147. High Sierra (1941)

Running Time: 100 minutes
Directed By: Raoul Walsh
Written By: John Huston, from novel by W.R. Burnett
Main Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ida Lupino, Henry Travers, Joan Leslie, Alan Curtis
Click here to view the trailer

GEEZ BOGEY, GO AWAY!

My (seemingly) never ending quest to find an, at least suitable Humphrey Bogart picture will not end today, with the reviewing of "High Sierra" - a film that I did not like...not in the slightest.

This time around, in my seventh Bogart movie from THE BOOK, Bogey is Roy Earle, a notorious gangster, who has just been pardoned from prison, via a phone call a gangster friend of his made to the governor. Once on the outside, it's back to his criminal ways, as Earle wastes no time getting back into the life of a professional thief. This time around, he'll be leading the charge in a heist against an upper-class California resort. As he drives across the country, headed for California, Earle meets a poor family, consisting of an elderly man & woman and their granddaughter. It turns out that there headed about to the same place he's going and when he gets to his destination, he looks them up again and again...and again, securing his sights on the granddaughter, Velma (Leslie), a looker in her own right. Of course, there's work to be done too and Earle meets up with the gang of guys he'll be working with: all rookies and all new faces to the veteran Earle. There's two guys: Babe (Curtis) and Red and a woman, Marie (Lupino). They take the time (what seems like forever) to case the place and get all their plans in order and meanwhile, the Earle character spends the rest of the film visiting Velma, a cripple, whom he plans to pay for surgery and babysitting a dog. End of story...

This was Humphrey Bogart's big break in Hollywood, as he doesn't even get top billing in this one, as that honor goes to Ida Lupino. Could Humphrey Bogart be the most overrated actor EVER?? That's a question that I pondered as I watched this film and knew that the sole reason for it's inclusion was THE BOOK'S obvious infatuation with Bogey.  Believe it or not, there are, by my count, four Humphrey Bogart films still remaining in THE BOOK, which will make a grand total of ELEVEN Bogey pictures in all!! And as far as I can tell, the only one worth anything is "Angels with Dirty Faces" and guess what...it's the only one of the eleven he's not the star of. There's just something about the guy that doesn't appeal to me in the slightest...kind of like the problem I had with Cary Grant, during my early blogging days. These days, I'll take Cary Grant any 'ol day of the week, over Bogart. Oh well, I'm still bound and determined to find ONE picture, starring Bogart that I like.

As for "High Sierra", it just went on for what seemed like forever and literally NOTHING happened. There's one heist in the whole film, which we hear about five minutes into the film and they don't pull that heist off until over an hour into the movie. The rest of the time is total down time, with Bogart proving that he can be a bad ass AND have a heart of gold, getting estimates for Velma's club foot surgery and visiting old, dying gangster friends. Give me a break! It's also a really odd movie, in that Bogart's character doesn't get the girl he wants and ends up having to settle for his second choice, Marie. That's just weird and probably has a lot to do with the fact that Humph really wasn't the star and therefore, could be made to look a little weaker than he could when he hit his starring days. There's a pretty sweet car chase near the end and the ending is pretty decent, but it wasn't nearly enough to save this train wreck and I'm just glad it's all over.

RATING: 3.5/10  '4' just seemed too high, so a '3.5' should do just fine. That will take care of the first half of what I have remaining and now we'll jump to the end and knock out five from that side.

MOVIES WATCHED: 668
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 333

ON DECK
The Departed (2006 - Martin Scorsese)
Apocalypto (2006 - Mel Gibson)
Talk to Her (2002 - Pedro Almodovar)
In the Mood for Love (2000 - Wong Kar-Wai)
Gladiator (2000 - Ridley Scott)

April 27, 2013  1:18pm

69. Me and My Gal (1932)

Running Time: 79 minutes
Directed By: Raoul Walsh
Written By: Philip Klein, Barry Conners, Arthur Kober
Main Cast: Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, Marion Burns, George Walsh, J. Farrell MacDonald

DON'T BE A "BEZARK"...SEE THIS MOVIE!

