Attack of the Killer Tomateos (1978)

This low budget send up of monster movies comes across as a real labor of love. 'Attack of the Killer Tomateos' surprised me in how well paced and consistently funny it is, it really anticipates 'Airplane', in fact it's 'Airplane' before 'Airplane'. I even enjoyed its few random musical numbers. This movie became a kind of zietgiest in-joke and spawned several sequels as well as an early 90's Saturday morning cartoon series that I think I've seen every episode of. I've watched Hitchcock and Kubrick movies this week, and somehow this is the best movie I've seen since Memorial Day. **1/2

Fear and Desire (1953)

Director Stanley Kubrick's first real film (he came from the world of photography and had made a couple of documentary shorts before this) 'Fear & Desire' tells the story of a small group of solders whose plane crashes 6 miles into enemy territory and their efforts to make it to safety, and maybe take out an enemy general while they do so. Heavy on the allegory and style and kind of pretentious Kubrick was later reportedly embarrassed by this very cheaply done movie, yet there is also some good stuff here and it's kind of endearing to practically watch the director learning. Only about an hour in length so worth seeing if your fan. **

The Paradine Case (1947)

'The Paradine Case' is a surprisingly hard to find Alfred Hitchcock film that might actually be the directors worst, though I hear 'Under Capricorn' gives it a run for its money. The story of an English criminal defense lawyer (Gregory Peck) who falls for his accused murder client (Alida Valli) despite being married to a perfectly nice woman (Ann Todd) there is probably a good movie in here somewhere but this isn't it. The last movie that Hitchcock made under contract with the producer David O. Selznick (best remembered for 'Gone with the Wind'), their contentious relationship is practically on screen. Hitchcock blamed the failure of the film (both critically and financially) on Selznick's interference in the production, forcing him to cast people he didn't think right for their parts and finally editing 18 minutes out of Hitch's final cut (would these minutes have helped, or so shorting the movie the only think Selznick did right here?). The English court room drama can be done so very right, a Billy Wilder did with 'Witness for the Prosecution' about a decade later (a film which also featured Charles Laughton), while 'The Paradine Case' just does it wrong. *1/2

Fear (1990)

'Fear' aka 'Hollywood didn't know what to do with Ally Sheedy: The Movie' is the story of a police psychic trying to stop an serial killer who is also psychic. So little effort went into this, it's lazy and clichéd, so much so that it actually ends in a final confrontation at a carnival, hall of mirror chase and everything. I'm sorry you had to go through that Ally Sheedy. *1/2

Pulgasari (1985)

The back story of how this movie came to be made is a lot more interesting then the movie itself. 'Pulgasari' is a kind of medieval variation on Godzilla made in North Korea in the 1980's by South Korean director Shin Sang-Ok, who North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il had kidnapped in the 1970's to make movies for him. There is a lot more to this story, I recently finished reading 'A King Jong-Il Production' by Paul Fischer which is defiantly worth a look if your interested. Perhaps the only North Korean film to get wide distribution outside of the communist block it's really pretty bad, but still kind of worth seeing. Quite the curio. *

Atlantic City (1980)

In watching 'Atlantic City' is was hard not think of it as something of a spiritual sequel to the HBO series 'Boardwalk Empire', even though it came out 30 years before. Filmed in a decaying Carter era Atlantic City we see the refuse of what was, just as it was beginning to be torn down and redeveloped for the likes of Donald Trump and others. Among the refuse I suppose is Lou Pascal (Burt Lancaster) a former body guard for gangster Cookie Pinza whose widow Grace (Kate Reid) Lou looks after in the old boardwalk front apartment building in which they both live, and which is soon to be torn down. Lou lusts after his much young neighbor Sally Matthews (Susan Sarandon) and after he comes by chance into some drugs to sell, gets in a position to woo her. This May/February of the next year relationship has a mentorly quality but is also creepy (as it was intended to be) given that Lancaster was born in 1913 and Sarandon in 1946. I loved the feel of this movie, slim on wallpaper, but the wallpaper was once pretty nice. I liked seeing Atlantic City at this transitional time, I liked the pacing the performances and the understatedness of things. A gangster movie/ character study/ ruminative tribute to a lost era. ***1/2

Mr. Saturday Night (1992)

