This monumental biopic is perfectly adapted to Wagner's own pretentiousness, vanity and abominable egoism - it is as interminable as his operas, it is about nine hours long which is a bit too much and too long for a film and actually double the length of Wagner's longest opera. It is beautifully made, there is a magnificent team of all the greatest contemporary actors, but what does all that help when the subject is so utterly revolting? It is worth watching though for all those victims of Wagner, his wife, outrageously maltreated by him from the start, the king whom he ruined, his best friend Hans von Bülow whose wife he took for his own, and shame to say the biopic is rather one-sided to his favour while it omits many vital ingredients, like the anger of both Liszt and Bülow for his seduction of Bülow's wife, (Bülow actually wanted to challenge him to a deadly duel, which the film ignores,) and many other such details. Visconti's film "Ludwig" ten years earlier was more correct, and so was the Wagner film with Alan Badel "Magic Fire" (1956) which included Liszt's great anger and did not conceal the fact that Wagner was a most abominable character. This film is at least truthful enough to reveal his unbearable vanity. Fortunately there was also Verdi who was his opposite in everything, who actually admired Wagner but who Wagner despized and abused like everyone else.
Reviews
2,216 Reviews
Satan's Triangle
(1975 TV Movie)
Three men in a boat and a very beautiful girl
19 May 2024
This is comparable with the best of Edgar Allan Poe, like "Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pam", another horror tale at sea, and many details here are reminiscent of that tall story, especially the settings and the atmosphere. The coast guards in a helicopter come across a yacht that obviously has had some bad moments in very bad weather, since there are three dead bodies on board, one of them hanging and dangling from the mast. There is one survivor though, who is no one less than Kim Novak, still outrageously beautiful, here acting as a former prostitute. As she is rescued she tells the story, they were a party of three sporting fishermen who were chasing a giant marlin, when their attention was divided to save a shipwrecked priest sitting on some flotsam. When the priest got on board, all the crew left and fled in panic, struck by some weird superstition. They knew though what they did. As the hunt for the marlin was taken up again, that fish was caught, but then they all were caught by very bad weather. In the course of the storm and the panic it spread, all three fishermen died, one in a ghastlier way than the other. So finally only the girl survived, but the film was not finished yet. The coast guards come out again with another ship and a helicopter, but here the magnificent logic of the film ends, and the rest is just a way to sensationalise an absurd finale which makes no sense. The film claims to solve one mystery of many of the Bermuda Triangle, but it is only a mystification, although very efficient and well made with small means.
InSight
(2011)
Confused murder plot confusing enough to confuse anyone who tries to sort it out
18 May 2024
The only witness of the terrible case is a nurse who is with the victim after death, but who anyway seems to hear the victim say something which would indicate the murderer. Since no one else wants to have anything to do with the case, that nurse cannot let it go, but she has nothing to go on but her confused problems with second sight. Her mother has passed away, but she still seems to carry on as usual, while the daughter's problem is her constant confusion with reality and her second sight - she can't separate them, so she believes her second sight visions are all reality while reality naturally can't take her seriously - the usual problem in all films about second sight. Finally the detective decides to take her seriously, that's where the film gains momentum, but when he is faced with the fact that she is delusional about her mother as a result of the trauma of her death, the case becomes critical, and although she is certain about the murderer, that does not help. The end is tragic but logic and consistent, as the nurse is left alone with her dead ghosts.
The film gives a rather off-hand impression as if improvised, it was shot in a very short period, so no wonder it is confusing, which does not confuse its obvious intelligence, enhanced by equally intelligent and beautiful cinematography.
The film gives a rather off-hand impression as if improvised, it was shot in a very short period, so no wonder it is confusing, which does not confuse its obvious intelligence, enhanced by equally intelligent and beautiful cinematography.
