irajoel Reviews

Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

judging Hitler

[2/10 · 26 February 2006]

Yes the film raises serious questions about Nazi Germany and the role that Germans played in the terrible destruction that the third Reich wrecked on the world, but the film is seriously dated and terribly preachy with some very over the top acting and in your face direction. Kramer's direction is obvious with lots of zoom shots and close-ups and is also terribly stagy and slow. Maxmillian Schell in a very overrated performance plays the defense lawyer, and his work is no where as good as Paul Newman's stunning performance in "The Hustler." Schell won the Oscar that year over Newman, but his performance is all one note or two. Judy Garland and Monty Clift give some depth and feeling to their small cameos, but both also have done much better work through the years. I will say that Dietrich was terrific in her small role and Tracy was also fine and low keyed as he usually was. The worst performance was given by Burt Lancaster who was way to young to play this part with any conviction and had to depend on his badly done hair and make-up to give any feeling that he could come up with. You can see how bad he is in his big confession scene at the trial and also his stance,posture and walk are all wrong, and way too young. I also had trouble with the static camera work and the poor art direction and process shots, and the throwing in of actual concentration camp footage was a cheap shot and the only real emotional moment in the film and points up to how badly directed the it was. The view outside the courtroom never changes and the trees and foliage look way to fake I know this is minor criticism but it makes the film look tacky and cheap. At times the film resembles a television drama which in fact it originally was. The film was a big critical hit in 1961 and received an amazing 11 Oscar nominations include one for best costume????. This was serious stuff with a capital S back then, and was the verso of the other big reserved seat film of the year "West Side Story." If you couldn't get in to West Side you went to see Judgment which made you feel like you had done something good and worthwhile with your 2 bucks.

Written on the Wind (1956)

It Is Written

[10/10 · 2 July 2001]

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** Released in 1956,and considered quite racy at the time, Douglas Sirk's over the top candy colored melodrama is still a wonderful thing. The plot concerns the goings on in an oil rich dysfunctional Texas family that includes big brother Kyle, who is insecure, weak, wounded & very alcoholic, played by Robert Stack in a very touching & vulneable performance and his sluty sister Marylee played in an extreme manner by Dorothy Malone. Ms. Malone's performance is telegraphed to us via her eyes, which she uses to show us her emotions, which mostly consist of lust (for Rock Hudson) and jealousy (for Lauren Bacall). Malone is the only actress I've ever seen in movies who enters a room eyes first. Now don't get me wrong, her performance to say the least is an absolute hoot, and is one of the supreme camp acting jobs of the 1950's. But it is also terrible, because as likeable and attractive as Malone is,she's not a very good actress, and she's not capable of subtly or shading. Her performace is of one note. She does get to do a wicked Mambo,and in a great montage, as unloving daddy played by the always good Robert Keith falls to his death climbing a staircase, Sirk mixes it up with an almost mad Malone doing a orgasmic dance as she undresses. Stack,(who should have won an Oscar) & Malone, (who won the award, but shouldn't have) are the real stars of the film, the ones who set all the hysteria, both sexual & otherwise in motion, while the "real stars" of the film, Hudson & Bacall fade to grey & brown,which are the colors that they are mainly costumed in. Hudson who was a better actor then given credit for plays the childhood & best friend of Stack's, and the stalked love interest of Malone's who moans & groans over Rock through most of the film. But Hudson wants no part of her,and instead is in love with Bacall who is married to Stack. No one is very happy & no one is happy for very long. The Stack-Bacall marriage falls apart big time after a year, and Stack pretty much drinks himself into oblivion because he thinks he is sterile, and can't give Bacall a baby to prove that he's a man. Sirk who was a very intelligent man, and had a long & fascinating career both in films and theatre in Germany, ended his Hollywood career at Universal in the mid 1950's with a series of intense vividly colored "women's movies" or melodramas. Although they were mainly adapted from medicore or trashy source material,in Sirk's hands they became masterpieces of the genre. Sirk had a wonderful sense of color & design which he brought to play in these films filling his wide screen spaces with characters who played out their emotional lives among weird color combinations & lighting, make believe shadows, and lots of mirroed reflections. In "Written" the characters are always peeking out of windows, listening at doors or sneaking around. So in the end, after much violence, an accidental murder, a miscarriage & more Sirk ends the movie with a final & startling scene of a "reborn" and reformed Malone in a man-tailored suit, sitting at a desk foundling a miniature oilwell.