'Mr. Saturday Night' was something of a passion project for its star and director Billy Crystal who plays the fictional Bubby Young Jr., a borsch belt and early television comic in this character study come comedy/drama. Crystal acts more then one is used to in this, usually he just plays a version of himself but this is a distinct character, who unlike Crystal is not a particularly likable man. This was an obstacle for me at first but I grew to understand what he was doing and this is probably his greatest performance as an actor. David Paymer, a very reliable character actor got his lone Oscar nomination as Buddy's brother and agent, this was in the best supporting field and he earned it. I wanted to see this when it first came out but couldn't because it was rated R, I was very into the whole 50's esthetic at the time, though most of this film is set in the 90's with flash backs, the old age makeup is not great but not awful. ***

That Guy Dick Miller (2014)

Documentary on the life and career of Dick Miller, an unusually prolific actor who got his start under Roger Cormen and has become something of a good luck charm in the industry, especially for Cormen veterans like Joe Dante who used him in nearly all of his films. There are some great stories here, Miller seems like a nice man and I would love to have meet him. ***

Cormen's World (2011)

Survey course documentary on the life and career of Roger Cormen, the "King of the B's" who has been making cheap moves and launching careers since the mid 1950's (he's still working today in his 90's). Roger Cormen is a beloved figure in the industry, seems like a real nice guy and someone I would love to meet. **1/2

Gulliver's Travels (1939)

The Fleischer Studios 'Gulliver's Travels' is making me reassess Flesicher Studios 'Mr. Bug Goes to Town', maybe it wasn't so bad. Distributed by Paramount this was the second feature length animated film ever released, the first being 'Snow White' whose influence is unmistakable here, instead of seven dwarfs we have hundreds. Gulliver is a logical and conveniently public domain choice to make into an early animated feature, at last the story can be told visually in higher technical quality then ever available before. Gulliver himself is done in rotoscoping, which looks noticeably off now but was doubtless quite effective at the time. The Lilliputions and the neighboring Blefuscuians are done in an overly cutesy animation style of which I am not a fan. The music here not of the quality of the later 'Bugsville' movie, and the story also made lite and plays out even slower, at just 76 minutes it still feels maybe a little too long. But its the visuals here that are meant to be the principal attraction, and they were revolutionary, while everything else is just in there service. **

Tangled Destinies (1932)

An airplane is forced to land in the California desert at night to avoid a storm, the 10 passengers and 3 crew make for an unlucky bakers dozen who decide to wait things out in a large abandoned house, before long one of them is killed. 'Tangled Destinies' made me long for any number of superior similar movies, including 'The Old Dark House' which came out the same year. The cast is all no names, the main plot involves stolen diamonds but there are various red hearing story lines as well. The copy of this I saw could really use a restoration, at times peoples faces are so bright and indistinct they seem bleached. Though is such a disposable piece of film making worth saving, I say yes because I'd hate to see even a movie I thought was bad disappear completely, but this movie is bad so I wouldn't necessarily make it a big priority. *1/2

The Big Tree's (1952)

'The Big Tree's' was the last movie Kirk Douglas made as a studio player for Warner Brothers. Set in 1900 it is the story of a scheming Wisconsin lumber man who travels to California and attempts to cheat a Quaker colony out of their land, but can beautiful Quaker gal Eve Miller set Douglas on the right path in the end, of course she can. Douglas's performance channels Matthew McConaughey nearly two decades before he was even born, or has McConaughey been channeling Douglas? At times Edger Buchanan steals the film as 'Yukon Burns'. A major plot point hangs on a cat. This movie is justly proud of its Humboldt country location shooting, beautiful country. **1/2

Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950)

Not to be confused with the Shell Silverstein book of the same name 'Where the Sidewalk Ends' is a film noir reteaming 'Laura' stars Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney, as well as the final movie director Otto Preminger made under contract with 20th Century Fox. 'Laura' is such as great movie I didn't expect much here, fearing it would just be a cynical attempt to exploit the legacy of the earlier film, previous Preminger attempts to do so with Andrews and Tierney separately (such as 'Daisy Kenyon' and 'Whirlpool' respectively) were not great, and while 'Sidewalk' is no 'Laura' it is in fact quite good. I'd go so far as to say its the greatest performance I've ever seen Dana Andrews give, and I like the guy he's just not a particularly deep actor. Andrews plays a hard edged New York City detective who accidently kills a suspect in another accidental death, he panics and tries to cover up his involvement and inadvertently ends up falling for the mans widow. Everything here is set up much better then it sounds in my brief description, a nice, compact, artfully drawn film noir/character study, with nice supporting parts for Gary Merrill,  Karl Malden and others. Not much is demanded from Tierney here but she gives a fine performance and is beautiful as always. The legendary Ben Hecht adapted the film from the William L. Stuart novel 'Night Cry'. ***