Last Dance
(2012)
The good Samaritan
17 May 2024
This is a heart-melter. Julia Blake makes a sincere performance as the old Jewish lady in the outskirts of Melbourne, a holocaust survivor who came to Australia after the war with her husband and their son, who later died fighting for Israel. The last thing she would want, happens to her as there is a terrorist bomb attack against a synagogue in the city conducted by two Jihadists, one is shot but the other gets away and ends up in Julia Blake's quarters, taking her as a hostage. He is badly wounded, but she was a trained nurse, and when he runs the risk of bleeding to death she takes care of him and dresses his wound. Gradually they develop a relationship, as his family also was completely wiped out by an Israeli tank, like she lost all her family in the holocaust, relocating her husband by way of a miracle after the war. She actually wants him to get away and tries to help him, giving him a ticket and her son's passport, the set-up for his getaway is perfect, but also his own fellow Jihadists are after him. It's a tense drama connecting the holocaust problem and trauma with that of Israel and the Palestinians, and the human interplay is magnificent and totally convincing. I would almost give it a 10.
Great English theatre at its best
16 May 2024
Edward Fox is the perfect military man, an officer on duty, meticulously sticking to his mission and constantly demonstrating his militariness, although he wanted to be an archaeologist; Denholm Elliott is an academic, a professor and teacher at the university, well versed in history, literature and philosophy; they are both officers in the Red Army as it liberates Czechoslovakia in April 1945, Edward Fox is a colonel and Denholm Elliott is a deserter hiding in a ditch when Edward Fox comes across him in his jeep, and they recognize each other, the professor and his former student. Fox takes him on in his jeep, and their trip takes them to a fine old manor which has seen better days, with only a young girl and her old nurse living there. The girl is the sole survivor of a wealthy family whose father was killed by the Nazis and the mother died of grief six months later three years ago. Fox and his soldiers arrive there with Elliott, trying to restore something of the old glory of the house, including a magnificent chandelier in the former dining hall. The girl insists on having another of those old great banquets under the chandelier with only Elliott and Fox as guests apart from her and the old nurse. It's a great drama, the fantastic banquet is the final scene with some settlement with both the past and the present, but above all the acting is absolutely formidable, the prize going to Denholm Elliott who finally makes an effort to rise out of the mire of his human degradation.
Lucky Jordan
(1942)
Ridiculous war propaganda comedy but great fun
15 May 2024
An intolerable gangster ends up a gardener digging in a park among rare tulips after having been chased all around the garden by other tougher gardeners and Nazis in this very implausible propaganda comedy during the war, trying to bribe a momentary mother to avoid getting enlisted for war service, but that mother is basically only interested in drinking. When Alan Ladd buys her a bottle of gin for mother's day she is enraptured by euphoria and calls it the nicest present a son ever gave to his mother. So there are moments of great fun here, which makes it worth watching, but the temporary mother steals the show completely, and you miss her when she is gone.
Bellman and True
(1987)
A widower and a boy as hostages in a spectacular bank robbery
14 May 2024
Bernard Hill makes an unforgettable character as the reluctant participant of one of the most exciting and detailed bank robberies ever filmed, second only to Jules Dassin's "Rififi" 30 years earlier, but this is more intricate and human, as both children and women also are involved. The film is very technical as Bernard Hill is a computer programmer who is the only technical expert of the film, he agreed to solve a computer problem for some criminals planning to rob a bank and got paid for it, but those ruffians won't let him go until the heist is completed, as they need continuous technical help from him, keeping also his son as a hostage. The son is not really his son, he married his mother who has deserted them both, but he does not want the boy to know. This family intrigue complicates matters of course, but the thriller only gets better as the complications continue to pile up. This is a masterpiece of suspense, Bernard Hill actually at times reminds very much of Alec Guinness, who would have made this role equally excellent. This will be a classic, unforgettable to everyone who sees it, as the realism, the plot, the characters, the complications, the ladies, everything is perfect.
Circles of Deceit: Kalon
(1996 TV Movie)
"Never assume for a moment that our hands are clean."
13 May 2024
This is not the best of the four films in the series but possibly the worst. It is all about drug trafficking and money laundering. As usual Dennis Waterman reluctantly accepts an assignment by SAS or is forced to, a recurrent phrase in this film is "you have no choice", as various people are coerced to accept dirty missions and carry them through whether they like it or not, and the mission here is particularly nasty. A link in the racket is being shot to death, and SAS wants Dennis to find out why and by whom. The victim had a girl friend, Saskia Wickham, and Dennis tries to find out what killed the officer by her, but she actually knows nothing, and still Dennis is ordered to kill her, which he refuses to. For once in these films the lovely female leading character does not become a casualty, so it actually ends rather well. Still it is not as interesting as the other three, of which"Dark Secrets" is the best.
