StevenCapsuto Reviews

The DuPont Show of the Month: Cole Porter's 'Aladdin' (1958) Season 1, Episode 6

Strong cast in an overly long, occasionally charming, racially problematic TV musical

[6/10 · 25 January 2018]

Cole Porter's final musical (and his only one written for television) was not well received at the time, and it's easy to see why. Though S.J. Perelman's script is a clever, witty retelling of the classic tale, it feels like it had to be padded out to fill the DuPont Show's 90-minute time slot.

Additionally, the hugely talented, charming cast doesn't really make up for the inherent racism of the piece: dozens of white actors in yellowface with taped eyelids, jokes about Chinese people eating dogs, etc. So it's a mixed bag.

Broadway songwriting legend Cole Porter was gravely ill when he wrote the songs, so they're not his best work. (The title song is singularly bland.) Worse, his lyrics are more racially problematic than Perelman's already stereotype-ridden script. The highlight of the score is the bouncy, fun "Opportunity Knocks but Once."

Worth singling out for praise in the cast are Sal Mineo as Aladdin, Una Merkel as his mother, and Howard Morris at his comedic best in a supporting role. Cyril Ritchard chews scenery as the over-the-top villain. Anna Maria Alberghetti (as the princess), Geoffrey Holder (as the genie) and Basil Rathbone (as the emperor) were all wonderful actors, though they're not given anything terribly interesting to do here.

For me, the video's main appeal is seeing Sal Mineo play a romantic lead, and seeing 1950s-era Howard Morris do something other than sketch comedy.

Produced on color videotape, the show is only known to survive as a black-and-white kinescope. This is a shame, because it probably looked spectacular in color.

The Interview (II) (2014)

Beyond awful. You can't even imagine...

[1/10 · 26 December 2014]

I feel embarrassed for everyone connected with this flick and anyone who ever knew them. It's *that* bad: awful premise, idiotic script (not coherent even on its own terms as a gross-out fantasy-comedy), the wrong tone (it might have been less off-key if they'd aimed for something closer to the tone of those old "Bill & Ted" films), and James Franco doing a weird, ineffective characterization in a role that has to carry the film.

I sat through the whole thing, but only because 1) the friends I was hanging out with wanted to see it (given its "historic" importance, amid allegations that the North Korean government had hacked Sony Pictures' computer systems in retaliation), and 2) because we were watching it at my apartment and I couldn't politely leave.

Hitch Hike Lady (1935)

Charming, feel-good early comedy

[8/10 · 28 August 2012]

In this episodic comedy, a cash-strapped older Englishwoman (Alison Skipworth) hitchhikes from New York to California to pay a surprise visit to her son. She mistakenly believes that San Quentin, the return address on his letters, is his orange ranch.

Along the way she shares misadventures with various new friends: a young woman, a trailer salesman, and a pair of wanted criminals.

It's not an all-time classic, but I loved spending an hour or so with these characters. The film has a solid cast, and even James Ellison (who I usually think of as a B-movie cowboy) acquits himself well here in a romantic-comedy role.

I saw the 77-minute theatrical version (rather than the 53-minute TV print) and found the pacing and storytelling just right.

Captain Alatriste: The Spanish Musketeer (2006)

Visually fine but unengaging and muddled

[4/10 · 27 September 2011]

The episodic, incoherent script patches together highlights from FIVE historical adventure novels spanning a 20-year period of the 17th century. This film takes for granted that we already know something of the era's Spanish political, literary, artistic and military history. Even Spaniards found this movie confusing, so what hope do we foreign viewers have? Mortensen is very good in the title role, though the Argentine Spanish of his youth occasionally creeps through the European accent he learned for the film. In fact, the whole cast is good, but they're trapped in a hopeless script that skips and jumps over plot points too fast while still somehow remaining plodding and dull.

The visual style works well, and I like the brutality of the battle scenes. (In English-language films, by comparison, war often comes off as a bit too clean and tidy.)

The Alatriste novels have a lot to offer, so ideally this should have been made as a TV miniseries.

A Midsummer Night's Dream (I) (1982 TV Movie)

Leaden direction of the lovers' story bogs down an otherwise good version

[5/10 · 13 January 2010]

When even the great Christine Baranski gives a boring performance, you know a production is in deep trouble directorially.

This technically gorgeous staging works well when we're with the acting troupe preparing its version of "Pyramus and Thisbe." Those parts of the play are cleverly directed and beautifully performed. However, the rest of the plots - especially the one about the two pairs of young lovers - don't work at all, despite an extremely talented cast.

Legendary director James Lapine tried something different here, and the result is a decent but largely unengaging production that seems much longer than it actually is.