Chloe, Love is Calling You (1934)

Low budget, southern made exploration fair 'Chloe, Love is Calling You' is certainly distinctive. Brought back to the bayou  hovel where her "mammy" told her she was born, Chloe is a light skinned black girl romantically perused by a man who appears to be white, but who has some black ancestry and thus is outcast from white society. Chloe is not interested in her romantic pursuer believing that she can pass for white and has her eyes set on one particular white man. Only it turns out that Chloe is not in fact black, but acutely is white, her "mammy" kidnaped her as a baby from a wealthy white man she blames for the death of her husband, in fact the reason she has returned to her old home is to finally try and kill that man through a voodoo ceremony (we never learn if this guy is actually responsible for the mans death or not, in fact there is a lot of seemingly important information just missing from this movie). This at times uncomfortable oddity actually has a few interesting ideas in it, like what if you grew up thinking you were one race and then find out you are actually another, how does one process that, what mixed feelings there must be, Chloe however adjusts to this shift instantaneously. Along with plenty of mint julep drinking this film features a number of down on their luck former silent stars (including Reed Howes, and Olive Borden in the title role) slumming for cash. This movie was banned in Ohio. *1/2

Forget Paris (1995)

I saw bits and pieces of 'Forget Paris' back when it was a TBS staple but never sat and watched it through. My mistake, I'm surprised how good this movie is, I certainty laughed more then I usually do with a comedy, and it helped that the movie (for the most part) wasn't trying too hard. I had some issues with the first act, but things really kicked into gear after that when conflict was finally introduced. I'm not completely sold on the chemistry between Billy Crystal and Debra Winger, though they give it their best, the supporting cast is really solid, and in many ways the film is there as a vehicle to string together only semi related comic bits, 'getting the sperm to the clinic on time', 'It's a bird in your hair kind of day'. It's hard to image anybody other then Crystal in the lead, it's a very him film and you wouldn't want anyone else for it. "You want it, you got it, Toyota." ***

Kelly's Heros (1970)

This all star (Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, Don Rickles) World War II/caper film could never really hook me. There were two things in it that I really liked, the opening chase sequence through a 1940's military bombardment accompanied by early 70's soft rock, and Carol O'Conner's performance as an egotistical general, which is what I suspect got him his role on 'All in the Family'. At the time it came out I guess Donald Sutherland's performance as a spaced out tank commander was well received, now it just seems dated to me. The movie is trying to bridge both the worlds and conventions of the World War II and heist movie genera's (plot concerns GI's trying to nab Nazi gold without their superiors finding out), as well as imposing disillusioned Vietnam era sensibilities on 'The Good War', something 'M.A.S.H.' did much better that same year with Korea. This is a long one as well, I usually completely devote myself to the movie I'm watching, no distractions, but for this one I just had to kind of skim it in order to make it through. *1/2

Heart in Atlantis (2001)

Adapted by William Goldman form the Steven King novella 'Low Men in Yellow Coats', which is part of the compellation book 'Hearts in Atlantis' from which the movie takes its title. Told in flash back and set in a lower middle class Connecticut suburb in the summer of 1960 it is the story of Bobby Garfield (11 year old Anton Yelchin) who befriends the new boarder in the upstairs apartment above the home he shares with his widowed mother (Hope Davis). The boarder Ted Brautigan (Anthony Hopkins) turns out to be possessed of psychic powers, and the story concerns their mentorly relationship, government efforts to recapture Brautigan, as well as the highs (first kiss) and lows (bullies) of childhood itself. A wonderfully ambling piece, surprisingly effective, and not really a horror movie in any traditional sense, more akin to 'The Green Mile' then say 'The Dark Tower' for which Brautigan is apparently a cross over character, though Goldman takes liberties with the back story which I think are ultimately for the best. Great chemistry between Yelchin and Hopkins, it's sad to think that the latter outlived the younger, whose full promise we never realized. The kind of movie that I would recommend watching with a window open and a warm evening breeze, and maybe a bottle of root beer. ***1/2

