HereInVA Reviews

Dress Gray (1986)

What ever happened to David BARUM & SUSAN HESS?

[10/10 · 3 February 2007]

I just saw "Dress Grey" for the first time since it was shown on TV in 1986. It got top ratings and reviews then.

On IMDb, and also searching the Web, I haven't been able to find anything about any other professional work by David Harum (who played Cadet Barham, head of the Honor Council) and Susan Hess (who played Elizabeth Hand).

According to IMDb, "Dress Grey" was Barum's only professional acting job, and Hess just disappeared after 1990.

That is disappointing, since they gave such striking performances.

"Blood and Orchids," is another favorite mini-series that I loved and it was shown on TV in 1986 also. I have two other favorite: "Evita Peron (1981)," with Faye Dunaway, and "The Thornbirds." In general, I hate mini-series and don't watch them ever.

Anyone out there with any info? Thanks!

The Big Sleep (1946)

OUT OF STYLE, CAMPY, TOO LONG

[6/10 · 1 May 2004]

i saw THE BIG SLEEP about 15 years ago on TV (i was only 3 in 1946 when it was released) and i couldn't remember a thing. when i just saw it again this week, i was shocked at how boring and unending the "twists and turns" were and how monotonous, strained, and totally unrealistic the "tough" dialogue was. i thought the movie would NEVER end.

BIG SLEEP was actually better when Bacall was offscreen, and when other performers were the central focus of a scene rather than Bogart.

just having finally seen BASIC INSTINCT (1992) and immediately recognizing the great Dorothy Malone, one of my all-time favorite actresses and stars, i was totally knocked out to discover Malone's name in the cast list -- playing the brittle, hateful and eventually sympathetic moll.

Gaudi Afternoon (2001)

Hilarious farce/ screwball comedy with great turns by Judi Davis and Marcia Gay Harden

[10/10 · 26 January 2004]

Judi Davis is wonderful in this film as she is in all of her movies. I saw this on ShowTime and it had 3 stars, but I would have watched it just to see Judi Davis. I have never seen Judi Davis in a comedy before, but to see this rather intense woman react when she is thrown into a mix of crazy people is wonderful.

I WAS turned off by the description in the movie guide: a woman searches for her crossdressing husband -- yet another transvestite. But this script throws a curve in the form of Marcia Gay Harden whom I had never seen in a film before. I won't tell you just WHO this distressed wife in search of a renegade husband really is, but Harden is hysterical.

To analyze this farce would destroy the the magical journey it takes you on. All the actors are just great and all are playing against type.

I have seen about 20 movies in the past month, and this one stands in a class of its own.

I give it a ten for making me laugh, and a ten for a crazy cast of characters.

Blood & Orchids (1986 TV Movie)

Excellent writing, wonderful acting,

[10/10 · 7 May 2001]

"Blood and Orchids" (TV mini-series, 1986) is evocative of its time (1930s territorial Hawaii) and place (its rich plantations). I saw this fine mini-series when it appeared originally, drawn to it by Jane Alexander and by its theme of racial conflict and excellent pre-reviews.

Jane Alexander plays a cold, wealthy plantation-owner who exerts her belief that the white "newcomers" to Hawaii have a divine right to exploit native Hawaiians who spend 12 to 16 hours a day in her fields under harsh conditions. She has a daughter (Madeleine Stowe) married to a Navy Lieutenant, but it is her husband's best friend whom she loves.

This man betrays both her and the husband, assaulting her. In order to protect her daughter and maintain her status as a wealthy socialite, Jane Alexander forces her daughter to accuse native hawaiian boys of battery and rape. This unleashes a series of dramatic (in the best sense) events that are surprising and shocking and seen largely through the eyes of a tough, aloof detective, played by Kris Kristofferson.

Unlike many "epics," the viewer will have no problem keeping the 15-20 major characters straight. From an exiled Hawaiian princess and a native lawyer returning from the US mainland to race-hating sailors and plantation supervisors, the characters are drawn clearly and superbly acted.

I saw "Blood and Orchids" recently after 15 years of thinking about it off and on. It holds its place as one of the great television mini-series.