An American Family (1973)

Groundbreaking, important, shocking in its day... and tedious beyond description

[7/10 · 13 January 2010]

I videotaped most of the series when it reran on WNET some 20 years ago, and I keep trying to like it. But even to this avid TV viewer who lived through that era and is fascinated by cultural anthropology, the show is largely unwatchable.

The problem is that except for a couple of episodes (episode 2 and maybe the one with Lance in Paris), it's dull and slow. What made it shocking in 1973 -- the strangeness of being able to peek into someone else's day-to-day life -- has now been eclipsed by a torrent of tell-all talk shows and contrived "reality shows." Without the show's original voyeuristic shock value, ten of the twelve hours are unadulterated tedium (though I imagine a nifty 100-minute documentary could be culled from the footage).

Chuecatown (2007)

A fun, silly, over-the-top dark comedy based on a comic book

[7/10 · 25 August 2008]

When I first saw this promoted on Spanish television, I thought it looked too stupid to bother with. But then I saw that the cast included Rosa María Sardà, Concha Velasco, Joan Crosas and Edu Soto, all of whom are tremendously talented. So I decided to give it a shot.

It's a broadly played comedy/suspense piece involving the hunt for a serial killer: a snobby gay real estate developer who's bumping off old ladies and working-class people so he can gentrify Chueca, Madrid's somewhat run-down gay neighborhood. The central characters are a young, working-class gay couple who don't fit his image of the new Chueca. The film is loosely adapted from a Spanish comic book of the same title.

There's strong acting all around, including a charming performance by Carlos Fuentes, who had previously appeared in "Km0." Sardà and Velasco are their usual wonderful selves (the former playing a neurotic police inspector, and the latter playing the mother-in-law from hell).

I was particularly curious to see Soto in a film role, since I mostly know him as his television alter-ego (the manic club kid known as "el Neng," whom he played for years on late-night television). Here he gives a wonderfully goofy performance as a police detective.

Don't look for subtlety or profound meaning in this film, but it's a fun way to pass an hour or two.

At the festival screening I saw in Philadelphia, the English subtitles were basically good but problematic at spots. The translator missed all the references to American pop culture, misunderstood one or two bits of the dialog, and there were typos and spelling errors. Hopefully this will be fixed before it's released on DVD here.

Anita no perd el tren (2001)

Ventura Pons goes romantic... sort of

[8/10 · 23 August 2008]

The wonderful Rosa Maria Sardà plays the title role in this charming, often whimsical comedy/drama directed by Ventura Pons.

Anita, a fifty-year-old film buff who has led a predictable and unadventurous life as a box-office clerk, takes a chance on love when she's pursued by a hunky construction worker. It's not your typical romantic comedy, but it's a lovely film.

Set in Barcelona, the film was shot in a mix of Catalan and European Spanish (mostly Catalan), although it's often shown in Spanish-dubbed versions. The European dub is much more carefully done than the American Spanish dub I'm watching right now on Univisión television. I have to admit, however, that the lead actress in the American dub is a remarkable match for Sardà's voice.

If you watch it on DVD, I recommend watching the original Catalan/Spanish multilingual version, since it gives a good feel for the reality of conversations in that part of Spain.

"Anita" is my favorite Ventura Pons film (as the director usually goes in for much more depressing scripts). Apparently it's the only one of his films that's unavailable in the U.S.

ITV Saturday Night Theatre: Twelfth Night (1970) Season 2, Episode 44

What an outstanding cast!

[8/10 · 23 August 2008]

This fine staging of Shakespeare's gender-bending comedy is finally available on DVD!

I've seen many productions of "Twelfth Night," and Joan Plowright is by far my favorite Viola/Cesario. She's convincing in both roles (and, compared to many other Violas, she might conceivably pass for a teenage boy). She is even more impressive in the final act, which requires her to add still more subtleties to her performance.

In the broader comedy roles, it's hard to beat a production that includes Alec Guinness, Ralph Richardson and Tommy Steele. Steele's leering persona serves him very well here as Feste.

The outstanding script adaptation abridges the play to about 100 minutes. The decision to reverse the order of scenes 1 and 2 was ingenious: it makes for a more dramatic opening and allows a type of exposition that television can do well but which could not have been done easily on Shakespeare's stage.

The video on the R1 disc is slightly grainy (presumably a function of its age), and some minor glitches in the quad tape were not corrected. But these are trifles, and the production is very enjoyable.

Be aware that this is a stage-like television production: a play produced on videotape. If you want something more cinematic, Trevor Nunn's 1996 film version is very good.