Silent as the Grave
(2023)
A rather banal mystery case about jealousy with an unwanted outcome
12 May 2024
Graves are never silent, especially not if someone continues to put flowers on it 60 years after what was officially an accidental death, so naturally someone has to start digging about it, in this case a young enthusiast for noir films whose wife is expecting their first baby, while his interest in digging about the grave risks his marriage and family, since his wife just can't put up with competition from a grave that is not silent. Naturally he has to finish the job and keep digging even when threatened and beaten up by thugs, and finally gets some help by someone who has kept silent for too many years (60), and that's where the film becomes interesting. The first hour is a lost hour, nothing happens, while the last hour at last presents a case. As so often in such cases, when you get to know too much, it's no idea pushing it on any further, especially if your young wife will have that baby and you want to keep your family. Enough is enough.
Circle of Deceit
(1993 TV Movie)
An Irish tragedy
11 May 2024
This is the first of the four films of "Circles of Deceit", and this circle of deceit is probably the most shocking and upsetting one. It is entire Irish and deals with the IRA, who are expecting a shipment of ammunitions from Libya, and the veteran Waterman is asked to infiltrate and report their business, which he does, while the daughter of the old leader of the terrorists (Peter Vaughan, always scary,) has a young son whom she wants to keep out of the IRA business at any cost. Waterman has seen her somewhere before, he recognises her, but she does not recognise him and learns to trust him after he (spontaneously, by accident) saved her son from a fire brought on by some IRA skirmish. They develop a relationship which is ruined by his engagement and its consequences, while Peter Vaughan as the very concerned father by accident happens to wreak the tragedy. It is a great introduction to the series, of which all four films are extremely intriguing and captivating, but this one is perhaps the most exciting of them for its constantly increasing tensions.
Star of Midnight
(1935)
No cocktails, please - Bring some more cocktails.
10 May 2024
Like in "The Thin Man" there is an awful lot of drinking going on and some murder intrigue between the cocktails, but no Myrna Loy, and no Asta, instead there is Ginger Rogers who is not dancing, only acting, but doing well in keeping up the comedy, for it is a criminal comedy that desperately tries to keep some criminal intrigue going, which only gets mixed up in a lot of extra intrigues, while like one of the actors you desperately wait for the lost actress to turn up, who never turns up, no matter how much she is constantly discussed, and when someone like her at last turns up and with a shotgun she is just a disguised man. The music is good though, and gives the film a lot of fine atmosphere, as the main theme keeps constantly returning and forms part of the intrigue, because the singer of the song is the lost actress. That's the only way we get to know her.
Circles of Deceit: Sleeping Dogs
(1996 TV Movie)
Former KGB agents find themselves redundant under Gorbachev but should be left sleeping
9 May 2024
There were four films made with Dennis Waterman as the reluctant agent who after the loss of his wife and child in a terror attack is unwilling to rejoin the game but is nonetheless persuaded to do so by chief Susan Jameson, a very cool dark lady in perfect control of many dark and weird and random operations, for which she succeeds in engaging the very hot-tempered and volatile Waterman who is constantly threatening to wander off and break all engagements, but who nonetheless seems to succeed in fulfilling them. This is not the best one of the four episodes, it is rather muddled, as Moscow interests and intrigues are mixed up with terror projects of the IRA, and there is a German agent mixed up also, a certain very unsympathetic Schroeder, whose motivation never is explained: he just acts "on his own behalf", but one suspects that he was mixed up in that German terror attack which killed Waterman's wife and child, lost some dear beloved like him and therefore had reasons for infinite revenge. Leo McCarey plays a former Soviet agent who too quickly is sorted out, like another IT expert agent as well, whom we actually see being murdered. There are too many thugs, violent murders, loose ends and unexplained mysteries and motivations here, although it is a great action thriller, though second to "Dark Secret", which probably is the best one of the four.
