Change Your Image
zaarnak
Reviews
Appointment in Tokyo (1945)
Two Reasons: Oil and Food
This brisk documentary compiled many live action shots into a brief story of WWII in the South Pacific Theater right through to the end. We are confronted with flashing images of war acquired at some risk by combat cameramen in all services. Therefore, we have only impressions, but based upon actual observations not conjecture. All situations, causes and effects, are not clearly explained, of course, but there is no guesswork.
Battles in the North Pacific (under Admiral Nimitz)were battles of destruction and acquisition of positions. Battles in the South Pacific (under MacArthur) were often battles of denial and acquisition of position. Destruction in the South was usually incidental.
Since the war began with Japan's violent reaction to the 1938 blockade of areas in the South - to curtail oil supplies - it was logical to reestablish control of the area as soon as possible for the same reasons. Japan also needed rice (and other foodstuff)from South East Asia if the war was to be sustained. We needed to interrupt shipping.
There is only one other comment regarding this documentary. The author seems to have dismissed the still-classified deception operations employed in the Leyte operation (wherein the Japanese fleet inexplicably broke off its positioning maneuver). Furthermore, I would tend to assume that fresh memory trumps revisionism in history every time.
Railroaded! (1947)
Dark Look but NOT film noir
"Railroaded!" is hyped as film noir but it is not...classically. The look is dark and the mood is somewhat somber, but, the principal characters are aloof. Classic film noir involves principal characters with whom we empathize at least a little (Walter Neff, Dix Handley)but who either die or are fully demoralized in the end (whom the French called the 'damned man'). The only person we give a hoot about is poor Steve, the accused. Steve (Ed Kelly) is a small role not really involved in the story despite being the object in it.
Maltin rates "Railroaded!" with 3 stars. That's one star too many. Ireland and Sheila Ryan give good performances but standard all the way. The best line is by Steve's mother about her cake ("Who could eat a cake with a gun in it?").
Pépé le Moko (1937)
OK - NOT Great
Pépé le Moko is a good picture, all right, but it is certainly not a great one, primarily because the story is told without much tension or credibility. How is Pépé characterized as a 'gangster?' He is a small timer. His cronies are just oddballs without much impact in the movie. None of these guys seem to have anything to do. Pépé is kind of a wimp, I'm afraid, whose suspicious indecision is fatal.
The 'beauty' from Paris is not very attractive. However, she has some nice jewelry which the small time hood (Pépé) covets. There was no 'magic' between Pépé and Gaby (the 'beauty'). Sparkless.
I enjoyed the pacing of the picture and Jean Gabin's valiant attempt to make Pépé as interesting as possible. I'm not sure he had much to work with. It's too bad Marcel Dalio had such a small role...he worked so well with Gabin in "The Grand Illusion."
The Green Berets (1968)
Were you out there?
I watch "The Green Berets" more than once every year just to stir up both memories and the stewing pot of controversy. In that pot are several ingredients of the movie and of the politics of the time. One of those ingredients is location.
Vietnam is an amalgamation of three separate topographies (formerly separate countries). Most jungle in the vast delta of the mighty Mekong river has been cleared away for centuries to accommodate rice fields. Much of the central highlands area (where this movie is set) is forested (with pines and lots of scrub growth)growing in generally poor soil (red dust)... not too much different than what you will find in parts of North Carolina and Georgia. Were you out there? If not, your ideas about the location are merely speculative.
When "The Green Berets" was filmed, the war was still going on. So, some realism would have to be sacrificed for the safety of cast and crew, I think. Thus, the sunset 'problem' (Shouting at the detail).
Another ingredient is the nature of the personnel. That is, bona fide Special Forces soldiers were (and are) completely different than any other force with exceptions for certain Marine Corps units which faced the same situations as did the real Green Berets (e.g., at Khe Sanh). NO ONE who was military other than Special Forces has any idea at all of what they did or said.
Encirclement of outposts manned by Special Forces or Marine units was always undertaken by regular PAVN (People's Army of Vietnam) units. The VC were not usually involved. General Giap used the same methods at Dien Bien Phu...encircle and assault by superior numbers (no matter how many died...the PAVN had little care for their soldiers' lives).
That we were 'right' about the people (some of them, anyway) was demonstrated after the war ended when the VietNamese government exterminated many thousands (some say over 100,000) Montagnards. Montagnards were usually allied with Special Forces units, as the movie clearly shows.