Bugville aka Mr. Bug Goes to Town (1941)

Having the misfortune to have it's premier two days before the attack on Pearl Harbor 'Bugville' was not a finical success, and in my opinion neither was it much of a creative one. After the success of 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' Paramount decided it wanted in on the feature animation market, they had the Fleischer brothers at their disposal which is a good asset, and their version of 'Gulliver's Travels' in 1939 was a big box office success. As a follow up it was decided to do a film featuring animated insects, I was aware enough of how this turned out to be a little concerned for Pixar when they decided to follow up the revolutionary 'Toy Story'  with  'A Bug's Life', that however for the most part worked out.

'Mr. Bug Goes to Town' tells the story of Hoppity, a nice guy grasshopper who attempts to lead the denizens of 'Bugville' to safety when their plot of Manhattan garden land becomes compromised by human foot traffic, and later the construction of high rise. Hoppity is in love with a bee named Honey who is the object of desire of a wealthy Mr. Beetle, who employs hench men Swat the Fly and Skat the Mosquito  to get her. While what we see of the humans look good I did not care for the character design of the bugs, Hoppity is okay but Honey and Mr. Beetle just seem off and slightly uncomfortable to look at. There is not much to these and the other characters, nor to the plot, though the music is surprisingly good with Frank Loesser and Hogay Carmichael brought in for those duties. Also the temporal continuity for the ending of this movie makes no sense at all. Still arguably worth seeing for its surreal, alternate universe quality, young kids would probably enjoy it as well. **

The Insider (1999)

'The Insider' is a movie about former tobacco industry scientist Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe) blowing the whistle on a tobacco industry health cover-up to Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino) and Mike Wallace (Christopher Plummer) of  CBS's '60 Minutes'. A compelling true story that becomes something of a thriller in the hands of crime movie impresario Michael Mann. I'd wanted to see this movie for a long time and it was worth the wait. The real Mike Wallace would later say that he thought the movie was around 2/3rds accurate. ****

Fire Starter (1984)

'Firestarter' is an adaption of the novel of the same name by Stephen King and is best remembered as an early vehicle for Drew Barrymore, who was 9 when it came out. There are three things in this film about a little girl with the power to start fires with her mind that I thought were really good 1) there is a shot of a score or so of government agents descending through the woods for her in fireproof suits which is effective and memorable, 2) the siege at Art Carney and Louise Fletcher's farm house, and 3) the relationship and scenes between Barrymore and George C. Scott, who is a villain of the piece but spends a good chunk of the film pretending to be her friend. Other then those things this movie is really mediocre to bad. The basic story line seems rather route even then and I think David Keith very miscast as Drew's father, someone else in that role may have made a world of difference for this thing. Loaded with talent including Martin Sheen and Moses Gunn this movie about remarkable powers never feels that remarkable. **

My Favorite Brunette (1947)

This standardish Bob Hope comedy trades on the name of his earlier film 'My Favorite Blonde'. 'My Favorite Brunette' stars Hope as a San Francisco baby photographer whose office is next to that of a private detective. Mistaken for that detective by an exotic brunette (frequent Hope and Crosby co-star Dorothy Lamour) Hope decides to give helping her a go and gets caught up in a plot concerning her missing uncle and a McGuffin 'uranium mine'. This is all an excuse and vehicle for Hope to do he's egotistical coward shtick, and it works pretty good here. Amusing cameo appearances by Alan Ladd and Bing Crosby. ***

A Star is Born (1937)

This first version of 'A Star is Born' is my favorite of the three versions I've seen (the others being the 1954 and 2018 remakes, both of which are quite good). I like this one best for a number of reasons, one it's principally about the film industry which I have more of an emotional connection with then the music industry, and two I just tend to favor original versions over remakes, they are inherently fresher and more creative. At the time this movie came out "classic Hollywood" had only been around for maybe a quarter century, and that's generious, and sound films only about a decade. So many of the arch types of "Hollywood" were remarkably well established already and the story of the young hopeful who wins out against the odds and makes good in the industry had a resonance then that it still has today. Fredric March is quite good in this as Norman Main but Janet Gaynor is the heart of the thing, giving an extremely endearing performance as Esther Blodgett come Vicki Lester. Good supporting cast includes Adolphe Menjou and Andy Devin. Also seeing mid 1930's Hollywood in color is a treat in itself. I'm a little surprised that I enjoyed this as much as I did given I'd already seen the story a few times before, still I'm giving it ****

