Posts by Brent Lorentson

This 1975 Burt Reynolds film is nothing like I expected, and for the most part I’d say that is a good thing. When I first picked up the title, I pretty much expected this to be a fun yet somewhat forgettable action film from the 70s, something in the same vein as Stick or Gator, but instead this is a more complex story that takes many strange twists and has an ending that was pretty unexpected. The film was directed by Robert Aldrich, who was fresh off of directing The Longest Yard and also to his credit directed one of my favorite war films, The Dirty Dozen.  Aldrich is one of those directors who I’d put in the same category as Don Siegel who were just fantastic at directing “tough-guy” films that just oozed testosterone in just about every frame.  In other words, directors that Hollywood would try to cancel in a heartbeat if they were working today. That being said, this is one of those films that is a product of the time it was made, and it has enough offensive moments that would make a modern audience want to stand up and protest, and, well, it’s what makes me like this film a little more than I should.

The film opens up with a bunch of kids having a trip to the beach, and they discover a dead girl has washed onto shore. Det. Phil Gaines (Burt Reynolds) is put on the case that at first seems like an open-and-shut suicide case, but instead it’s only the beginning of a complicated case that delves into the seedy and corrupt underbelly of Los Angeles. When Marty Hollinger (Ben Johnson) comes in to identify his dead daughter, he’s not willing to accept that she simply committed suicide, and he then decides to embark on an “investigation” on his own.  The storyline with Marty, oddly enough, is pretty similar to the storyline of the 1979 film Hardcore, where we see a father delving into the seedy underbelly of society and uncovering a salacious career his daughter had before dying. Then there is the relationship Phil is having with a call girl, Nicole (Catherine Deneuve) and one of her clients being a corrupt mob attorney who may or may not be involved with Phil’s case.  This has plenty of the hallmarks of being a cool noir film, but it doesn’t quite deliver in that department, and that is one of the film’s problems. It suffers from a bit of an identity crisis where it simply doesn’t seem to know what kind of a film it wants to be; the tone is simply all over the place.

This remake of the 1936 screwball classic My Man Godfrey very much works as a snapshot of the time and how the wealthy as well as the social elite acted.  In many ways we can still see this behavior on display when we look at some of the modern celebrities (looking at you, Kardashian family) we can view it as harmless privilege or simply an abuse of wealth. Either way, when watching this film, though it has plenty of charm, there is plenty to cringe about when viewing the behavior of some of these characters.  When watching this, it’s best to go into it thinking of it as nothing more than a silly story and just ignore how improbable any of this could actually be. The film opens up with a chase taking place. Irene Bullock (June Allyson) is in hot pursuit of her sister, Cordelia Bullock (Martha Hyer) as they speed through the back streets of New York.  Irene is trying to catch up with her sister who has stolen a goat that she intends on using for a scavenger hunt. It’s when the pursuit is taken to a pier where the ladies encounter Godfrey Smith (David Niven) who is posing as a vagrant but in reality has illegally jumped ship when traveling from Austria in search for a new life. Irene is immediately smitten by Godfrey and how he is willing to stand up to her sister, and she decides she’s going to bring Godfrey in as her “animal” in hopes of winning the scavenger hunt. She then offers him a job, to be her butler, which he reluctantly takes, and then of course more screwball hijinks occur.

Though Irene is a bit of a spoiled brat, she is very charming at times, but my biggest problem is we never really get to see just what it is that makes her fall so easily for Godfrey other than it seems she likes the notion that she found herself a stray off the street and wants to be his savior … though it is quite obvious she needs saving from herself with her behavior when things don’t go her way. If it weren’t for Allyson in this role, I feel Irene would simply be an unbearable character. Then there is the continued feud with her sister. You can almost understand why Cordelia is frustrated with Irene’s antics, but she’s just as spoiled and really doesn’t have to face any consequences for her actions, that is until Godfrey calls her out on it.

The name Shirley Temple is about as iconic as it gets when it comes to film history, and despite how many films I’ve seen in my lifetime, I had somehow managed to never see a film with Shirley Temple in it. When I volunteered to check out this film, I honestly thought it was going to be the 1980 version of the film that had Walter Matthau and Julie Andrews, simply because I didn’t realize that there were at least three versions of the film that were made. Despite the mixup, I was happy to get a chance to see the film and find out for myself what made Shirley Temple such a cinematic darling on the screen and made her memorable enough to even have a drink named after her. Personally, I’m not sure if this is the best example of her work, but it is certainly a product of its time.