Picnic (1955)

It Must Have Been Moonglow

[10/10 · 20 June 2001]

The first time I saw Picnic was from the smoke filled balcony of my neighborhood Loew's movie theatre on a warm spring Friday night in 1955. I was eight years old, and was with my mother. I kept falling asleep, and waking up with my eyes watery from all the smoke. I only mention this because this was the first time I saw Kim Novak in a movie, and immediately fell in love with her, thinking her the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Now all these many years later, and after seeing Picnic several times, the last being a few months ago on the newly restored letterboxed dvd, I can happily state that the Picnic is still fine and tasty after all these years. And although no longer in love with Ms. Novak, I still think she was one of the best looking female movie stars of the late 1950's, and also very underrated as an actress. The movie was based on the well received play by the tragic William Inge, who killed himself in the early 70's, and covers a short span of time in the lives of a family living in a small town in Kansas. Theres the single mom Flo Owens played by the fine Betty Field, and her two daughters, beautiful Madge played by Novak and younger tomboy Millie (a standin perhaps for a young Inge) played by Susan Stasberg. Into their dreary lives comes William Holden, a drifter with a past and a real nice smooth chest. He soon turns things upside down & inside out and although its been pointed out many times that Holden was too old for the role, I don't agree. Watching him sway swagger and move you can understand why Novak and most of the other women in the film would be taken in by him, you can feel the sexual tension cracking & sizzling like a summer lighting storm. Novak is engaged to the town rich kid, played by Cliff Robertson also young and handsome, but as soon as la Novak catches sight of Holden with his shirt off, its bye bye Cliff and hello Bill. Moma Betty is aghast at the thought of her queen of the picnic taking up with a no good bum like Holden and giving up her chance for the good life. Holden who just so happens to have gone to college with Robertson, is in town to look him up and hit him for a job at his old man's plant. Also hanging around is Rosalind Russell who is a spinster school teacher boarding with the Owens, and her timid boyfriend Howard played by Arthur O' Connell. Both are fine, and Russell especially has some great moments especially her drunken scene at the picnic, and her begging Howard to marry her. Silly Roz gave up her sure shot of winning a supporting Oscar for this film, because she refused to be considered as a supporting player. Too bad, because she is wonderful. Of course one cannot fail to mention the sexy erotic dance at the picnic between Novak and Holden, which is still one of the great sex scenes ever filmed. Directed by Joshua Logan who filmed on location and used many of the town folks as extras, the film has a nice feel to it. The lengthy actual picnic of the title is especially fine. Also of note is James Wong Howe's beautiful soft pastel color cinematography, George Dunings score, Jo Mielziner's production design and the great aeriel shot at the end of the film. One of the memorable films of the 1950s.

Diva (1981)

Viva Diva

[10/10 · 12 June 2001]

Jean-Jacques Beineix's first film is a quirky colorful pop mixture of action, romance ,music and fairy tale that is based on a pop novel by Delacorta. The story concerns a young French postal delivery boy named Jules, who is also an opera lover & a big fan of the beautiful,& eccentric African American diva Cynthia Hawkins who is performing in Paris when the movie opens. Ms. Hawkins played by opera singer Wilhelmenia Fernandez refuses to sing for recordings, and this quirk of hers is what sets the action of the movie moving. Jules decides to tape Hawkins in performance, after which he goes backstage to meet the diva, and promptly steals the gown she wore at the concert, which he sometimes uses as a scarf when its not hanging in a shrine he has made to her in his large loft filled with disgarded cars. The plot really gets tangled when Jules, while on his way to a delivery witnesses the murder of a barefooted young woman who is carrying a tape that has a lot of plot and secrets on it. Who is she, and why does she wind up with an icepick in her back is one of the movie's many enjoyable plot devices that slowly unravels as the film goes on. While on her way to the icepick the lady drops her tape (unknown to him at the time)in Jules delivery pouch, and the chase so to speak is on. Jules charmingly played by Frederic Andrei is not only in danger from the very creepy killers of the lady, but also from two shady Japanese record producers who want his pirated tape of Hawkins beautiful aria from "La Wally" that Jules recorded. Very much influenced by American crime thrillers & film noir but very much it's own film, Diva is a delight from the very beginning to the beautiful ending which takes place on an empty stage and always moves me to shed a few tears. One of the terrific things about Diva is it's lively cast of characters all wonderfully played. Thuy An Luu as the young & sexy Vietnamese model Alba, is most winning as the companion of the strange & seemingly very wealthy recluse played by the great Richard Bohringer. These are characters and performances to embrace, they make one feel good. There are many wonderful set pieces including a quite amazing chase on motorbike through the Paris metro, a stroll in the early morning hours around Paris with Jules and Hawkins, and of course the gorgous singing of Ms. Fernandez. Beautifully photographed by Philippe Rousselot this is one of the highlights of 1982, and among the very best of the decade. The newly released and happily restored DVD does justice to the film both in the quality of the picture and sound.