Another version of the Chopin story without any flattery
7 May 2024
Each film of Chopin tells a different story. This is one of the best, if not the best, and could be the truest. For once George Sand doesn't dominate at all but is reduced not just to a second fiddle but to the last fiddle. His relationship with her is almost too realistically settled with, and not even her children are allowed to play any significant part. The story of the film is that of a late descendant of countess Potocka, a friend of Chopin's to whom he dedicated many of his compositions, who was married to a Polish nobleman who betrayed Poland to the Russians, who gave his wife many children who all died, after which she deserted him. Her late descendant claims in 1945 to have some letters written by Chopin to her, which indicate that their relationship was something serious, while at the same time the letters reveal some less flattering sides of Chopin. They cause a scandal, they are not published but suppressed, but the descendant insists on their authenticity, and when the Polish communist politruks threaten her and condemn her, she apparently commits suicide on the very 100th anniversary of Chopin's death, or was she defenestrated from the eighth floor, like so many of undesirables taken care of by the communists? The film has a startling documentary character, shifting between black and white (in all the modern scenes) and colour in all the 19th century scenes. Chopin is well portrayed by Paul Rhys, his music accompanies the entire film in wonderful, exquisite, sensitive and convincing interpretations by Valentina Igoshina, the countess Potocka is impersonated by three different actresses on different occasions, but on the whole the film is a masterpiece of an honest effort at consistent truthfulness. Its consistent realism is more than convincing, and its beauty is unforgettable.
5 Against the House
(1955)
Four college boys and Korea veterans attempting the perfect heist - with Kim Novak
6 May 2024
This is actually a very competent thriller and extremely exciting as such, although it's just about a gambling house in Reno. "I am sure this system is infallible, because I made it," says the genius of the students, and they all go for it. The best actor is Brian Keith who sets the real thriller off, having had some post traumatic war syndromes and committed to a hospital, which he never wants to return to ever, while he himself will lead the way to it. There are many fascinating scenes here, the camera work is magnificent especially among the gambling crowds, and it's a virtuoso direction and dialog all the way, so this isn't just a B-movie. Anyone could be thrilled by its qualities, and anyone could be seduced by Kim Novak.
Circles of Deceit: Dark Secret
(1995 TV Movie)
Getting your hands dirty by the dirty laundry of others
5 May 2024
A former agent being tricked back into business to find out what is going on regarding an old friend and colleague of his blackmailing some unidentified person who has too much to hide. The mysteries are revealed only gradually, and you as an audience are as confused as Dennis Waterman as John Neal who suspects nothing but trusts no one and has reasons not to. His old friend and colleague Jim Caine (Sean McGinley) wants Dennis to cover him in his murky dealings which are too murky for his own or anyone's good. The film begins with a spectacular bank robbery which actually opens the drama, as one of the treasures found are Nazi mementos from the Second World War belonging to a family of very high status. We don't learn that until more than half way into the film, when innocent victims already have started piling up at the morgue. The less said about this M. P.'s progress and means the better, but no brutal murders can completely cover the truth. When Dennis finally takes his leave from his employers he hopes to never see them again. It's a fascinating thriller constantly developing and extremely skilfully written and done, and you just can't afford to miss any detail.
Cover Up
(1949)
Murder or suicide at Christmas?
4 May 2024
An insurance man (Dennis O'Keefe) comes to town to clear things up about a suicide committed by the leading man of the town, since there is no trace of the gun nor of any bullet he begins to suspect murder, which in that case would offer double indemnity to the beneficiary, which is why he finds the question important and doesn't tire of digging in it to stir up every kind of trouble in the town, making everyone nervous and unhappy, since it soon becomes clear that everyone had all reasons in the world to kill the so called suicide. The sheriff (William Bendix) has all the cards on his hand, he knows who did it but keeps as silent as all the town, and the key scene is when he and O'Keefe sit waiting in the dark in the house of the murder waiting for the murderer to turn up, and the sheriff tells Dennis a story. He is not allowed to finish it, since they are disturbed by another one coming. It is a very intelligent murder case with a wonderful dialog all the way, and Barbara Britton is splendid as the leading girl who in the beginning drops all her Christmas presents getting down from the train, which is where Dennis O'Keefe steps in. Everything is good here, the photo, the music, the actors, all covering up for an unfathomable mystery, while in the end the insurance man has to realise that some illusions should not be shattered.
