I was really looking forward to seeing how this favorite of the Poirot mysteries would work with David Suchet. It very wisely avoids comparison with the gloriously glossy all-star 1974 film starring Albert Finney, going instead for a quiet, dark and morally conflicted treatment of the story. It emphasizes the horrifying crime at the heart of the mystery, and introduces an element I don't recall being mentioned in any of the other stories: Poirot's Roman Catholic faith. (Interesting that several Agatha Christie stories, in particular "Murder on the Orient Express" and "The Mousetrap," involve crimes against children.) Suchet is letter-perfect, as usual. But, this "Murder on the Orient Express" is a bit slow paced, and the opening scene in which Poirot and Miss Debenham witness the stoning of a woman in the street, seems rather gratuitous.
Reviews
12 Reviews
The Caller
(2008)
A thriller that doesn't need explosions
1 March 2009
I saw this at Cinequest in San Jose, in the gorgeous California Theater, but this movie would look good in the homeliest cineplex. This is the rarest of thrillers: one that makes its impact through careful character studies and a refusal to give up its secrets. Frank Langella gives a sterling performance as the corporate whistle-blower marked for death, subtle and surprising in its emotional power. Elliott Gould isn't quite as effective as a private detective/birder, but he is very watchable as he watches his subjects, both human and avian. "The Caller" actually looks more like a fine French drama, in its attention to detail and the deft use of its child actors. Definitely worth watching!
Ring-A-Ding Rhythm!
(1962)
A real treasure out of the $1 store...
1 January 2007
Warning: Spoilers
I see I'm not the only one who watched this on Turner Classic Movies the other night.
On the surface, it follows the same pattern as other cheapie rock-n-roll movies of the time: an assortment of pop performances tied together with a thin bit of plot. But "It's Trad, Dad" is much, much more watchable than your average rock-n-roll exploitation film,thanks to its impudent sense of humor (some of which anticipates Monty Python's Flying Circus). The stick-in-the-mud grown-ups are so perfectly over the top, the kids so sweet and earnest, and the narrator SO obliging-- even providing instant club clothes for the hero and heroine.
I also enjoy the glimpse of pre-Beatles UK pop, and the look at the craze for old- fashioned Dixieland jazz is a real revelation. What could be so upsetting about "There's a Tavern in the Town" or "When the Saints Go Marching In"?
On the surface, it follows the same pattern as other cheapie rock-n-roll movies of the time: an assortment of pop performances tied together with a thin bit of plot. But "It's Trad, Dad" is much, much more watchable than your average rock-n-roll exploitation film,thanks to its impudent sense of humor (some of which anticipates Monty Python's Flying Circus). The stick-in-the-mud grown-ups are so perfectly over the top, the kids so sweet and earnest, and the narrator SO obliging-- even providing instant club clothes for the hero and heroine.
I also enjoy the glimpse of pre-Beatles UK pop, and the look at the craze for old- fashioned Dixieland jazz is a real revelation. What could be so upsetting about "There's a Tavern in the Town" or "When the Saints Go Marching In"?
The Fountainhead
(1949)
Will Roark's tower take a hit from an airplane?
29 December 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Sorry, that was my first thought at the end of "The Fountainhead," when Howard Roark gets to build the very tallest building in New York. (Well, right after wondering why no one on the site was wearing a hard hat.) And that his oh-so-sacred design for low-rent apartment blocks looks an awful lot like the concrete monstrosities that have been dynamited right and left over the past thirty years. There's no joy or humor in this world, and no much reality. No one has to work a crummy job just to survive. But the movie is hard to ignore, thanks to its fascinating self-conscious artiness and Patricia Neal's completely fearless performance.
a strange dark dream
8 June 2004
This was shown on International Channel as "Isola: Persona 13." I found this interesting, with its references to the stories of "Ugetsu Monogatari" and characters whose lives have been upended-- physically and spiritually-- by the 1995 Kobe earthquake. The girl Chihiro's world was shattered long before this, by the car accident which killed her parents and her subsequent abuse at the hands of the uncle who adopted her. The film captures the quiet agony of characters who are "different" in a society that values cohesion and uniformity. The events and revelations play out rather quietly until the end, and the film rewards the viewer's patience and attention.
The Cheat
(1915)
a shadow from the past
8 June 2004
Funny how one can be transfixed by a shadow made nearly ninety years ago. I found myself watching this for handsome Sessue Hayakawa's character, half all-American young-man-about-town, half exotic (and oh yes, evil) Oriental despot. Fannie Ward's character doesn't look much better, a woman so insecure and vain that when her husband cuts off her clothing allowance (four hundred 1915 dollars for a negligee!!), she embezzles Red Cross funds and takes a flyer on the stock market. Indeed, the only character who comes out looking remotely virtuous is her long-suffering husband, who tries to protect his bubble-headed wife by confessing to a crime she committed. Yes, it's a period piece, but as those go, it's not bad.