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Murder by Death (1976)

Written by Neil Simon and directed by first time filmmaker Robert Moore, 'Murder by Death' is a comic mystery that gathers thinly veiled versions of famous literary detectives (Sam Spade, Nick & Nora Charles, Miss Marpel, Poirot, Charlie Chan & son) in a creepy old mansion to solve a mystery presided over they Truman Capote. Excellent cast includes Peter Falk, Alec Guinness, Elsa Lanchester, David Niven, Peter Sellers and Maggie Smith. Nancy Walker who had played the housekeeper on the series 'McMillian and Wife', which was modeled after Nick and Nora Charles here plays a maid in some amusing casting. Also present is a then 91 year old Estelle Winwood and a 36 year old James Cromwell.

I was inspired to seeing this film in part from my recent viewing of the later film 'Clue', which it's pretty much impossible not to compare this to. 'Murder by Death' is wittier and better acted, though I didn't like the ending, 'Clue' is funnier and has the greater energy, if the weaker cast. In the end I'd have to give 'Clue' a slight edge, though it quite likely gets that chiefly because I saw it first. I still give both movies the same rating. ***

Hearts and Minds (1974)

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary film 'Harts and Minds' is a kind of collage rumination on America's role in the Vietnam War. Directed by Peter Davis who had worked for CBS News and would later work for PBS, the film has no narrator (though his audio commentary on the Criterion Collection DVD is worth a listen), instead principally through interviews tells the story of the Vietnam experience through the words of the Vietnamese themselves, government officials, solders and veterans both pro and against the war, as well as family members and the average man on the street. They follow a POW just returned form 7 years as a prisoner of war as he makes a sort of local celebrity tour in his native New Jersey, he is perhaps remarkably still for the war. They talk to Clark Clifford, a former Secretary of Defense during the war who turned against it. The Emerson's, a sweet couple who reminisce about their son who died in the war, but without great bitterness. They talk to a deserter, the wife of a solder who lost limbs, a truck driver whose undecided on the war, they talk to seemingly everybody and create a mosaic of conflicted feelings and perspectives. I think it's obvious even from the film that America's role in the Vietnam conflict was a mistake, but it doesn't hate those who feel differently, instead with a sympathetic ear it pity's most everybody and seemingly captures the essence of an era. ****

Rio Lobo (1970)

In 'Rio Lobo' Howard Hawks goes back to the well a third time with what in essence is his second remake of 'Rio Bravo' (the other is 'El Dorado'). Which is not to say the movie isn't fun in places, that ending still works, but as Roger Ebert said in his review at the time the movie feels a little tired. John Wayne is teamed with Mexican film star Jorge Rivero who is given the love interest (Jennifer O'Neill) in lieu of the then 63 year old Duke. Supporting parts for Victor French, David Huddleston, and future Paramount CEO Sherry Lansing, music by Jerry Goldsmith and script co-written by Leigh Brackett. **1/2 (that last half star is for the ending)

Madam Satan (1930)

'Madam Satan' is a pre-code musical comedy about a love triangle and a tragic blimp accident, directed by Cecil B. DeMille of all people. I've wanted to see this for a long while but it's kind of hard to come by, it's really over the top in places as you might imagine. This film has pacing issues, it drags a lot and the music isn't great, but the last twenty minutes or so when the zeppelin is struck by lightning and costume party guests have to parachute to safety, rendered in wonderfully off depression era special effects, is totally worth seeing. The films love triangle consists of James Cromwell's mom, a former amateur boxing champion of Britain, and an ultimately six time married actress who would write a best seller in the 1950's about overcoming addiction through Alcoholics Anonymous. **

The Formula (1980)

'The Formula' was adapted by Steve Shagen from his novel of the same name and directed by John G. Avidsen ('Rocky', 'The Karate Kid'). George C. Scott is an L.A. homicide detective and former CIA agent investigating the murder of a friend and former police officer, the investigation takes him to Germany and the trail leads to an old Nazi program for converting coal and biomass into a gas substitute, and a formula some in the oil industry would kill to keep buried. I thought the first half of the film was solid and the second half mostly so-so and sometimes silly, I liked the ending though. Scott is good as always but it is Marlon Brando who leaves the strongest impression taking what is really a trumped up bit part and making a whole and compelling character out of a proto-Dick Cheney oil executive. **1/2