A Beautiful Place to Die: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery
(2020 TV Movie)
Killing for protection or for money or both?
3 May 2024
The idyll is perfect with only one murder in the last 12 years, and then a corpse is discovered after an exclusive dinner party with all the local tycoons. Unfortunately that corpse is discovered by a former detective who was hoping never having anything to do with any crime again, but the police won't let him alone and persuade him to help them with the investigation with threads to all the most important people of the community. Fortunately he gets the local doctor to assist him, the beautiful Sarah Lind, who as the temporary coroner discovers what killed the poor young man, who at the party had some quarrel with the most important local tycoon, claiming he knew who his unknown father was and pressing suggested siblings for money. It's a tangle of course, but fortunately that ex-detective gets things sorted out, and although filmed in Canada and not in Martha's Vineyard the scenery is relishable throughout for its beauty and wild romantic character.
Break in the Circle
(1955)
Running the gauntlet through the jungles of espionage interests in Europe 1955
2 May 2024
It's a fast thriller constantly gaining speed, and it is not easy to follow all the sudden turns for good and for worse in this violent action stew of intrigue. A scientist is successfully smuggled out of East Germany and hidden in "a safe place" at the harbour of Hamburg, a very rugged place to my liking, from where an English skipper (Forrest Tucker) is paid handsomely to get him out of there over to England. The problem is there are others also interested in this case of an important Polish scientist with advanced knowledge of matters beyond anyone's conception. So there are some hunts both to save him and to get him, and when finally the guns come out to force the situation, Forrest Tucker begins to have had enough of fisticuffs and assaults and atrocities hounding him everywhere, while Eva Bartok in what must be regarded as one of her best roles actually finally saves the situation by her own bold initiatives and civil courage. It's a fast and entertaining film, Val Guest knew how to make such films of sustained action and suspense, and at least you will not be bored.
The Good Soldier
(1981 TV Movie)
A beautiful film of great sadness
29 April 2024
Jeremy Brett makes a memorable performance here as the good soldier who is the ideal good man to everyone around him but who has terrible inner conflicts to battle worse than any war. The two couples meet at a German spa and spend a lot of time together associating with other prominent guests as well in an ideal environment with perfectly idyllic music (very much Schubert) and splendid weather, everything is beautiful, but it is all only appearances. The good soldier's wife has some outbursts, and then suddenly there is a drama present. The story and events are not very dramatic, although there are some surprising deaths and two suicides and a case of permanent insanity, but the appearances keep constantly in perfect style, there is no breach of etiquette, the constant politeness keeps dominating all the relationships and their innocent activities in a perfect paradise of idylls, while the tragedy ends up definitely dominating everyone's lives and future, while we naturally must wonder: whatever will the widow finally make of the whole thing?
A Dispatch from Reuters
(1940)
Fascinating account of the development of a news agency
28 April 2024
Speed and truth was always the motto of Reuter's news agency, and those two characteristics certainly dominate this film, especially speed. Everything is fast here, the dialog keeps constantly firing off, and everything keeps happening at once. Whether you like journalism or not, it's a great story of faith and stubborn integrity constantly fighting incredulity and stupidity, and although it turns out critical at times, the truth always gets through in the end. Edward G. Robinson makes a great portrait of the fantastic news reporter who started with carrier pigeons, being called the "pigeon fool", but always followed the development and made his progress with it. Edna Best makes the endearing part of his wife, Eddie Albert is more interested in writing poems than in his master's craze about pigeons, Nigel Bruce makes a wonderful sponsor and friend both in need and in times of crisis, and there are other grand old actors contributing also. The height of the drama is the murder of President Lincoln and its stormy reactions, and William Dieterle has made a good job of it. This one of those classical biopics of Hollywood from the 30s on.
