Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 11th, 2006
Gregory Peck plays Francis Chisholm. After losing his parents as a young boy, and then his sweetheart (to moral turpitude, it seems), Francis enters the priesthood. His unorthodox ways make him a failure initially, but kindly bishop and mentor Edmund Gwenn sees potential in the man, and sends him off to China to be a missionary. There too, things get off to a rocky start, but a turnaround happens when he saves the son of a local mandarin. His struggles are far from over, but through it all, he remains a triumphantly decent man.And one would expect no less from Gregory Peck, now would we, in this, his screen debut. This is old-fashioned religiosity following in the vein of The Song of Bernadette and Going My Way. It certainly is easy to cynical about it, and there is more than a whiff of cultural imperialism about the affair. Even so, and in spite of the very stately pace, the film is so fundamentally sweet-natured that it is very hard not to be caught up in it.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 10th, 2006
Career criminal Ray Milland shows up at the ranch of Korean vet Anthony Quinn, looking for his old flame, Debra Paget. She is now married to Quinn, but she hasn't adapted well to country life, still carries a torch for Milland, and is in the very process of leaving Quinn. She and Milland rekindle their romance, and are planning to leave town with the million dollars Milland has just scored. When Milland runs over a state trooper, he forces Quinn to guide them through the wilderness to the Mexican border. A struggle for both survival and Paget's love ensues.A welcome reminder of when thrillers didn't have to be two-and-a-half hours long, this is a tight, swiftly paced peace of work. Despite the great physical difference between them, Milland comes across as a worthy adversary for Quinn, there's a great cynical anger to the characters, and the violence is pretty brutal for its era. The location settings tend to make the studio exteriors all the more obvious, but this is a minor quibble This is a fine western noir, worthy of rediscovery.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 7th, 2006
Tyrone Power has been plying his trade as a pirate in the waters near Jamaica. When his former captain becomes the governor of Jamaica, Power goes straight. He has his eye on Maureen O'Hara, who is engaged to a duplicitous aristocrat who is feeding information to unreformed pirate George Sanders (utterly unrecognizable in shaggy red hair and beard). There will be many complications before Power can claim the resisting O'Hara as his own.Compared to the Errol Flynn pirate movies Captain Blood and The Sea Hawk, this one is a bit light on the action, really only getting down to the buckling of swashes in the final act. The romance between Power and O'Hara is a bit difficult to take in this day and age as well, especially in the first part of the film as it dances into rape fantasy territory. But be that as it may, this is still a first-class adventure.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 28th, 2005
Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney are a couple whose marriage appears to be reaching its end. They travel through France, which was the scene of so many other memories, and they (and we) experience, through interlocking flashbacks, the history of their relationship.From the moment the animated credit sequence and Henry Mancini score begin, one is clearly watching a Stanley Donen film from the peak of his career (the presence of Hepburn is yet another reminder of Charade from just a couple of years prior). The flashbacks-within-flashbacks structure might initially seem daunting, but the film is light on its feet, and is never confusing. Finney's character is sufficiently cranky even in the early stages of the relationship that one might be forgiven for wondering what Hepburn ever saw in him, but the scenery is pretty and the dialogue zings.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 27th, 2005
George Montgomery plays the lead trumpet for the "Gene Morrison Band" (the Glen Miller Band). As they set out on tour, he falls in love with, and marries, audience member and big fan Ann Rutherford, much to the displeasure of Lynn Bari. The film then uses the tensions between the various significant others during the tour to cobble together a plot that connects the various musical numbers.From the point of view of plot and character, this is nothing to write home about. But as a record of one of the greats of the Big Band era in action, it is a valuable document, and certainly manages to entertain, if not much else.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 26th, 2005
Synopsis
India, 1938. Dissolute ex-pat Brit George Brent is amused when old flame Myrna Loy, now married to an aging aristocrat, arrives, but is less amused when he sees her set her sights on Indian doctor Tyrone Power (all done up in dark make-up). Power is so decent that Brent doesn’t want him corrupted. But it soon turns out that Loy really loves Power, as she demonstrates by helping selflessly after the city is savaged by torrential rains, flooding and an earthquake.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 22nd, 2005
Synopsis
In 1927, young Charlotte Hollis’ married lover (a young Bruce Dern) is hacked apart with a meat cleaver, and Charlotte’s blood-stained dress points to her as the murderer. There is never sufficient evidence, however, and she is never charged, but lives on as the subject of endless gossip, slowly going mad. In 1964, Charlotte (Bette Davis) is decaying as much as her house, which is about to be torn down to make way for a highway. She refuses to give up the house or her past, and, convinced th...t her lover’s widow is trying to driver her out of home and mind, calls cousin Miriam (Olivia de Havilland) to her aid, much to the displeasure of eccentric housekeeper Agnes Moorehead (in the role Una O’Connor would have played had the film been made in the 30s). Soon after Miriam arrives, all sorts of mysterious and terrifying events take place.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 20th, 2005
Synopsis
Gregory Peck is having trouble making ends meet in his current job. A more lucrative one opens up, but with it comes many more demands that create more stress in his family. There is also a secret from his past that is coming back to haunt him.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 19th, 2005
Synopsis
Mother O’Leary and her brood arrive in Chicago just as it is beginning to transform into a metropolis. Her sons grow up to become the amoral Dion (Tyrone Power), who never misses a bet and hooks up with the similarly canny cabaret performer Belle (Alice Faye), and the idealistic lawyer Jack (Don Ameche). Betraying political boss Brian Donlevy, Power arranges for his brother to become mayor, but then finds himself in the targeting sights of Ameche’s reforms. The family feud builds to the nigh... when Mrs. O’Leary’s cow makes that fateful kick.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 30th, 2005
Synopsis
Strong-willed Englishwoman Irene Dunne (the Anna of the title) arrives at the court of King Rex Harrison to teach his wives and 67 children. The clash of cultures is immediate, with the very British Anna refusing to bend to the more outlandish demands of her new surroundings, and Harrison himself torn between modernity and tradition.