“Sorrowful” Jones (Adolphe Menjou) is a bookie who has seen it all and has heard every excuse in the book from those looking to make a quick buck at the horse races. The Great Depression is still going on, and people are desperate, and the mob is doing fine taking advantage of all the gamblers. Plenty of gamblers are coming in to place bets with IOUs, and many of these bets Jones has to reject.  Things get interesting when a gambler comes through with an IOU and leaves his spunky daughter behind as collateral. That daughter turns out to be Marthy “Marky” Jane (Shirley Temple).  As luck would (not) have it, the father loses the bet, and he never returns, which leaves Marky in the care of Jones. We later discover that her father has committed suicide, and Jones just doesn’t have it in him to turn over the girl. Bear in mind that this version of the film isn’t rated, and though there is plenty of dark material, this is still treated as though it is a lighthearted comedy. Then there is “Big” Steve (Charles Bickford) who is the big kingpin who runs the races and his girlfriend who is also a lounge singer, Bangles Carson (Dorothy Dell) who is easily charmed by Marky and becomes somewhat of a matriarch figure for her.

In the mid-80’s this was pretty much the height of teen cinema across all genres.  John Hughes had success with Sixteen Candles and in 1985 would put out a little film called The Breakfast Club. That same year Secret Admirer would come out which would borrow a little from Cyrano de Bergerac and add in a healthy dose of the 80’s teen comedy and would almost strike gold.  But what may be the film’s most noteworthy factoid is that in 2016 a writer and director by the name of Eduardo Ortiz releases a film that was a word-for-word and scene-by-scene ripoff in Puerto Rico and was found out days upon its release.  One could only imagine he felt the film was such a hidden gem that no one would notice, but thankfully people did find out, and now with Kino putting out this Blu-ray, perhaps this will give new audiences a chance to check out this charming little film that is filled with familiar faces from the 80’s and absurd hijinks that were acceptable back then.

The film opens up with a mysterious figure slipping a letter into a high school locker that belongs to Michael Ryan (C. Thomas Howell).  Michael is a bit dimwitted but still a likeable guy who is in love with the prom queen, Deborah Anne (Kelly Preston), and then there is his best friend Toni (Lori Laughlin), who obviously has a major crush on Michael, but he’s too naive to notice.  When Michael does finally read this letter, he discovers it is from a secret admirer who claims to be in love with him but is too shy to say so.  You don’t need to be a detective to figure out that it is Toni who has written this letter, but when Michael comes to Toni for advice, he’s convinced himself that it is Deborah who wrote the letter, so to help her clueless friend in need, she offers to help Michael and give Deborah a letter in response … only Toni rewrites the letter, and, well  things get complicated when these love letters get into the wrong hands.

When you come across a movie that is co-written by Alec Coppel, it is hard to not have a certain expectation from the film. Sure, he may have numerous writing credits, but the one that I feel most film enthusiasts will point out is Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo. While many hail Vertigo as Hitchcock’s masterpiece, it is widely considered one of the best films of all time. I somewhat disagree with this ranking; personally I’m more fond of Rear Window and Strangers on a Train, but I do respect the story of Vertigo, and of course its place in film history. At first glance Moment to Moment has all the earmarks of a Hitchcockian thriller, but what makes this film stand out is that it is foremost a romance that happens to have a thriller element, and it is because of that that director Mervyn LeRoy thrives with this film that is equally charming and thrilling to the very end.

The only major fault I find with this film is in the opening sequence.  It is a beautiful crane shot that pushes into the window to reveal a man dead on the kitchen floor, and then the scene continues with the frantic Kay Stanton (Jean Seberg) emerging from her house calling out for help from her neighbor Daphne (Honor Blackman). While it sets a nice tone, I feel the film reveals too much too soon, even if we don’t know who the dead man is. This feels a bit jarring, because the next 45 minutes or so plays out as an illicit romance. The romance is between Kay and Mark (Sean Garrison), a Naval officer who is in port and intends to spend his weekend experiencing art and working on his painting, but instead he comes across Kay and is instantly smitten.  As for Kay, she is the lonely housewife with her husband constantly out of town and giving lectures, and their housemaid is on vacation. It’s Kay’s neighbor Daphne who gives Kay the nudge to show Mark around the French Riviera and is somewhat her “bad angel” on her shoulder to have a little fun while the husband is away.

Backtrack, AKA Catchfire, is one of those films where you look at the stacked cast and you’d think this would have to be a great film, or how have I not heard of this film? Dennis Hopper and Jodie Foster, just one year before starring in The Silence of the Lambs; just this pair alone makes this film worth checking out. What also makes this film a bit unique is that it directed by Dennis Hopper as well.  Easy Rider is pretty much a classic in its own right, and in 1988 he had also done this film Colors, which starred Sean Penn and Robert Duvall. It is a pretty solid film and worth checking out, but right now the focus is on Backtrack. Really, it is at its core a simple crime/mobster movie, but it is sort of a cautionary tale of what happens when you try to inject too much “art” into a film that really is just a basic (yet strange)  neo-noir story.

Anne Benton (Jodie Foster) is a fairly successful artist and has a relatively normal life, but that all changes when she gets a flat tire and as a results stumbles across a mob hit. She narrowly gets away, and when her boyfriend, played by Charlie Sheen, is killed by some mobsters, she goes to the police. Well, they are no big help; they want her to change her name and go into witness protection, which is something she’s not interested in. Fearing for her safety, she goes on the run and into hiding.