Night Court
(1932)
Unexpectedly harrowing
8 May 2004
Odd what one sees in these old crime dramas. This one is pretty good, with star Walter Huston in particularly villianous form as a corrupt judge and the long- forgotten Phillips Holmes as the cab driver who brings the hammer of justice down on the jurist. But what sticks in my mind now is the harrowing situation of an innocent young family torn apart by the judge's efforts to elude a special prosecutor, resulting in mom Anita Page framed for prostitution and their baby wailing in an orphanage. Still watchable. We should all look this good at seventy-plus.
Waking the Dead
(2000–2011)
Message to BBC: PLEASE SEND MORE!!
31 May 2003
I've been watching the series on BBC America. Turned it on part-way through an episode and haven't turned away yet. It is exceptionally well-written and well-acted and positively disturbing. Love it. I was especially impressed with the most recent episode, "Into Thin Air." Actually taped it and sent it to my sister the mystery buff, who doesn't have cable. She passed it on to our parents (who don't have cable, either). Mom wants to see more. If anyone from the BBC is reading this, PLEASE SEND MORE!
The Strawberry Blonde
(1941)
Excellent period piece with a great cast
31 May 2003
This is a genuinely charming dramedy that avoids idealizing its circa-1900 setting. Excellent performances all around, especially from James Cagney and the up-and-coming Rita Hayworth. I had the opportunity to see this *after* seeing its original, the 1933 "One Sunday Afternoon." "The Strawberry Blonde" proves that a remake can sometimes improve on the original. It's far better paced than "One Sunday Afternoon," and Cagney is better suited to the role of a likeable working-class braggart than Gary Cooper was.
The Mask of Fu Manchu
(1932)
It should be fun to watch, BUT....
16 January 2003
This movie has a lot going for it. Boris Karloff clearly had a blast playing the title role. It has Myrna Loy in her pre-"Thin Man" incarnation as a sinuous Oriental siren. And it's a prime example of the colorful, exotic and downright hilarious adventure stories Hollywood managed to produce... in black-and-white on the back lots. But the nasty racism that permeates "The Mask of Fu Manchu" keeps it from being a guilty pleasure; indeed, it's uncomfortable to watch. The Asians are either ignorant crowds ready to follow the first demagogue who promises the moon, or sinister figures who use their Western educations to plot world domination. It's the NICE characters who express these views; the evil Doctor and his daughter are invariably courteous. Oh, well.
Two Against the World
(1936)
Interesting remake
30 August 2002
What a difference five years makes. This remake of "Five Star Final" (1931) came after the repeal of Prohibition and the institution of the Production Code. Consequently, the seedy speakeasy becomes a glossy cocktail bar, and the generally amoral atmosphere of the original acquires a bent to moral condemnation in the remake.
Still, "One Fatal Hour" (as it was titled on TCM) has a lot going for it. It's fast, nasty as Joe Breen would allow, and borrows much of "Five Star Final"'s sharp dialogue. (I think it also borrows the set for the hapless couple's apartment.) Bogart, in a rare pre-1940 lead role, gives a first-rate performance as the news director who struggles against his own principles even as he greenlights a muckraking radio series that will ruin the lives of a rehabilitated murderess and her blameless family. Harry Hayden, as a divinity student-turned-tabloid radio host, actually improves on Boris Karloff's performance in "Five Star Final"; he's charming, genial and deadly. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast is B-level, but watchable.
Still, "One Fatal Hour" (as it was titled on TCM) has a lot going for it. It's fast, nasty as Joe Breen would allow, and borrows much of "Five Star Final"'s sharp dialogue. (I think it also borrows the set for the hapless couple's apartment.) Bogart, in a rare pre-1940 lead role, gives a first-rate performance as the news director who struggles against his own principles even as he greenlights a muckraking radio series that will ruin the lives of a rehabilitated murderess and her blameless family. Harry Hayden, as a divinity student-turned-tabloid radio host, actually improves on Boris Karloff's performance in "Five Star Final"; he's charming, genial and deadly. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast is B-level, but watchable.
Sherlock Holmes and the Masks of Death
(1984 TV Movie)
A cast to die for....
21 August 2002
The story is a little on the thin side, if decidedly chilling at the climax. But the pleasure of watching a first-rate assortment of mature actors go through their paces makes this a show worth watching again and again. Peter Cushing's Holmes is severe, ascetic and all business, John Mills' Watson cheerful and worth having in a tight spot, and Anne Baxter's Irene Adler a genuinely charming and intelligent lady.
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