Continuing right along with my new format (watching the five oldest films that I have left to watch, before jumping to the end and watching the five newest), we come to "Me and My Gal", a film I was forced to record off of Turner Classic Movies last October, as part of their Spencer Tracy tribute, as I was unable to find it elsewhere.

Spencer Tracy is Danny Doyle, a new cop on the beat in New York City and while he isn't the slickest or keenest copper on the force, he gets by. We open with about a twenty minute piece of Doyle walking through town; getting into numerous interactions with the town drunk, chasing down some kids who break a window with their baseball and flirting with a waitress he calls "Red" (Bennett)...due to her blonde hair. Then we start to get into the little plot that this movie does have, as Red's a.k.a. Helen Riley's newly married sister, Kate (Burns), is dropped in on by her old beau, Duke (Walsh), a gangster who wants to rob the bank she works at and wants her help. Kate denies the offer and luckily Duke is picked up by the police and sentenced to prison time. However, he busts out and of course, calls upon Kate to help hole him up, while his gang set plans in motion to knock off the bank. Meanwhile, Doyle starts courting Helen and the two get along swimmingly, despite the fact that they're both smart-asses, which is okay because it suits them well and they play off of each other nicely. Danny is then upgraded to detective and finds out that if he can track down the recently escaped Duke, he could earn himself a cool $10,000 reward - dead or alive. It shouldn't be too hard for Danny to get his hands on that reward money, considering Duke is hiding out in the apartment of his girlfriend's sister.

SPOILER ALERT!

Yeah, like I mentioned in the synopsis, there's really not much plot to speak of here and what little plot there is just acts as fodder to give Tracy and Bennett more time to play off one another, which they do superbly. It's a shame that I've never really taken to a Spencer Tracy movie, because he's a marvelous actor and I really enjoyed him here, proving that he can do comedy with the best of them. There are so many little running gags and physical comedy situations in this movie that it's literally impossible not to be tickled, at least a few times throughout the picture. The town drunk, at the beginning of the movie was hilariously played by Will Stanton. You've also got the radio salesman, who shows up for literally like one minute of screen time, but kills it. Everyone, whether they're onscreen for one minute or one hour, knows their part and plays it well...except Marion Burns who seemed to be lost in there. I also liked the idea of having the paralyzed father-in-law (Sarge), who could only blink his eyes and hear and who tips off the Danny as to Duke's whereabouts. I knew as soon as he showed up, he'd play some sort of integral part in the climax. I also liked the little bank robbery heist scene, with the gangsters breaking into the apartment of a mild mannered family that lived above the bank, cutting through their floor and then dropping down into the vault...clever stuff from Walsh.

Walsh realizes that he doesn't have much of an idea to play with, so wisely keeps the picture to a short running time and packs a nice punch with what he does give us. This is a really fun, little picture and since it's debut on Turner Classic Movies back in October, I've seen them replay it, at least, two more times, so you should really keep your eyes peeled for it, because it's not available anywhere else (in the U.S. anyway). If you're a fan of Spencer Tracy, this gives you a chance to see him early in his career, before he became a Hollywood mega star and he and Joan Bennett have a great chemistry together, just as good as Tracy and Hepburn, in this reviewers opinion. Fans of Tracy will also surely be thrilled to see him at being a goofball and at such a baby face age. It's fun; it's funny; it features greatness from the duo of Tracy and Bennett and the direction of Walsh, keeping things short and tying them up in a nice bow at the end, gets this one a thumbs up from yours truly!

RATING: 7/10  Maybe that's a smidgen too high, but I'm gonna' go with it and if need be, I can adjust at recap time. It's at least a very strong '6.5' anyway and what's a half a point to quibble over?

MOVIES WATCHED: 665
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 336

April 25, 2013  1:17am

219. White Heat (1949)

Running Time: 113 minutes
Directed By: Raoul Walsh
Written By: Virginia Kellogg, Ivan Goff, Ben Roberts
Main Cast: James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien, Margaret Wycherly, Steve Cochran

"MADE IT, MA! TOP OF THE WORLD!"

