way of the film’s entertainment value at all.

That screenwriter Randall Wallace and director Mel Gibson took poetic license with the historical facts of the William Wallace story is like saying a Superman comic book takes liberties with scientific facts; which is to say that the factual errors are egregious and often ridiculous.  But, as with the Superman comic, who the hell cares?  If you want just the facts, go to the library and do the research.  The rest of us will be having a great time watching one of film history’s most powerful adventure stories.

Most Memorable Scene
*spoiler alert*

The hard-to-watch depiction of William Wallace’s final moments on Earth are something of an emotional microcosm of the whole film.  There are moments of profound sadness, anger, respect, exultation, and love, all crammed into a few minutes of on-screen torture.  That so much feeling pervades this scene is really a tribute to the overall impact of experiencing this film as a whole.

My Rating: 5 out of 5

TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT (1944)

Country: U.S.A.

Genre(s): Drama

Director: Howard Hawks

Cast: Humphrey Bogart / Lauren Bacall / Walter Brennan

Plot

A fishing boat captain in Nazi-occupied Martinique becomes a transport-for-hire for the French resistance.

What I Liked

Virtually every review of “To Have and Have Not” has included comparisons to what might be called its better known older sibling, “Casablanca.”  Like that earlier Bogart picture, this one takes place in Nazi-occupied territory and has Bogie reluctantly betraying his very healthy sense of self-preservation for the resistance.  Though it lacks some of the more romantic and flamboyant emotional content of “Casablanca,” the filmmakers found a very unique blend of politics, adventure, sex, and human drama that earns “To Have and Have Not” the right to be viewed and judged on its own significant merits.

For starters, “To Have and Have Not” is responsible for more than one remarkable pairing.  First off, the script was written by the most outstanding American novelists of the era, Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner.  It is therefore not surprising that this film is a dialogue heavy adaptation (a very loose one) of Hemingway’s novel of the same name.

The team-up of Hemingway and Faulkner, astonishingly enough, is overshadowed by the first meeting of perhaps Hollywood’s most iconic acting couple, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.  As a matter of fact, this film marks Bacall’s film debut, and what a debut it is!  She was no older than nineteen when this movie was filmed, yet she takes on her character with the confidence of a screen veteran.  Indeed, she is perhaps the only actor, male or female, to ever out-cool Mr. Cool himself, Bogart.  There are several scenes where her innate sultriness and uniquely feminine bravado outshine Bogart.  Bogie and Bacall met on the set of this film and the mix of mutual respect and sexual tension is a potent brew that simmers and sizzles in each and every scene they have together, like the matches they keep lighting for each other.

I'm not usually one for gratuitous musical numbers in an otherwise serious film, but my enjoyment for this one was accented by some wonderfully laid back musical interludes from one of America's greatest pop song writers, Hoagy Carmichael.

What I Disliked

For those who are familiar with Bogart through "The African Queen," or "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre," this one might be a little slower than they would expect.  There are a few bursts of violence here and there, but as a whole this film is mostly dialogue, a deliberately paced drama disguised as an international adventure.

There are a couple of characters in this movie that just bugged me.  Walter Brennan was by this point a veteran of playing goofy old coots and naïve sidekicks.  His character Eddie in “To Have and Have Not” is both, as well as a far-from-functioning alcoholic.  In typical old movie style, the drunk is portrayed as a loveable fool whose addiction, memory loss, crooked walk, and slurred speech are portrayed as endearing.  Maybe I’m being overly cynical here, but anyone who has ever known a real alcoholic knows they are neither loveable nor endearing.

The film’s greatest weakness is its lack of an interesting villain.  The head bad guy in this film is a plump foreigner with a beret played by Dan Seymour, who plays the character with all the menace of Dom DeLuise.  Consequently, what should have been some of the most tense moments of the film seem to fall flat and would have been downright pointless without the chemistry between Bogart and Bacall to liven them up.

Most Memorable Scene

For enjoyable flirtation and innuendo in a classic Hollywood film, you can’t get much better than the moments when Bogie and Bacall are alone together in their hotel rooms.  Of these, the one where the future real-life married couple share their first kiss on screen can’t help but bring a smile to the face.  Nearly the entire scene is coy banter and sexual tension, foreplay for the pair of kisses that follow.  Following the second kiss, Bacall’s sultry sexuality reached full maturity and she’s now in control of the moment, closing it out with sexiest exiting-a-room dialogue ever uttered.  The film’s in black and white and you can still see Bogie blush.

My Rating: 4 out of 5

THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950)

Country: U.S.A.

Genre(s): Crime / Drama

Director: John Huston

Cast: Sterling Hayden / Sam Jaffe / Louis Calhern

Plot

A group of professional criminals plot a massive jewel heist.

What I Liked

*spoiler alert*

“The Asphalt Jungle” takes on its subject with a matter-of-fact straightforwardness that was quite edgy for its time.  There is not one iota of the hokey “ripped from the headlines” moralizing to be found in earlier films like “Scarface” yet neither is crime glorified or idealized in any way whatsoever.  Every prominent character in this heist film is a crook and not the stylish, suave George Clooney of “Ocean’s Eleven.”  These are gutter low-lifes, compromised policemen, and white collar hypocrites with no more than a handful of redeeming qualities between all of them.  The filmmakers make no attempt to create a sympathetic backstory for one of them or try to show them as adhering to some imaginary thieves’ code of honor.  What we are given is a bunch of scoundrels as quick to betray each other as anyone else.  It’s a hard-boiled approach that produces a stronger sense of authenticity than most of the crime movies that preceded it.

They may not be heroic characters, but they are well developed ones.  In fact, the ability for this film to produce such strongly unique characters and balance them all effectively within just a two hour span was quite impressive.  I was intrigued by the fact that each of these characters carries with him his own baggage into the film, his own set of insecurities, ticks, and secret desires that motivates him to embark upon this greedy, risky endeavor.  Those weaknesses inform virtually all of their actions throughout the film and, like a great tragedy, eventually lead to their individual defeats.  Of course, “Asphalt Jungle” is no tragedy.  Tragedy implies the ruin of potential, a squandered beauty.  There is no potential or beauty in these men and their various ends are less a matter of tragedy than justice.

The moral, psychological, and plot complexity of “The Asphalt Jungle” make it a very modern movie.  As such, its influence can be seen in elements of a great many films, with “The Godfather,” “Goodfellas,” “The Usual Suspects,” “Pulp Fiction,” and “Jackie Brown” coming most immediately to mind.

What I Disliked

Sterling Hayden just isn’t a good actor.  I felt the same way about his performance as Captain McClusky in “The Godfather.”  In face and body, he looks the part; I’ll give him that.  But when he speaks his lines, his delivery is as though he still has the script in his hand and is reading them for the first time.  His physical performance is equally as clumsy, each movie or gesture seeming memorized more than natural.  In one scene where he is injured and desperately trying to walk, the poignant moment is made almost comic by his silly clumsiness.  It should be noted, however, that most of the rest of the cast bring remarkable believability and complexity to their roles.

Most Memorable Scene

*spoiler alert*

In contrast to Hayden, Louis Calhern is remarkably natural and believable in virtually any role I’ve ever seen him in.  He’s one of those character actors that can really steal a film from its star.  His performance artfully hints at the rampant insecurities beneath the outward charm of slimy lawyer Mr. Emmerick, which helps to make the scene of Mr. Emmerick’s destruction as compelling as it is inevitable.  Of course, it doesn’t hurt that a young and shimmering Marilyn Monroe is given amble screen time in this scene, providing a different kind of cinematic intrigue altogether.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5