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Heathers (1989)

This dark high school comedy, a box office failure upon release but now a cult classic, is just too dark for me. Think 'Mean Girls' but meaner and with murder. 'Heathers' stars Winona Ryder and Christian Slater as a high school couple who are sick of ruling cliques, most notably 'The Heathers' to which Ryder's Veronica only reluctantly belongs. One thing leads to another and a string of murders must be disguised as a string of suicides. The lead performances are good, it's pretty smart and much better written then your average teen comedy, I see what they were going for but I found it off putting in the execution, it was all just too much. I'd seen the end of this when I was in high school, I just didn't know what movie it went to. It's well done so I feel bad giving it such a low ratting but I just didn't like it. **

Rosebud (1975)

Otter Preminger's penultimate directorial effort is this not very good, in fact distressingly slow thriller. 'Rosebud' is about five friends, the wealthy daughters of French, German, English and American wealth and power abducted off a yacht by agents of the PLO and held for ransom. Peter O'Toole is the British trouble shooter hired to free the girls. This movie draws unflattering comparison to the semi recent real life inspired 1970's abduction film 'All the Money in the World'. The film lacks both the necessary sense of momentum and stakes, as well as characters one can really get invested with. O'Toole is good enough with what he has to work with, there is one sequence where he is in West Germany with an associate tracking down a lead that has the kind of energy and twinkle the rest of this movie could have really used. Perhaps most notable as the screen debut of a teenage Kim Cattrell. Richard Attenborough plays the leader of the terrorists, and is just far too white. *1/2

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Such Good Friends (1971)

The second unseen by me Otto Preminger directed movie I found on Amazon is 'Such Good Friends' from 1971. Based on the New York Times best selling novel by Lois Gould, and with a screenplay by Elaine May 'Such Good Friends' stars Dyan Cannon (the 4th Mrs. Carey Grant) as a Manhattan housewife whose successful husband is rendered comatose by complications from a simple surgery to remove a mole. The Kafkaesque absurdity of the whole situation is effectively and efficiently conveyed, it roasts the medical establishment better in 20 minutes then the Paddy Chayefsky penned film 'The Hospital' did in its 103 minute run time, and these movies came out the same year. While Cannon's Julie Messinger battles all this she also discovers that her husband has been cheating on her, for a long time, with multiple people, some of whom she thought of as her good friends. This comedy drama is very smartly written and very witty, there is some great dialogue here. It's not entirely even, the satirical elements and the understandably numbed condition through which Mrs. Messinger navigates the events keep you from getting as deep into her character as a more straight treatment of the material would allow, still Dyan Cannon's good in this as is the large supporting cast including James Coco, Jennifer O'Neill, Ken Howard and Nina Foch. Louise Lasser, Doris Roberts, and of course Burgess Meredith have bit parts. ***

Robin Hood (2018)

The biggest flaw in this particular adaptation of the Robin Hood legend is that it isn't what in spirit it wants to be, namely a contemporary update to a modern urban setting with Robin Hood as a vigilante superhero. Instead the movie is set in the unspecified past, Nottingham is huge and has a giant mine where a poor underclass lives in tenement housing and there are regular gas fire bursts for no apparent reason. Also the plot is progressives versus racists who are exploiting religion for personal monetary gain. There are no performances in this piece that I would call good, it just dumb and made me long for the 2010 Russell Crowe version, which isn't very good itself. Not well thought out this cynical cash grab rightly failed at the box office and its teased sequel will never happen. Featuring Bono's daughter Eve Hewson as Maid Marian, and Jamie Foxx, who should know better as 'Little John'. Tom Egerton is also wasted as Robin Hood. *

Hurry Sundown (1967)

Recently on Amazon I found three Otto Preminger films that I had not previously seen, all from his less well regarded late period. The first of these is 'Hurry Sundown' from 1967, based on the 1965 novel of the same name credited to K.B. Gilden, the collective pseudonym of husband and wife co-authors Katya and Bert Gilden. Set in Georgia in 1946 the story concerns two childhood friends, solders recently returned from war, one black (Robert Hooks) and one white (John Phillip Law) and the efforts of the latters cousin (Michael Caine) to forcibly buy out their farms and flood them for a massive agricultural project. There are a number of melodramatic side plots concerning the community residents including Burgess Meredith (a Preminger good luck charm), Jane Fonda, Diahann Carroll, George Kennedy, and Faye Dunaway in her film debut.