Took a little bit of a hiatus while I got caught up on my Pixar movies, but now I'm back and ready to leap back into the pages of the "1001". Kicked off my return with a movie that I ordered a couple of weeks, due to the onset of a James Cagney kick, "White Heat". In buying "White Heat" before seeing it, I made one of the best blind buys ever, as I did not regret the purchase in the least.

Cody Jarrett (Cagney) and his gang of criminals are set to rob a train as "White Heat" opens. Jarrett is immediately established as a ruthless individual when the film opens, as four people are killed during the robbery and one of Jarrett's gang is critically wounded. With the robbery a success, the gang holes up in the mountains, where they plan to hide out until things blow over. It is at the cabin that we learn of Cody's attachment to his mother (Wycherly) and blinding headaches that leave him temporarily crippled. The gang eventually moves out and takes refuge in a hotel, leaving the critically wounded member of their gang behind. Later, the wounded man is found dead by the police, and using every clue possible, they track the man (who had a package of cigarettes in his pockets with fingerprints all over them) to the Jarrett gang. Upon arriving at the hotel to bust Jarrett, U.S. Treasury investigator Evans is shot by Cody, in the arm and Cody gets away with his mother and his wife, Verna (Mayo). Jarrett gets wind of another robbery in Illinois that took place on the same day as the train robbery, and decides to turn himself over for that crime, a crime that would hold a maximum two year sentence and allow him to escape the gas chamber for the four murders during the train robbery. Once in the pen, the U.S. Treasury take it one step further, by sending in one of their men, Hank Fallon (O'Brien), disguised as a prisoner, to get information out of Jarrett. Meanwhile, the second notch member of the Jarrett gang, Big Ed (Cochran), is wanting to step up in the world, already taking advantage of Jarrett's lonely wife, Big Ed has a pair of hands on the inside of the prison, and plans to have them kill Jarrett.

SPOILER ALERT!

Much like the train that was robbed in the opening of the film, this movie kind of resembled a steam train, as it just kept coming and coming and piling on the intensity, until we were bound to have a blow-up at the end. Who doesn't love James Cagney? I know I do and he has quickly become a favorite actor of mine, just from the films I've watched out of the "1001" book. In my view, James Cagney wasn't afraid to let his characters go a little over the top, and Cody Jarrett was the most over the top character that Cagney has played. Take for instance the scene where Jarrett learns of his mother's death (a well put together scene where the information is passed from ear to ear of every prisoner, sitting in Cody's row in the lunch room). When the information finally gets to Jarrett's ear, we see an absolutely priceless expression and then a complete breakdown of the character of Cody Jarrett. In my view, (and remember I'm not an old movie afficionado...yet...so I could be wrong) you just didn't see that kind of over the top acting back in the 1940s. Most of the actors back then seemed to play it pretty cool. It was the era of guys like Bogart and Grant, who didn't have complete breakdowns, which resulted in the "hissy fit to end all hissy fits". Cagney was confident enough with himself and his acting abilities to go for it and go all the way and really show us what kind of nut case we were dealing with, when we got mixed up with Cody Jarrett.

The plot is so good and just keeps coming and coming. First you have a train robbery, then Jarrett goes to prison, then the U.S. Treasury decides to put one of their men on the inside with Jarrett, then Big Ed gets in the ear of a man on the inside, then Jarrett escapes, concocts a new plan (taking the undercover with him, because he's now attached to him) and we cap it all off with one last big caper, which involves cops and criminals. Another priceless Jarrett expression, is when he finds out that Vic Pardo is actually Hank Fallon. Virginia Mayo was quite radiant, I thought, as I had my first experiences seeing her act in "White Heat". Another stand-out element to this film was the police/investigators. Usually in crime films back then (this is considered a film-noir, but I honestly didn't see it as that) the "good guys" were throw away characters who got knocked off when they got in the way. In "White Heat" the good guys have personalities and I even resorted to yelling at the screen a few times when "Vic Pardo" almost got found out.