Alice in Wonderland (1966 TV Movie)

A surreal BBC "Wednesday Play"

[6/10 · 14 August 2008]

This is an experimental TV-movie from the BBC's "Wednesday Play" anthology. That series was always willing to risk trying something different, and this ambitious, low-budget "Alice" is certainly different. I don't exactly *enjoy* this film, but it's certainly fascinating.

I appreciate it as an experiment in what television could do. I admire the cast of iconic and talented Britons who wouldn't normally coincide in the same project: Peter Sellers, John Gielgud, Leo McKern (in drag as the Duchess), Michael Redgrave, Peter Cook, Wilfrid Brambell, Alan Bennett, Malcolm Muggeridge, etc.

I also admire the creativity it took to imagine this quintessentially British tale accompanied by Ravi Shankar music.

Some viewers may find the film too creepy and surreal, but the original book is pretty disturbing to begin with. This film is fairly incoherent, but then so is the book, which follows the ever-shifting logic of a dream.

The biggest problem (aside from pacing that now seems too leisurely) is that Miller's production assumes you already know what's going on. For instance, it assumes you know that the two men dressed as... um... men are actually the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle.

In other words, this is an "Alice" for people who are already overdosed on adaptations of "Alice," and who might appreciate a weirdly different take on the familiar story. Or to narrow that audience a bit, people age 12 and up who might appreciate a different take on the story.

The Boarding School (2007–2010)

Unusual mix of genres, a bit silly but addictive

[8/10 · 12 March 2008]

Something evil is happening in the hidden passageways under the remote, exclusive Black Lagoon Boarding School. (You'd think the name would tip people off, wouldn't you?) A group of intrepid Spanish high schoolers risk their lives to investigate three decades' worth of mayhem.

The tone veers from suspense to sentimentality, from dramedy to melodrama. The plot twists are certainly complicated, to the point where they're a bit much after a while -- how much evildoing can possibly go on in one school? But as teen adventure serials go, it's pretty addictive.

A friend from Spain showed me a few episodes because he knows I like some of the actors in the cast: the wonderful Amparo Baró, formerly of "Siete vidas"; the versatile Luis Merlo, formerly of "Aquí no hay quien viva"; and singer/dancer/actress Natalia Millán, formerly of "Un paso adelante," who also starred on stage in the 2005-2006 Spanish revival of "Cabaret." The actors who play the kids, none of whom I'd heard of before, are also fantastic.

As If (2002)

Close, but no cigar

[6/10 · 26 August 2007]

In some ways, this was a surprisingly faithful adaptation of the original British series, right down to the scripts, camera work, music, and one original cast member (playing the same character but with an amazingly good American accent).

These stories worked very well in the UK, where the characters were around 18 years old. In Britain, the show was in a time slot clearly aimed at an adolescent audience.

In the U.S. version, however, the characters looked like they were about 25, and it aired in prime time. Since both the actors and the target audience were older than in the original, the stories seemed trashier in the American remake, even though they were the same plots.

Behavior that's acceptable in a teenager can come off as selfish, immature, and annoying when the characters look old enough to have Ph.D.s.

Another Gay Movie (2006)

Life is too short to waste 90 minutes on this film

[2/10 · 16 December 2006]

People who saw the somewhat censored version that played in movie theaters tend to like this flick. People who saw the crass, uncensored DVD tend to hate it. This review is based on the DVD:

This gay sendup of teen movies (notably "American Pie") is an unclever, uninspired road accident of a film. Its mere 90 minutes pass in what seems like hours as one unfunny, gag-inducing gag follows another. Character development doesn't need be subtle in such films, but you should at least be able to tell the characters apart, which the friend I saw this with had trouble doing. There are a few good laughs (all at least halfway through the film) and even a couple of sweet, tender moments. But they're not worth hunting for amid the wreckage.

To use a euphemism from the film, this is a steaming piece of "Belgian chocolate"... probably even for fans of broad, crude parodies or that genre of comedies in which actors in their twenties play teenagers trying to lose their virginity. It features several talented people who, I hope, will continue to find gainful employment in vehicles worthier of their time and ours.

Lorca, muerte de un poeta (1987–1988)

Interesting but overlong bio-pic of a great poet/playwright

[7/10 · 5 February 2006]

This six-part miniseries mixes docudrama with documentary footage to trace the life of Spanish poet/playwright/activist Federico Garcia Lorca, who was executed in 1936 by supporters of the future dictator, General Franco, during Spain's Civil War.

Each episode opens with his execution by firing squad, and then flashes back to a different era of his life and Spain's political history. It traces his career, his friendship with such luminary figures as Salvador Dali, and his relationship with his family.

