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Reviews
The Greengage Summer (1961)
a well-kept secret
In the early 1960s there were several movies that put a teen-aged girl into a moral dilemma that was difficult even for people three times her age. But the performances of Jill Haworth in "Exodus," Hayley Mills in "The Chalk Garden" and Merrie Spaeth and Tippy Walker in "The World of Henry Orient" are overshadowed by that of Susannah York in "The Greengage Summer" (1961).
York plays a responsible person who falls in love with a criminal -- a professional thief, played by Kenneth More, who finds her very attractive. She is sixteen, he is in his 40s. Without parents for the summe, she is in charge of her younger siblings; he is single and carefree. But there is no seduction here, from either party.
Susannah York's Joss trembles and blushes as someone ready to throw pride and morality to the wind in the name of love. Kenneth More's Eliot, initially a copy of Charles Boyer's Pepe in "Algiers" (1940), becomes genuinely awkward as he tries to understand her exuberance, and as he rediscovers a pre-criminal sense of honor within himself. The relationship of these two unlikely lovers is erotic, but without the smutty sex we now expect from such cinematic situations, and without the sermonizing or soft-focus slow motion that became fashionable for awhile a few years after this movie and those with a similar theme.
Realistic dialogue and lush background scenes are juxtaposed against embarrassing and unspoken emotions, making this film a haunting exposition.
Kevin Cisneros
Saboteur (1942)
proud to be an american
Hitchcock, the transplanted Englishman, uses a basic expository technique in "Saboteur" (1942), one we all learned in school: Contrast and compare.
We are not deeply impressed with the American (Bob Cummings) he shows us, until he shows us what the American is not. The saboteur, creepily portrayed by Norman Lloyd, is not really intelligent -- he is merely cunning. The collaborator, sneeringly played by Otto Kruger, is not really confidently optimistic -- he only parrots an arrogant ideological dogma. Their associates, while bragging about their "practicality," are shown to be merely greedy for power. Finally, Hitchcock shows us some important, powerful people whose selfish pretentiousness allows them to be easily used by their country's enemies; these folk have become "cultured" at the expense of their own American virtues.
Hitchcock, and Cummings' disarmingly simple performance, make it clear that what invigorates the American character is genuine generosity and a healthy sense of fun, even in time of war.
Kevin Cisneros
Suspiria (1977)
the sum is less than the parts
Dario Argento and his co-producer, makers of "Suspiria" (1977), are well-versed in the cinematic history of set design. They pay homage to "The Cabinet of Caligari," "The Cat People," "The Mask of the Red Death" and even "Rosemary's Baby" by duplicating sets from these movies, and borrowing plot elements from each. They also refer to heroic literary sources such as the Greek story of Theseus and the minotaur, and Dumas' "Le Chevalier de Maison Rouge." The red mansion, which houses the Tanz Akademie (dance school) where most of the action takes place, is delightfully foreboding. But the great sets and scenes borrowed from various are not woven into whole cloth by means of an engaging, cohesive plot, or by strong dramatic performances. Even the lovely presence of Joan Bennett, whose performance in "Woman in the Window" (1944) once set the standard for film-noir femme fatales, is empty and robotic.
Overall, "Suspiria" is derivative and mechanical. It reminds us that surrealism is a perceptive art, not a mathematical science.
Grip of the Strangler (1958)
behind its time, ahead of its time
WARNING! SPOILER REVIEW
The movie is a strong reminder of Karloff's less successful films of the 1930s and Val Lewton's ground-breaking low-budget thrillers of the 1940s. Karloff uses body and facial movements he used in films like "The Walking Dead" (Warner Bros., 1936), and his Dr. Tennant appears to have had a stroke as his hand is held next to his body and one side of his face is paralyzed; the back-lighting is retro, but effective. One is reminded of the old radio program, "Inner Sanctum," as writer John Croydon has Dr. Tennant looking for a killer who turns out to be .... him; he has forgotten his crimes due to amnesia. But as with many Karloff films, one sees the future of the genre. Twenty-one years after this film, in 1979, a film about Jack the Ripper was made in which the killer is a doctor ("Dr. William Gull") who has had a stroke; and its remake earlier this year ("From Hell, 2001) adds a heavy psychological interpretation to his portrayal. Yet I prefer Karloff's guy, who is simply and honestly scary instead of slimey.
Kevin Cisneros