While I agree with all the bad reviews here (including the tongue in cheek 10/10 from tad-manly), there is another aspect of failure that no-one seems to have mentioned.
Apart from the massive loss of potential from the formidable cast and crew, the audio is laughable in places.
Terribly obvious and bad vocal dubbing, and poxy foley lend this flop an extra dimension of cheap and nasty production.(for bad foley, check out the scene where Caine first enters the church, the footsteps outside the church's door are identical to the footsteps once inside the church).
Reviews
8 Reviews
The Cherry Picker
(1974)
Old hands save familiar story
7 December 2019
Warning: Spoilers
This is a very strange little film indeed.
On the one hand we have an already outdated storyline of hippies protesting against the establishment, then a rather weak effort at a 70s bed-hopping sex comedy, to an attempt at social commentary.
I tend to think that it borrows somewhat from the previous year's O Lucky Man in that the main character, completely lacking Malcolm McDowell's charisma, is an innocent thrust into a corporate world through a series of twists and turns.
If the fevered dream sequence in the windmill had been real - the film would have made sense.
The best parts, and I suggest they were added late in the process to rescue the production, are the brilliant acting of Wilfred Hyde-White and splendid cameos by Spike Milligan, and especially Terry-Thomas.
Trial and Error
(1962)
Acting tour de force!
29 June 2019
Warning: Spoilers
As a big fan of Peter Sellers, and British film in general, I can't believe it took me until 2019 to discover this gem (courtesy of youtube).
This is an acting tour de force from Sellers and Attenborough. Unbelievably, two men play judge, jury, barrister, and witness in an otherwise empty courtroom - and it works.
Brilliantly directed, the use of long tracking shots and back projection fill this simple film with extra dimensions.
Forget about the outcome of the case - it was never going to be too bad - and enjoy the excellent acting and direction of this little-known film.
The previous reviewer who based their review on the first 20 minutes seems to suffer from the Hollywood Condition wherein subtlety is avoided at all costs in favour of action, action, action.
Dominique
(1979)
So many light switches - so few used.
13 January 2019
Ridiculous, cheesy, noir 'thriller'.
It's comical that so many suspenseful scenes only call for a light switch to be turned on - but that rarely happens.
Robertson's broody/moody character is quite laughable. In fact, the more he becomes unhinged the more he seems to channel Basil Fawlty's mannerisms.
I'm not usually good at whodunnits, but I picked this one early on, which is not so much a reflection of my skills but a judgement on this poor effort.
A disappointment given Michael Anderson's directing credentials.
It's comical that so many suspenseful scenes only call for a light switch to be turned on - but that rarely happens.
Robertson's broody/moody character is quite laughable. In fact, the more he becomes unhinged the more he seems to channel Basil Fawlty's mannerisms.
I'm not usually good at whodunnits, but I picked this one early on, which is not so much a reflection of my skills but a judgement on this poor effort.
A disappointment given Michael Anderson's directing credentials.
The Electronic Monster
(1958)
Extremely corny B-Film yet somehow gripping.
7 November 2018
British made - with scarcely a British accent evident, Escapement is an extremely corny B-Film yet somehow gripping.
Rod Cameron's wooden all-american hero chews the scenery while Mary Murphy's natural beauty makes that scenery glow.
This film would certainly not have won any awards for sound design as the soundtrack of primitive electronic 'music' is overdone and jarring, at times competing with the dialogue.
The Boy Castaways
(2013)
Might have been better left at the soundtrack album stage.
22 July 2018
Miscast and pretentious, this well-meaning film ticks few of the boxes I hoped for it. Blame my expectations? Maybe.
Megan Washington, though brilliant in her own right, is badly miscast here as the siren.
Brilliant cinematography can't quite overcome weak concept and over ambitious direction.
Like Moulin Rouge - This might have been better left as a soundtrack album than a full-length feature.
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