Reviews
La ronde (1950)
A lovely bit of delicacy and craft
A clever film with some sublime moments. The early bit where Anton Walbrook strolls across a stage is so exquisitely done that I always have to rewind it again and again. That is the kind of poetic effect that Cocteau always strained for and never struck so cleanly.
Since You Went Away (1944)
Extremely beautiful to look at
I think this film holds the best work of both Garmes and Cortez, who may be the two most gifted cinematographers ever. The emotional effectiveness of the images is such, that the usual Selznick kitsch of the script is not just nullified but completely overpowered. Some fine acting helps too. A wonderful movie.
The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
The greatest movie ever made
Douglas Fairbanks was a peerless action star and in 1924 was at the top of his form. Raoul Walsh was one of our greatest action directors and paces THIEF very nicely. The special effects are mostly quite impressive, only a couple of them are so dated as to appear a bit silly. The art direction of Cedric Gibbons is astounding. The sets are either gorgeous or bizarre, and often both. The 20's was the golden age of pop culture in America and this film is one of the proofs.
The Three Caballeros (1944)
Moments of brilliance
Three Caballeros is a melange of various bits, ranging in quality from rather dull to excitingly creative. It starts out with a couple of ordinary cartoon shorts but then heats up considerably with the introduction of the Brazilian charmer, Joe Carioca. With the exception of two short limited animation segments, the rest of the film is wonderful. There is some fine work in which the animated characters are incorporated into live-action musical sequences. There is also much inventive kaleidoscopic animation, every bit as good as the pink elephant scene in Dumbo. This is one of the best animated feature films.