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Reviews
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970)
Lovely and enjoyable
This lesser-known of Ms. Streisand's musicals will gradually pull you in, just as Dr. Chabot is gradually pulled into belief in Melinda. This is one of the few musicals I actually enjoy and l have have viewed many times. The songs support and advance the plot, instead of the usual bursting into song about something that has already been stated. Two of my favourite scenes are the breathtaking Royal Pavilion in all its Recency decadence and the song "Come Back to Me." Miss Gamble shouting "Shut up!" at the end of that number I think very humorous. I rated this film a 9 instead of a 10 because, though I admire M&s. Streisand's attempts, her Cockney accent is none too good. Her Received Pronunciation is better. So, some dull Sunday afternoon, give this nice little film a chance.
The Goldbergs (1949)
A gentle slice of life, thoughtful written and produced
In today's TV world, it seems as if they go for the straight, unsubtle, some times dirty laughs. Shows like this would simply not be given a chance. Call "the Goldbergs" what you will, it is a gentle and thoughtful comedy. Where I grew up there were many, many people similar to those presented in this show, including my own Grandmother. We also lived near plenty Ralph and Alice Cramden's, and even couples similar to the Mertz's. Slide of life programs really were reflective of life, at least my life. The Goldberg's is a wonderful show in this vein. BTW I've found episodes on Internet Archives as well as YouTube. Enjoy.
Good Witch (2015)
What a mess
I have not seen any of the movies, so after about 15 minutes into Episode l, I needed some sort of reference to figure out who was who (thank you Wikipedia). Secondly, the witch lady's constant smirk and breathy delivery is very irritating. If she is so all-knowing and magical, then why do things always go wonky around her? Is that the premise, that she and her daughter can "see" things others cannot, all the while consuming Gad-awful herbal concoctions while making smug observations and suggestions? The supporting actors all seem rather put upon to make the scripts and their characters interesting and believable, but it just isn't working. Everything is as enchanting as watching ginseng and lemon grass tea brewing. Maybe if I had seen the movies, I would get it, but since I haven't, to me this show is a smirky, angsty, sugary mess, with cookie cutter plots and one-dimensional characters. 2 stars for the pretty sets and scenery.
The Last Safari (1967)
1/2 Solid Adventure, 1/2 annoying fluff
I find that the character of Grant, Casey's paid companion, to be the singular most annoying and detracting element of this film. She appears in the first 1/2 of this picture and her smug, hip- swinging, one-dimensional portrait of a mixed-race paid companion is amateurish at its best, almost unbearable at its worst. One wonders why millionaire Casey couldn't find someone much nicer. The second half is when the picture picks up. We leave the sobbing, overacting Grant behind and venture into the savanna with two men intent on conquering their separate obsessions. I have always thought Stewart Granger was an underrated actor. Previous reviews had criticized his performance in this picture as sleepwalking, or barely there. My opinion is different. I feel that his characterization is spot on -- he is portraying a man who fancies himself in total control over all he surveys -- the animals, "his" natives, and himself most of all. Thus, the one thing in his past that he could not control is the one thing he has to kill. Then, of all things, he could not do it. It was a moment of more than just self- awareness -- it was self-acceptance.
BTW, Granger only made three "great white hunter" pictures -- King Solomon's Mines (the main plot of which has him hunting treasure, not animals), Harry Black and the Tiger (obsessively hunting one tiger and one ex-wife), and this film. Also, The Last Safari is not a "jungle" picture as has been stated. It takes place on the East African savannas.
Soldiers Three (1951)
In this comedy, three infantry soldiers who have spent their years in British Colonial India in and out of trouble, show their metal when confronting a ruthless enemy.
In part because of the varying reviews here, I just watched this movie. I found this harmless service comedy to be better than I expected, with some great moments. In particular, I enjoyed Stewart Granger as Private Archibald Ackroyd. This movie was filmed not long after he (and his bare chest) stormed the box office in King Solomon's Mines, so it seems odd to me that he was placed in such an obviously low-budget affair as Soldiers Three. In an interview he gave in 1991, just two years before his death at age 80, Jimmy Granger ridiculed this film, but then he ridiculed almost all of his cinema work. Still, he gives a good performance in Soldiers Three as an 18-year veteran of the Colonial Service, rather proud of being labeled "The Queen's Hard Bargain," along with his mates Dennis and Bill. One wishes Granger would have been offered -- or would have accepted -- more character parts. As in The Woman Hater, he is sharp, his timing spot on, and he puts on a passable Cockney accent (coached by Claude Rains, he once reported). Robert Newton as the dimwitted Bill Sykes became less annoying when I realized that he is credited with "inventing" the pirate accent (actually, Yarmouth) when he played Long John Silver in Treasure Island just a year before Soldiers Three. Cyril Cusack, as Irish volunteer Dennis Malloy, gives a solid performance as usual. Of the others in this film, the only one who seems truly out of place is Walter Pidgeon as Colonel Brunswick. He does not seem to know what to do or how to do it, so he bluffs and puffs his lines to perfectly cast "stuffed shirts" David Niven, Frank Allenby, and Robert Coote. I would recommend giving Soldiers Three the once over and in so doing, forget about Gung Din -- and historic reality -- and just enjoy it for what it is.