In an unusual move, the Spanish TV network cast British actor Nickolas Grace in the title role. At the time, he was best known in Spain for his performance in the British miniseries "Brideshead Revisited." In "Lorca," he acted his dialog in English (while everyone around him acted in Spanish), and recited Lorca's verse in British-accented Spanish. Then all of his speeches were dubbed by a Spanish actor. Strangely, the dubbing of the scenes that he acted in English works far better than the scenes where he recites Lorca in Spanish.

Grace's casting ensured the show's sale to British and American television, where it was seen under the title "Lorca: Death of a Poet."

The pacing is a bit slow at spots, and the first three or four chapters are a bit too episodic. But it's worth a look for anyone interested in this dark period of Spain's history and the life of a great artist.

Of particular interest are the final two episodes, which depict the military takeover of Spain and the bloodshed that attended the Civil War.

Plats bruts (1999–2002)

Popular "Odd Couple"-type sitcom from Catalunya

[28 August 2004]

This engaging, long-running sitcom focuses on two affable losers and their colorful friends.

Lopez is a thirtysomething schlemiel who works at a radio station. After being dumped by his girlfriend and demoted at work, he winds up sharing an apartment with David, a goofy, twentysomething, spoiled rich kid whose authoritarian former nanny still does his laundry and bathes him. David is on the outs with his snobby father, who had a fit when he learned that David was in acting school rather than being a business/law double major at a local university.

The cast, who had all worked together in the Krampak theater company, have a wonderful chemistry, and the supporting roles (Emma the upstairs neighbor who is the object of our heroes' desire, David's gay best friend Pol, the wonderfully bizarre nanny Carbonell, and others) keep things humming along at a brisk pace.

At this writing, the show is in its sixth season. The episodes air in Catalan on TV3 throughout the Catalunya region of Spain. The series has also been repeated on the Spanish cable/satellite channel Paramount Comedy in a dual- language edition, with audio tracks available in the original Catalan and dubbed in Spanish.

Robbery at 3 O'clock (1962)

"Stickup at 3 O'Clock"

[18 July 2004]

This caper comedy follows a bumbling group of bank workers who hatch an elaborate scheme to steal a fortune from the vault. Great comic performances and a fantastic jazz score propel a somewhat predictable get-rich-quick plot, typical of the era.

The film is considered a gem of 1960s Spanish film comedy. Its status as a classic derives from the wonderful and iconic early-1960s cast, good directing, and -- for viewers today -- nostalgia for a simpler, more naive era of entertainment. The movie is great fun, though perhaps the last 20 minutes could have been tightened a bit.

"Stickup at 3 O'Clock" reached a new generation of viewers in Spain circa 2002- 2003 via a well-promoted DVD release (distributed initially as part of a film- classics series issued by a major daily newspaper). Additional interest was generated later through a 2003 remake, "Stickup at 3:30."

Km. 0 (2000)

Charming and very funny, despite slightly odd ending

[8/10 · 2 May 2001]

Picture a romantic sex comedy as it might have been codirected by Frank Capra and Pedro Almodóvar, and you'll have a vague idea of the kind of quirky confection Serrano and Iborra have cooked up.

Iborra introduced the screening I saw in April 2001 at the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. He said he got the idea for "Km. 0" while standing in Madrid's Puerta del Sol, watching different combinations of people meet up at the plaza's famous zero-kilometer mark. This engaging, surprising, very funny and sentimental ensemble piece follows more than a dozen such characters of varying ages, professions and sexual orientations as their stories cross and separate over the course of one day.

My only gripe: the plot twist at the end seems unecessarily corny, though admittedly it's not at odds with what we saw earlier in the film. On the whole, "Km. 0" is worth seeing.

Eloísa está debajo de un almendro (1943)

Fast-paced, zany comedy - a classic of 1940s Spanish cinema.

[28 May 2000]

This fast-paced, zany classic of 1940s Spanish cinema deals with two eccentric families and the dark secret that connects them. The brisk pacing, the snappy dialog, and the use of overlapping speeches will remind some viewers of HIS GIRL FRIDAY, though the characters here are more bizarre. As a sendup of mystery thrillers -- with its creepy mansions, strange-acting manservants and outlandish relatives -- ELOÍSA may also remind English-language film buffs of ARSENIC AND OLD LACE and perhaps even THE OLD DARK HOUSE.

The only current video release of this film is in the original Spanish, without subtitles. So it remains unknown to English-speaking audiences. It is doubtful, in any case, that subtitles could capture the rapid-fire dialog without losing a great deal of the script's wit.