The American military did not 'lose' the conflict at all - it was given away by politicians. Simply check the casualty numbers. The ignominy lay in the submission by 'President Cronkite' on national TV.
There are other elements in the pot, but those don't matter much.
I watch "The Green Berets" in 2 parts. The first part is totally realistic, as far as the crude effects would permit. I overlook the technical failures. The second part is really not credible at all, but it is kind of fun, in a way. Such a snatch mission would take weeks to arrange and that requirement is not addressed in the movie. It just happens, as if it were undertaken in the next few days.
While I have versions of "Apocalypse Now" and its "Redux," I do not have other Vietnam war movies such as "Platoon" (an aberration), "The Deer Hunter" (preposterous), "Hamburger Hill" (stumbling) or "Full Metal Jacket" (another aberration), although I have subjected myself to having watched them all at one time or another.
I watch "The Green Berets" for another chance to get mad at Maltin and other speculators who were not out there and do not understand at all. I watch it with Closed Captions (I started using CC about 6 years ago and I find it enriches my movie watching experience) but "The Green Berets" is rather poorly captioned. I complained to the captioning company and suggested they use an experienced person to at least CHECK the 'technical' terminology. For example, fougasse is called "boo gas," the commo bunker is called the "com-o bunker," Colonel Kirby's Mike Force is called a "Might Force" and there are all kinds of captions for "Fong" which is NOT a VietNamese name (Pham or Phon, maybe), among other boo-boos.
With some reservations, I recommend "The Green Berets" for the first part of it and the general tone of its Point Of View which represents the prevailing notion in both the government and the military at that time.
Captain Salvation (1927)
Humanist story has great contrasts
"Captain Salvation" could have been a segment of "Intolerance." In 1840, faced with blind discrimination, unfounded gossip and strict religious judgment, Anson Campbell, a seminary student, retreats to the sea. There, through a series of unfortunate events, he is reborn to his faith, 'baptized' by the fallen woman who has enlightened him.
Most performances are standard, but Pauline Starke's work is excellent. George Fawcett's character, Zeke, provides some of the story transitions by being around when the transitions occur. It is a critical function in silent movies too often provided by title cards alone(in talkies, by a narrator or other dialog). Generally, this picture is very smoothly directed by John Robertson.
Cinematography by William Daniels helps this picture shine. The new orchestral score by Philip Carli (TCM induced, I think)is great.
The 39 Steps (1935)
One of my favorites
I watched it again last night. "The 39 Steps" is a great story told in a rapid-fire movie by Alfred Hitchcock who would become somewhat known for 'fattening' later pictures (except "Rear Window"). I came to the IMDb to identify the actress who played Patricia (it's NOT Pat, the director's daughter, who was only 7 years old when the picture was released). No luck. Meanwhile, I read ALL of the 91 comments to date.
In all the comments, I could not find any which picked the nits I would want to pick. Those are two: first, Jordan shows Hannay a pistol and calls it a 'revolver' when it is clearly an automatic. And, second, it is a very small caliber weapon...one which could not possibly have knocked Hannay down when he was shot in the prayerbook. Assuming that Jordan was, as Annabella stated, a brilliant and clever foreign agent, he would not have made either of these mistakes.
Death and the Maiden (1994)
Unrealistic ending to a riveting play
Polanski's "Death and the Maiden" is a riveting play with 3 powerful, if somewhat overcooked at times, performances by wonderful actors with proved credentials. The actors fulfill their characterizations very well for most of the story, despite having distinctly American accents in a supposedly South American country. But, this is not a plot summary. SPOILER: This comment deals with the undrealistic denouement of the movie...when the 3 main characters must face the truth at land's end...ALL act out of character entirely. What was intense becomes limp. I was disappointed with such a weak development. With what I know to that poiint, would I have acted as any of them did? No. And, the concert ending was preposterous.
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Only one problem
This outstanding motion picture is slightly marred by one problem. This may be a SPOILER for some... Early on and to establish his credibility, Virgil makes an observation about a suspect being left handed. The observation exonerates the suspect on the faulty reasoning that, since the death blow was delivered by a weapon wielded by the right hand, the lefty could not have done it. As a member of the left handed minority, I can categorically deny the veracity of such a conclusion. If I were to hammer someone, I would use my right hand. Such blunders about left handedness arise often in crime stories, going way back.
Otherwise, "In the Heat of the Night" is a fine movie with terrific acting all around and wrapped in a magnificent visual package. Also, it is a solid historically accurate explication of a social phenomenon on the way out, more or less.