Scarface (1983)

Scared For Life

[1/10 · 4 June 2001]

I can't really understand why Brian DePalma felt the need to do a remake of Howard Hawk's 1932 gangster masterpiece Scarface. The original is so good and tough, lean and stark, short and to the point. This laughable mess goes on for an unbearable three hours, and has as its centerpiece, it's anchor, its star, Al Pacino who is simply dreadful. What has happened to this once exciting actor who gave so many memorable performances in the early seventies. His downfall may have begun with this very film, and he has gone downhill ever since. All his recent roles & performances seem the same, they blend and melt into one. His performances have become lazy, fat and dishonest. At times it seems as if his performances are yelled at us, and this is usually mistaken as intense and powerful acting. When he tries to be subtle and quiet,he comes off as insincere and all method. He was fun in Dick Tracy, because he was playing a cartoon, and his overacting was exactly right for a comic strip. His performance was all make-up. His Oscar for the cheap & sentimental "Scent Of A Woman" was undeserved, but as Oscar saw it he was long overdue. So in Scarface we have Al playing gangster with a bad Cuban accent which comes off as a bad Mexican accent. DePalma & the screenwriter Oliver Stone have change the Italian criminals of the original to Cubans, and instead of booze we have coke, instead of the fine subtle Hawksian direction of the original we have De Palma's over the edge misdirection. To be sure DePalma has made some terrific original films. Carrie, Sisters, Dressed To Kill and The Untouchables immediately come to mind, but Scarface is not one of them. There is however one top notch DePalmian sequence and thats the chainsaw in the motel bathtub scene, but thats only a few minutes in a three hour flick. The violence and gratuitous cursing wears us out, and after awhile it all becomes meaningless and stupid. I envy Michelle Pfeiffer who in the film gets to walk out on this mess. Also in the cast is F. Murray Abraham, one year away from winning a best actor Oscar and oblivion, & Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio who in the flash of a snort goes from being a good sweet girl to a raging party girl,unconvincely I might add. The film also looks ugly and the recently deceased John A Alonzo's cinematography is muddy and common. Not exactly a highpoint of American cinema.

Funny Face (1957)

I Love This Funny Face

[10/10 · 20 May 2001]

1957 marked the last year of the great Hollywood musical,and saw three marvelous examples of what Hollywood use to do best. During the year, we saw three wonderful musicals come out of Hollywood, Funny Face, The Pajama Game & Les Girls which was the last original Hollywood musical and had a score written by Cole Porter no less. Funny Face was based on an old Broadway revue, but had a bright new 50's story attached to it to fit the large talents of Fred Astaire & Audrey Hepburn. Astaire plays a fashion photographer loosly based on Richard Avedon who works for a top fashion magazine,(think Vogue) whose editor played by the great Kay Thompson (think Diana Veerland)is looking for the perfect new face. They stumble across La Hepburn (never more beautiful) working in a dusty Greenwich Village bookstore while on a location shot, and before you can say Christian Dior, everyone is off to Paris, where Hepburn is touted as "the new face" and gets to model some swell de Givenchy gowns amid lovely Paris locals. Needless to say Hepburn falls for Astaire, which in the uptight 50's was pretty racy stuff, since Astaire was much older than Hepburn. That pretty much is the plot, not much to work with one would think, but the director Stanley Donen has taken this cotton candy of a storyline and fashioned one of the most enjoyable and best musicals of the 50's, and maybe ever. The marvelous score uses a lot of great Gershwin standards along with some terrific new songs by a trio of songwriters including Ira Gershwin. There are several set pieces most of which the great Kay Thompson takes part in, and she pretty much steals the show. The opening "Think Pink" number is snazzy and snappy and one wonders and is sadden that Thompson only made three films. Most of her Hollywood work was behind the scenes as a vocal arranger & lyricist for several M.G.M. musicals of the 1940's, and she is also the author of the everlasting children's book Eloise. Some of the stuff falls flat, especially Hepburn's on again off again infatuation with a phony Paris philospher who is more interested in Hepburn's body than her mind, but that's a minor fault, because this is a musical that offers so much in the way of its music,performances dancing, decor,costume & cinematography. The newly released DVD restores the beautiful color and full screen image that the video was lacking. One of the ten best films of 1957.