The movie is a combination of 'In the Heat of the Night' (which came out the same year), 'Payton Place' and 'Wild River', all of which are better pictures. While Preminger had previously enjoyed a lot of success with star studded adaptations of topical novels ('Advise and Consent', 'Exodus', 'The Cardinal') this movie lacks the spirit, energy, and cohesion of those films. The director is not at the top of his game with this melodrama that cries out too hard to be relevant, something he was always obsessed with to mixed results over the course his career. The film does have one very strong courtroom sequence, featuring Jim Backus of all people, and isn't horrible, it's just not all that good. Shot on location in the south amidst local opposition, which is admirable so I wish I could report it was better. **

Rockwell: A Legend of the Wild West (1994)

There is no need to watch 'Rockwell: A Legend of the Wild West', but I would recommend watching the trailer, but don't be fooled it makes it look like a much better movie then it really is, and it doesn't even make it look like all that good of a movie. Porter Rockwell is a real historical character who is also something of a Mormon folk hero. The Massachusetts born Orrin Porter Rockwell (either 1813 or 1815- 1878) joined Joseph Smith's movement then simply called 'The Church of Jesus Christ' in it's first months of existence, he would serve as a bodyguard to both Smith and his successor Brigham Young, as well as a lawman, mountain man, pioneer, and scout. He was implicated in an 1842 attempted assassination of then former Missouri governor Lilbrun W. Boggs, most famous for his infamous "extermination order" against the Mormons in 1838. Rockwell was also a polygamist and married at lest 3 times and had at least 7 children. He famously kept his hair long in reported imitation of Sampson from the Bible and was said to be "invulnerable" because of this. There is plenty of movie material in Porter Rockwell, and he has also been played on film by John Carradine ('Brigham Young - Frontersman' 1940) and James Coburn ('The Avenging Angle' 1995).

'Rockwell: A Legend of the Wild West' is a low budget film made in Utah and written and directed by Rockwell enthusiast Richard Lloyd Dewey, it is his only film credit other then appearing as a talking head in a 1988 documentary about Rockwell. The film stars Randy Gleave as Porter, this is also his only film credit aside from appearing as a "Spaniard" in a documentary short about the Grand Canyon 10 years earlier. The most notable thing about the movie is its shoehorning into the story of then Utah Jazz player Karl Malone in his film debut. Malone plays Elijah Abel, an actual early black Mormon, in the film he is shown in a romantic relationship with a woman who appears to be white, I assumed this blatantly historically inaccurate but in researching found that Abel was married to a white woman who was 1/8th black, which apparently made it acceptable to the Saints of pioneer Utah.

The story of the movie is not super committed to historical accuracy, it's intent seems to be to convey a sense of the mythic Porter, that doesn't work great because the movie is rather boring, poorly made, and Gleave lacks charisma. Often episodic the film begins in Illinois shortly before the martyrdom of Joseph Smith and continues into the Utah period, probably some time in the 1850's. It constructs a narrative through line in the form of Chauncey Higbee (Michael Flynn, an actual actor but who is here all about chewing the scenery) a real historical Mormon apostate whose importance is inflated for story purposes.

The film is filled with odd touches of the "why?" variety. An attempt is made to make a buddy comedy team of Malone and Scott Christopher (a working Utah based actor who was on the series 'Granite Flats', a number of Mormon movies, TV guest shots, and commercials in Utah and Idaho) who both play deputes to Porter's marshal. These characters are all shown to be involved in community theater for some reason. Rockwell kills a man who utters the line "I collect ears". There is a highly out of place bathtub scene in which the model Shantal Hiatt that looks like a Cleanflix cut of 'Showtime After Dark'. There is also a running gage of under aged girls being attracted to Porter, "I swear I'm the only man this happens to" he laments. It's an odd movie, but those oddities are about the only thing that gets the viewer through the slowness and low production values. A curio if your committed, but pointless if your not. *