Movie Project: Notorious

This review was originally posted to my movie blog on 4 February 2012.

• Title:  Notorious
• Director:  Alfred Hitchcock
• Date:  1946
• Studio:  RKO
• Genre:  Drama, Film Noir
• Cast:  Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains
• Format:  Standard, Black and White
• DVD Format:  R1, NTSC, (Criterion Collection, single disc) 

"Waving the flag with one hand and picking pockets with the other, that's your patriotism." -- Alicia

"I've always been scared of women, but I get over it." -- Devlin

In Hitchcock's Notorious, Ingrid Bergman plays Alicia, whose father's been tried for treason, found guilty and jailed.  We later learned that he "died in his cell", which is only marginally better than "shot while trying to escape".  Bergman is indifferent to her father's death, knowing he was a traitor (or as he put it in a recorded conversation - loyal to Germany and his own pocket) - but seems apolitical.  She is, however, a hopeless alcoholic, even driving drunk.  She meets Devlin at one of her parties, and quickly discovers he's an American agent.  He brings her to his bosses to use as an agent.  Reluctantly, she agrees and the two fly off to Rio.  It's interesting to note that Alicia's friends had also wanted her to take a vacation, suggesting Cuba!!!  Anyway, once in Rio, Alicia and Devlin discover what the job is that Devlin's un-named agency wants her to do.  She's to become romantically involved with Claude Rains' character, a man she knew as a young girl, and someone who seems to be supporting some shady scientists, though to what end is unknown - that is what Alicia is to find out.  Devlin isn't happy about Alicia's assignment, because the two have fallen for each other. Alicia, however, agrees.  She quickly forms an attachment to Rains -- and even marries him.  Devlin, meanwhle, becomes her handler - but gets more and more angry to see the woman he loves with another man.

Despite it's fantastic cast - Notorious is a very, very slow moving film.  Yes, the tension does build up, especially when Rains' mother discovers Alicia is an agent and begins to poison her coffee, but the pacing is so slow as to be irritating instead of suspenseful.  I actually found Rains to be the most fun - it's nice to see him in a juicy "bad guy" role as opposed the to lighter characters he normally plays.  Bergman is excellent as the newly minted tough-as-nail agent, but her easy submission into taking the poisoned coffee (and not realizing there might be a reason she feels so sick) undercuts her strong woman personna.  Grant, of course, rescues her at the end, but the film still has a strange ending (they leave the house, but we don't know, for sure, if Grant got to her in time for the poisoning to be reversed).  All in all - I thinkNotorious is a good example of a film that would work better as a TV series.  I'd have loved to see a pair of secret agents - one male, one female, who gradually fall for each other - and eventually marry.  It could be especially interesting if the woman still must "honeytrap" other spies as part of her job.  A TV series, however, could gradually work the relationship of  "Alicia" and "Devlin" -- making it more realistic, as well as dealing with the difficulties of a couple in such a dangerous profession.

But, getting back to the film, Grant is fantastic in Notorious - giving a subtle performance, and projecting a core of steel and violence.  I loved that.

Overall, though Notorious has it's good points and an excellent cast, it's like a novel by a great writer who needs an editor and without one writes books which are overly long.  The film really needed to be tightened up, the pacing improved, and the ending needs to be more concrete and less confusing.  Still, I would recommend it.

Recommendation:  See it.
Rating:  3.5 out of 5 Stars
Next Film:  The Philadelphia Story

Movie Project: The Philadelphia Story

This review was posted to my Movie Project blog on 13 February 2012.

• Title:  The Philadelphia Story
• Director:  George Cukor
• Studio:  MGM
• Genre:  Romance, Comedy
• Cast:  Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, James Stewart
• Format:  Black and White, Standard
• DVD Format:  R1, NTSC

The film opens with Katherine Hepburn throwing out Cary Grant.  Two years later, newspaper headlines announce the upcoming wedding of  Tracy Lord (Hepburn) to a man named "George".  Tracy is a spoiled, self-centered, upper crust, old money, Philadelphia socialite.  She's recently estranged from her father, because he's recently had an affair with a New York dancer.

Grant, an alcoholic playboy, returns to Philadelphia from two years abroad, because he wants to re-kindle his relationship with her, and stop her wedding.  However, he's not completely obvious about what he wants.

Stewart's a newspaperman, a reporter, who dreams of being a real writer, and has written one book of short stories.  But he's currently working at a gossip magazine, and is paired with a female photographer.  He's bribed to cover Tracy's wedding.

Grant and Stewart arrive at Tracy's -- however, the pacing of the film is slow, much slower than is needed for the type of "screwball" romantic comedy that Cukor is trying to build.  I think the film may have been better off in the hands of  Howard Hawks.  Or, for a melancholy feel, Billy Wilder.  But in Cukor's hands, it clunks along.

There are some very funny, witty, clever lines of  dialogue -- but there's also scenes that make one wince, such as Grant insulting Hepburn until she cries -- and he's supposed to be in Philadelphia to woo her back?

Hepburn, meanwhile, starts off as a nearly liberated woman, wearing silky pantsuits, and telling her mother and younger sister, that she dis-invited her father from the wedding because of  his affair.