My Life as a Dog (1985)

An absolute delight

[10/10 · 19 May 2001]

My Life As A Dog, now this is a total delight. The film follows the life of Ingemar in his 12th year as he has to cope with the slow death of his mother. The film takes place in 1959 in Sweden, and is just right in its atmosphere. Hallestrom works wonders with Anton Glanzelius as Ingemar, and he gives a marvelous performance that is truly touching and real. When his mother can no longer care for him and his older brother, Ingemar is sent off to his Uncle who lives in a small town in which it seems that all the residents work at the glass factory, and he soon becomes part of the town's fabric. His adventures are many,and includes his learning to box from the town tomboy who worries about her budding breasts, the chaperoning of the lovely town beauty as she poses nude for a sculptor, and his reading of a lingerie catalog to a dying old man. The film has been accused at least by someone on this list as being pornographic and prurient which is idiotic and stupid. This is a film about childhood and like most childhoods the film includes several scenes about children's growing awareness and curiosity about sex and their bodies and presents it in a real and sensitive way. A word of warning about the DVD transfer of the film. It stinks. Not only is it not letterboxed, but is full of flaws and looks no better than a video, but it is subtitled, and is still a joy to watch. One of the ten best films I saw in 1985.

Chopper (2000)

Romper Chopper

[10/10 · 14 May 2001]

Chopper, Andrew Dominik's fictionalized movie about real life Australian crazy Mark "chopper" Read is a strong visceral film with many dark patches of black humor throughout. This is a tough and sometimes difficult film to watch because of the unreleting violence that spills out from the screen and the general nastiness of not only Chopper but all of the characters in the film. This is not a film for everyone, which is a shame, because its one of the best films (if not the best) of 2000, and anyone interested in film and acting must see it. This is outlaw cinema for real, and I have to wonder what the hell Andrew Dominik the director & writer of the film will do as a follow up. To me on the basis of this first film of his, Dominik appears to be one of the more original filmmakers around, but I fear that like many of his fellow Australian movie makers he'll be gobbled up by Hollywood,which might be exactly what Mr. Dominik is hoping for. Based on the life and career of the bigger than life criminal and murderer Mark "Chopper" Read, the film begins in prison where Chopper is serving jail time for trying to kidnap a judge. The raw and shocking violence begins here, and continues as the film follows Chopper after he gets released from jail. At one point he tells his low life junkie whore girlfriend that he would like to have a normal life and watch the sunsets like everyone else, this is said right before he goes into one of his rages, and beats Tanya to a pulp, and knocks out her mom when she tries to get him to stop. This is just one example of the stuff Chopper pulls, and is one of the milder scenes in the film. You laugh as you cringe. Dominik uses short and taunt scenes to tell this strange fierce story,he doesn't want to bore. The editing is sharp and fast, the acting is fine and Eric Bana as Chopper gives a great and stunning performance, this is a star is born role, he's that good and new. You can't take your eyes off him, even though you want to turn your face away from all the havoc that he wrecks.

Pickup on South Street (1953)

hard boiled fuller

[10/10 · 12 May 2001]

This 1953 Sam Fuller movie contains some of his best work, and its sad that he couldn't continue to get the backing of major Hollywood studios to do his stuff. The story line goes something like this. A tough hard broad (read prostitute) is riding the subway one hot summer day, and gets her pocketbook picked by Skip McCoy. What Skip (and the dame) don't realize is that she is also carrying some microfilm to be passed to commie spies. This opening shot without dialogue, and mostly in tight close-ups is a beaut,one of the many that Fuller uses throughout the movie. Playing the babe known as Candy is Jean Peters, who was never better nor better looking. One forgets how beautiful she was, and she handles this role very well. The Pickpocket is played by Richard Widmark, who had already made his mark, and set his style with 1947's Kiss Of Death as the crazy creep with the creepy laugh, and although he's a little "softer" here, he's still scary. These hard edged characters do have soft spots here and there, but its noir and nasty all the way. The standout performance belongs to the wonderful Thelma Ritter,who plays Moe the stoolie saving up her dough to pay for her own funeral. Ritter received a well deserved Oscar nomination for her performance, but lost out to the boring but popular performance of Donna Reed as the B girl (read prostitute) in "From Here To Eternity." Hollywood loves it when a good girl goes bad, and loves to Oscar them even though their performance is usually awful. See for instance Shirley Jones in "Elmer Gantry. Set among the docks and dives of New York City, with crisp black and white photography by the great Joe MacDonald,and some very good art direction. Especially good is the set representing the New York City subways and Widmark's shack near the river. Made at the height of the cold war and red scare, the villian of the piece is the ordinary looking commie, played by Richard Kiley who is much more dangerous than the pickpocket who is a criminal but is just trying to make a living and above all is a loyal American.