Devil's Cargo
(1948)
Not an easy murder trail to follow
27 April 2024
This is great entertainment from beginning to end mainly because of its brilliant dialog that works like cross fire all through in a labyrinth of constant bewildering complications of a murder case, in which the murderer immediately confesses to the murder and then is poisoned to death in jail. His reason for the murder was jealousy over his wife, who was seeing a certain racketeer called Lucky Conroy - the film begins with his murder. More will follow. The detective called upon to resolve this mess of amassing murders is a magician who constantly plays wonderful tricks on everyone around which certainly amuse the audience, especially the trick with the duck, called out from nowhere. It's a delightful thriller reminding of the best days of William Powell, Myrna Loy and Asta, the 'Falcon's dog Braintrust would have matched Asta perfectly. In the end there is one murder too much and even by mistake, but it's a long way before you get there through all the intricacies of a goofed up criminal intrigue.
South of St. Louis
(1949)
Three Texas musketeers
26 April 2024
They stick together and separate occasionally, taking opposite stands, sometimes with the confederates and sometimes with the unionists, but in spite of wide gulfs of differences they always end up together again, Joel McCrea, Zachary Scott and Douglas Kennedy, they are bound together by a ranch which they share called "Three Bells", and that's why they attach small bells to their spurs to make them tinkle more distinctly wherever they go. Two dames are also involved, the lovely and adorable Dorothy Malone, who is marrying Joel McCrea, and Alexis Smith as a saloon entertainer, singing occasionally and sticking her fingers into their business occasionally. She is the best acting performance here, with great nuances making her character the most intriguing, occasionally (when no one sees it) wiping off a tear or two. There is a great villain also, Victor Jory at his most unpleasant, a thoroughly vicious sadist who likes to burn ranches, kill people and steal any kind of loot. The frame of the drama is the civil war and how it affects Texas, being torn apart by unionists and confederates and ultimately in the hands of the Texas Rangers, and the political shifts of the drama add to its interest. Joel McCrea never gets his Dorothy Malone as another gets her instead, but he finds someone else, or perhaps she is the one who finds him, after having looked for him throughout the film.
Blaze of Noon
(1947)
When flying is in your blood you just can't help going too far
25 April 2024
The most memorable part here is Anne Baxter as Lucille, a nurse, who marries the eldest of the four brothers, William Holden, while that practically makes her the wife of all of them, since they stick together, live together and work together and even risk their lives together. That's the problem. In such a risky business there has to be some casualties, and they are devastating. In the 20s it was definitely risking your life challenging the weather if it was fog or rains or storms or snows or any rough weather, and unfortunately these daredevil flyers were not sensible enough to back down and refuse the challenge, especially if it gave you a bonus. So actually three of the four brothers end up badly, one of them survives but as a cripple, and one simply disappears completely. The fourth one was sensible enough to stick to the earth while he was still alive and got an ordinary humdrum job on the ground. But the other three had lives worth living.
Raiders of the Seven Seas
(1953)
Standard Hollywood swashbuckling virtuoso show, all totally unrealistic
24 April 2024
It is all very well made but hardly convincing. Tom Payne is always good but seldom gets the opportunity to demonstrate any depth of character. Donna Reid is always lovely and charming and a good actress, but here her talents are rather wasted on superficial Caribbean intrigues so often repeated in other swashbuckling features. Lon Chaney makes a sympathetic performance, actually the most sympathetic character in the film, but he gets nothing for it. The boy helps the entertainment. The intrigue is muddled and complicated, there is no clarity, motives are banal and selfish, and the story is Caribbean pulp fiction. In brief, you have seen it all before and in better films than this.
Nine Miles to Noon
(1963)
Two fathers and a child chasing each other for a right fatherhood
23 April 2024
Carol Reed could have made something of this, but Herbert Leder is no Carol Reed. There is nothing wrong about the story, but a thriller including children like this without any psychology becomes very thin. The best actor is Renato Baldini, and he makes almost every scene in which he acts interesting. Dolores Sutton as the mother is the only good person of any psychological insight, she knows her former husband, can read him and sees through his wicked intentions, while the main asset of the film is the great sequences around the monuments of Athens, when they are all chasing each other, one to carry through a murder, another to stop that at any cost, two fathers vying for fatherhood, and policemen all over the place without knowing what they are chasing or for what, while at least they know they have to rescue lives. As a Greek thriller drama about a child it is fairly realistic, while the child should not talk to strangers.
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