Meanwhile, Hepburn ends up having an illuminating conversation, not to mention a few kisses with James Stewart, while she's drunk.  The next day, her wedding day, she can't remember exactly what she did.  At first, evidence suggests she slept with Stewart, which ticks off  her fiance', George.  However, Stewart clears the air by explaining nothing happened.  George forgives Hepburn -- but, to her credit, she doesn't forgive him for jumping to conclusions about her and she cancels the wedding.  Then, as she's announcing this to the guests -- Grant, who's feeding her lines to make the embarrassing situation more graceful, proposes.  She accepts, and the wedding goes on -- with Hepburn marrying Grant.  It's also suggested that Stewart's female photographer should marry him, so at least Stewart isn't left in the cold.

The problem with the film -- well, it's almost like a updated "Taming of  the Shrew".  Yes, Tracy Lord is a spoiled, pampered woman who has difficulty expressing her emotions, and thus seems to be an ice queen.  She compared to a "goddess" several times in the film, and never favorably.  However, her abilities at horseback riding, swimming, and sailing suggest she's a true "outdoorsy" woman -- and a woman who doesn't need a man, she needs to be allowed to do her own thing, probably in a career.  I also felt she had much better on-screen chemistry with Stewart's character, a nearly penniless writer, than Grant's -- who's also a spoiled playboy.  Tracy and Dexter (Grant) had split before because they grew bored with each other, and her coldness drove Dexter to drink (his drying out is a sub-plot of  the film), but there's no reason to believe they won't tire of each other again.  Stewart, meanwhile, is an "every man" sort, as always, but his honesty would keep Tracy on her toes, and she probably wouldn't get bored of  him.  And, should she start to take advantage of him -- he'd call her on it.  I could also see Stewart prodding her into opening some type of writing or artsy-related business, such as a publishing house, art gallery, or artist's colony.  Not that Tracy's an artist, but she does have a head for business, and she seems genuinely interested in Stewart's book, not just flattering him.

There are a couple of misses in the film as well - Tracy's ill-fated second husband-to-be really should have been played by Ralph Bellamy-- we know she's not going to marry him, the romantic triangle is between Hepburn, Grant and Stewart, so why not cast the guy who never gets the girl?  Howard Hawks would have been a better directing choice -- and would have ramped-up the pacing of  the film.  The scenes with fast dialogue are some of  the best, but at 112 minutes the film runs a little long, and drags in places.  Hawks could have speeded up the dialogue and the plot (such as in his wonderful His Girl Friday).  And, as much as I like Grant - I don't think the film works with the plot of  Tracy Lord going back to her first husband.  On the one hand it makes her look like an on-screen Elizabeth Taylor, and on the other it seems terribly old-fashioned, almost as if to suggest a woman can't really be divorced.

Recommendation:  Worth seeing, but at times slow.
Rating:  3 out of  5 Stars
Next Film:  The Princess Bride

Movie Project: The Princess Bride

Posted to my movie review blog this morning.

• Title:  The Princess Bride
• Director:  Rob Reiner
• Date:  1987
• Studio:  MGM
• Genre:  Adventure, Romance, Comedy
• Cast:  Cary Elwes, Robin Wright,  Fred Savage, Peter Falk, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, Billy Crystal, Peter Cook, Andre-the-Giant
• Format:  Color, Widescreen
• DVD Format:  R1, NTSC

"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders.  The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia.  But slightly less well known is this - never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line."  -- Vizzini

"We'll never survive [in the Fire Swamp]."  --  Buttercup, the Princess Bride
"Nonsense, you're only saying that because no one ever has." -- Westley


"You know how much I love watching  you work - but I've got my country's five hundredth anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder and Gilder to frame for it.  I'm swamped." -- Prince Humperdinck

The Princess Bride is one of  my favorite films of  all time.  It's a film I actually owned a copy of on VHS, then replaced with a DVD.  I absolutely adore this film -- it's smart, fun, intelligent and chock full of fun and quotable lines.  The film actually has two storylines -- the frame story of a grandfather (Peter Falk) reading the story of  The Princess Bride to his grandson (Fred Savage) who is home sick.  The growing relationship between grandson and grandfather adds a sweetness to the film, as does the young boy's growing interest in the story.  The main storyline, though, is the story of  Westley and Buttercup, two young lovers separated by fate who simply must end-up together.  However, what prevents the story from sinking into typical romantic comedy is the intelligent, witty dialogue and the simply gorgeous cinematography.  The film pulls itself together in such a way that it just works incredibly well.  It's also shot in a very storybook style, which ranges from castles with interiors that obviously look like sets, to some simply wonderful sunsets, and some great scenery when Buttercup and Westley first meet again. (The wide shots of  the castles are no doubt real ones in Ireland and England where parts of  the film were shot).

This film also has some wonderful sword fights.  The fight between Westley and Inigo Montoya is wonderful! I really enjoy it every time I watch the film.  But there's also some wonderful fight scenes between Montoya and the evil Count Rugen.

Overall, the film is just enjoyable.  Simply enjoyable.  It's funny, it's sweet, it's romantic.  The good guys are good because they treat other people nicely and well, and the bad guys - Vizzini, Count Rugen, and Prince Humperdinck are bad guys in part because they treat other people terribly.  Humperdinck's motivation is also to start a war between Florin (his country and home to Buttercup) and neighboring Guilder.  And a bit of wordplay with the names of  the country as well - Florin and Guilder are two coins in a former Netherlands currency.  Florin is also the name of  an old two-shilling coin in the UK that's no longer in use.

If  by some chance you haven't seen this movie, it's an absolutely must-see.

Recommendation:  See it!  Also good for all ages without being overly sweet.
Rating:  5 of 5 Stars
Next Film:  The Producers