Bye Bye Birdie (1963)

Bye Bye

[1/10 · 15 April 2001]

This film adaption of the hit Broadway musical is a messy mess. Sure some of the music is good and rousing, but the film is fat and lazy & just lays there. It weighs a ton. It only comes to life when the sexy Ann-Margret is on. Although the film uses some of the original cast, Dick Van Dyke, Paul Lynde, most of the cast is badly miscast with an especially lousy Janet Leigh in the role that Chita Rivera orginated on Broadway. The movie version downplays (makes invisible) the fact that Rosie is a latino, and we are presented with a bland Leigh in a black wig. Also terrible is Maureen Stapleton as Albert's overbearing Jewish? mother, Paul Lynde as Ann-Margret's fey impossible dad, and a funny looking Bobby Rydell as the jealous boyfriend. And who could believe Jesse Pearson looking fat and unappealing as the rock n roll idol modeled after the great Presley. The scenes with the Russian Ballet & The Ed Sullivan show are dated relics of the cold war and even when the film was new, should have been left out. Loud & vulgar, the film leaves a bad after taste, and the only reason to really see this thing is the great opening and closing titles with a glorious Ann-Margret singing the title song. Poorly directed by George Sidney who was an M.G.M. contract director,and the maker of a few good musical moments in otherwise dismal musicals ie. Anchors Aweigh, Annie Get Your Gun, Showboat & later the disappointing Pal Joey and the dreadful Pepe & Half A Sixpence.

Taxi Driver (1976)

Mean Lean Scorsese

[10/10 · 6 April 2001]

Hot summer nights in New York City,rain soaked black patent leather streets shine and glisten as a lone, looney & lonely taxi cab driver stalks the streets in his bright yellow cab. This is Martin Scorsese's taxi driver played by Robert DeNiro, at the height of his powers as an actor. He's so young, taunt & handsome & totally out of it, in a totally out of it city. DeNiro plays Travis Bickle (great name) who we see in a series of memorable scenes is a time bomb ticking away, ready to blow up in society's face. And even though we know the big bang is coming, we are still shocked, surprised & disturbed by the bloody ending. This was Scorsese's second big time Hollywood feature, done after his light but very likeable "woman's picture" "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" which won Ellen Burstyn an Oscar. This is a young director's movie, exciting,dangerous & full of great images & scenes, that exhibit a willingness to take chances which mostly pay off big time. It's also a scary movie, an urban horror show for real. The city of night in this movie is both beautiful with neon colors reflecting on wet streets, and ugly in its deprevation and decay. The film is "religious" & spiritual taking us along for the anti-hero's long dark journey through hell, both internal & external and his violent and bloody redemption. This Scorsese landscape is littered with human garbage: child whores & pimps, criminals & politicians, crazies who want to do terrible things, politicians who want to get elected. This is a beautifully made and crafted film, full of memorable lines & images. Gliding taxis with steam rising from the streets, Bernard Herrmann's last great score, jazzy and mournful rides along for the trip. Notable performances by little miss Foster, before she became the Oscar winning movie star, rigid & uptight. She's so good eating her toast & jam, trying to sex up Deniro, slow dancing with Harvey the greasy pimp, that we almost think she's the real McCoy, a miniature Mary waiting to be saved. Also good are the already mentioned Harvey Keitel, Albert Brooks as the campaign worker luckless in love with blonde venus Cybill Shepherd (also never better) & the director himself as the taxi passenger from hell,who wants to do terrible things to his cheating wife's private parts. This guy is so bad & creepy that even Travis is frighten. Also of note is Michael Chapman's candy colored cinematography & the gorgous Diahnne Abbott (married at the time to DeNiro)in a bit part as the porn theatre cashier. Although I'm not crazy about the epilogue ending,(was this used to make us feel better?) this is still one of the great films, if not the greatest film of the 70's, and one of Scorsese's masterpieces. Hard to believe that he did not receive a best director Oscar nomination, and that the film itself lost out for best picture to the simple and sentimental Rocky. Well actually maybe I shouldn't be surprised.

Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

Leone's masterpiece

[10/10 · 4 April 2001]

Its inconceivable to me, how anyone viewing this great film in its 4 hour version could not be moved, excited & ultimately overwhelmed by it. From the opening with that Goddamn ringing phone, to the last shot of a smiling stoned out DeNiro this film is a true work of art. Complicated & personal, Leone weaves an epic tale about a bunch of Jewish gangster-friends from their criminal childhood on New York's lower eastside in the 1900's to the 1960's. And like many films of the genre,Once Upon touches on the themes of friendship, loyalty & betrayal but does so in what some find an unsettling structure. The film constantly weaves from past to present and back again & I think that this form of filmmaking makes some American moviegoers uneasy. They like their films with beginnings, middles & hopefully happy endings. Now this is a film that is all over the place, with characters that come & go impolitely & age without aging. Leone the artist takes a sacred genre and does marvelous tricks & turns to it. Its also a very violent & sexy film, a little too "European" for a mainstream American film, so the film is butched down to a 2 hour version that gets bombed by critics, and hated by audiences who came expecting another Godfather sequel, because hey after all DeNiro is in it. Also in the film is James Woods & the always great Tuesday Weld. The music is by Ennio Morricone & the beautiful cinematography is by Tonino Delli Colli. I'm delighted to see how many positive and interesting comments this film has gotten here, and I too can't wait for it to be on DVD. There is also a longer version than the 4 hour one, in which Louise Flecher has a part, I've seen the stills.

Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)

MISHIMA: A Troubled Life in Four Chapters

[10/10 · 3 April 2001]

One would think that a film based on the life of the Japanese author Yukio Mishima would be a daunting if not impossible task. However Paul Schrader has indeed made a film "about" Mishima that is both superb & complex. While it is not a literal biography, Schrader & his co-screenwriter Leonard Scharder (his brother) have taken several incidents from his life, including his sucide and crafted what can best be described as incidental tableaus that are visually sparse and stunning. Mishima's homosexuality is almost not there, due to legal threats from his widow, but in spite of this, the film is still terrific, and one of the best films I saw in 1985. I should also mention the important contribution of Philip Glass who did the score, which adds an additional texture to the film, and is superior to the one he did for Scorsese's Kundun. Also notable is John Bailey's fine crisp beautifully colored cinematography and the great production design & costumes by Eiko Ishioka who went on to do the memorable costumes for Coppola's Dracula for which she received a well deserved Oscar. Hopefully this film will soon be available on DVD.

Rocco and His Brothers (1960)

Visconti's masterpiece

[10/10 · 2 April 2001]

This primo example of Italian neo-realism directed by Luchino Visconti is one of those films that people either love or hate, there really is no in between when it comes to this film. I think it magnificent, and I've seen it 3 or 4 times. The last viewing was last fall at the Film Forum in New York City, and once again I was knocked out by it. The plot is simple, a poor family headed by the mother moves to the big city to try to make a better life for her and her sons. Katina Paxinou plays the mama mia in a larger than life performance that at times knocks you out of your seat. The film is divided into sections with each one devoted to one of the brothers, but the thrust (and heart) of the narrative concerns two of the brothers, Rocco played by a never better nor more beautiful Alain Delon & his intense love-hate relationship with his brother played by Renato Salvatori who also gives a superb performance. The other great performance in the film is from Annie Girardot as a prostitute with a semi-heart of gold. Girardot first has a vivid & difficult relationship with Salvatori who is a brutal & simple prize fighter, but then she drops him, when she falls in love with Delon. Needless to say trouble and high operatic drama follows that finally ends in tragedy that never fails to leave me in tears. Both soapy & operatic, this is one of the great films of the 60's & one of Visconti's best. Also look for a young Claudia Cardinale in an early film role.

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

Welles's adaptation of Booth Tarkington's novel.

[10/10 · 31 March 2001]

Orson Welles's flawed and troubled film The Magnificent Ambersons is in some ways just as great as Citizen Kane. Filled with wonderful set pieces, the front door opening into the ball and Agnes Moorehead on that great staircase screaming at Tim Holt are just two that come to mind immediately. Surprisingly the film was nominated for a best picture Oscar, even in its butched state, and Moorehead received a well deserved supporting actress nomination losing out to Teresa Wright's stilted boring performance in Mrs. Miniver. Amberson's is also noteworthy for its great art direction, the beautiful cinematography of Stanley Cortez & the lovely performance of Dolores Costello. This is a film that holds up on repeated viewings, and one can only wish that the cut footage is lying in some vault waiting to be discovered.