The bottom line is that "White Heat" is a great film that deserves it's place in the "1001" book and I'm very satisfied with my purchase. Long live Jimmy Cagney!

RATING: 8.5/10 I'm sure that rating will rise, but for now that's my initial impression. I'll probably be reviewing "Yankee Doodle Dandy" before the weekend is over.

MOVIES WATCHED: 182
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 819

November 6, 2010 12:53pm

20. The Thief of Bagdad (1924)

Running Time: 140 minutes

Directed By: Raoul Walsh

Written By: Douglas Fairbanks, Lotta Woods

Main Cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Snitz Edwards, Charles Belcher, Julanne Johnston, Sojin

ARABIAN NIGHTS, MAGIC CARPETS AND A WHOLE LOT OF FUN!

When I popped in the DVD of The Thief of Bagdad and realized that it was a fantasy story set in the Arabian city of Bagdad, I was none too thrilled. Boy, was I in for a shocker!

Ahmed (played brilliantly by Fairbanks) is a common street thief, who will grab just about anything he can get his hands on. When he learns that the Caliph is organizing for all eligible suitors to come to the royal city, so that he may marry off his daughter, the Princess, Ahmed sees a dollar signs and plans to break into the palace and make off with anything of value.

On the eve of the day the Princess is to choose her new mate, Ahmed does just what he was planning and breaks into the palace with the use of a magic rope, that he, of course, stole. He manages to catch the guards while they're not paying attention and sneak into the Princess' sleeping quarters. While attempting to steal her jewels, he becomes enchanted with her and instead only makes off with her slipper, proclaiming that he's in love with her. Seeing as how Ahmed takes anything he wants, he plans to steal the Princess.

Meanwhile, the next day, the Princess decides to seek a fortune teller to help her make her choice for her new suitor. The fortune teller, using the Sands of Mecca, tells her that her suitor will be the first man to touch the rose bush that grows outside the palace. When the suitors arrive (the Prince of Persia, the Prince of India and the Prince of Mongol) she sees nothing in any of them. But when the last of the suitors arrive, Ahmed, dressed in princely gear and claiming to be a Prince himself, she immediately has eyes for him, and when his horse is spooked by a bumble bee and he's thrown into the rose bush, her initial ideas are confirmed...Ahmed will be her husband.

However, Ahmed is soon found out to be nothing more than a thief, and before being captured by the royalty of Bagdad, he confesses to the Princess that all the evil flew out of his body when he met her, that he has changed his ways for good. After a good flogging, Ahmed is thrown out of the palace and the Princess is then urged to make another choice. Instead of picking between the three remaining suitors, she proposes that they all three go out in search of treasure, and when they return, whomever brings back the rarest treasure, shall be her new mate. Ahmed, on the other hand, seeks guidance from a man of religion, who tells him that if he truly wants to be happy, he must earn that happiness and so Ahmed is sent on a mission of his own, in which many men have dared to take, but all have died in the process. If he succeeds he'll become a Prince and will be granted whatever he desires.

The Thief of Bagdad was surprisingly, a lot of fun. Douglas Fairbanks, who I'd heard a lot about, really delivered and turned in a fantastic performance as the thief Ahmed. The sets and costumes were absolutely immaculate and quite pleasing to the eye. I read a bit of trivia saying that the sets for this movie are still the largest ever built in Hollywood, and I believe it, as they are quite grand. The story is really solid, however there are still a few bits of down time in it, where it gets a tad slow and dull, but the good far outshines the bad and this one gets a quick recommendation.

RATING: 7/10 Dropped it a few notches for the slow parts, but definitely check this one out, if only to watch Fairbanks and feast your eyes on the grand set and costume design.

NEXT UP: STRIKE!...or Stachka to the Russians. Sergei M. Eisenstein directs it and the review should be up later tonight...much later.

October 3, 2009 9:22pm