The World Moves On

The World Moves On (1934)

Runtime: 104 minutes

Directed by: John Ford

Starring: Madeleine Carroll, Franchot Tone, Reginald Denny, Sig Rugman, Stepin Fetchit

From: Fox Film Corporation

John Ford's Downton Abbey, featuring a racist caricature.

Admittedly I've never seen an episode of Downton Abbey; I stole that line from a mutual. There were several of Ford's movies to choose from before they left the Criterion Channel less than a day from now. This sounded the most interesting to me due to its plot and plus, it is a footnote in Hollywood history as I'll mention later.

The plot: it starts off in 1825 America as after the death of a family's patriarch, in his will is the decree that an alliance happen between his family and another for the purpose of running a cotton empire both in the United States and across Europe. Of course, it then skips ahead to the early 20th century (mostly in World War I time although it ends in the 1920's) where besides the alliance not having been broken-it becomes complicated once the war begins-there's a lot and it's kind of a mess.

There's a wedding, unrequited love, long soliloquies, the French Foreign Legion, war footage taken from the 1932 French motion picture Wooden Crosses, and Stepin Fetchit. He was a Black actor who I had never seen before but he's rather controversial now... while popular at the time, most now will likely cringe hardcore at the act he does where he makes Forrest Gump look like Albert Einstein by speaking nonsense while yelling the entire time. I certainly thought it was greatly regrettable, an uncomfortable reminder of what was deemed “acceptable” back then.

A lot happens in 104 minutes, as I've hopefully proven. Yet there are some rather strong sequences-depending on how cynical you are, you may fall in love with how Madeleine Carroll and Franchot Tone portray both characters in 1825 and their relatives almost 100 years later... they seemed to know each other from their antecedents despite never having met or even seen each other before, to the point that the 20th century versions faintly remembered an obscure tune their counterparts sang the previous century.

It is totally a mixed bag; some parts I definitely preferred to others. Yet overall I'll say this was fine. The first ten minutes not only features one person slapping another across the face w/ his glove (the old gentlemanly version of the middle finger) but there's also a dual. Furthermore, this was the first-ever movie approved by the Production Code (as sad as it was that the Pre-Code era ended then) so at least that is interesting historical trivia for dorks like us. That fact is undoubtedly true as at the very beginning there is a “Certificate No. 1” listed. Whether or not that's worthy of watching the movie... it's not Ford's best by any means but different from the norm, yeah it was.

Thieves' Highway

Thieves' Highway (1949)

Runtime: 94 minutes

Directed by: Jules Dassin

Starring: Richard Conte, Valentina Cortese, Lee J. Cobb, Millard Mitchell, Jack Oakie

From: 20^th Century Fox

Undoubtedly the most intense and grittiest movie ever made about apples. I've known of this picture for awhile now and at least at this moment, it is otherwise difficult to track down so when TCM ran the film earlier in the month, it was DVR'ed and finally it was watched last night by me.

It is a film noir surrounding... the hauling of apples to an open market. It is actually a very good picture that has what you'd want from the genre. Richard Conte returns him from military service and at first the mood is happy-go-lucky. Then, he suddenly realizes that something pretty bad happened to his trucker dad at the hands of Lee J. Cobb; perhaps it's not a surprise that he was the lead heel. Conte is looking for answers so he teams up with one of his dad's pals and hauls up apples from an orchard to San Francisco. This is what I presume is a long-gone phenomenon where truckers independently transport a food product directly from the source to a huge market where it's anything goes and anyone can purchase the items in question as long as they can agree to a price. It was definitely fascinating to me.

It honestly shouldn't be a surprise that in a world where a profit is made, there are ruthless SOB's like Cobb's character who will do great harm (or worse) to someone to make a quick buck, or enact elaborate schemes where the truckers don't end up making any money at all. As you might imagine, it's a loud and frantic world filled with colorful, earthy characters.

One example is Jack Oakie playing someone only known as SLOB; that's harsh for someone who is on the portly side like Oakie was. There's also “lady of the night” Rica, played by Valentina Cortese-someone who I saw late last week in Day for Night. In both she delivered w/ her performance. Anyhow, bad things happen to our lead (how 'bout them apples?), Rica falls for him-despite Ol' Richard already having a girlfriend-and to steal a line from a mutual on Letterboxd, this literally was a movie which involved people stealing the fruits of your labor.

The director was Jules Dassin so I was hoping this movie would be a tasty treat, and least personally I thought that it was. It has some great scenes that I loved taking a bite out of...

 

The Unseen

The Unseen (1980)

Runtime: 92 minutes

Directed by: Danny Steinmann

Starring: Barbara Bach, Sydney Lassick, Lelia Goldini, Douglas Barr, Stephen Furst

From: Triune Films

Yep, this was from the director of Friday the 13th: A New Beginning.

A few nights ago on the Shudder app I saw the first few minutes of this movie via one of the the three streaming channels on the app. It made me laugh so hard that I knew I needed to see this in full soon; besides, it's a picture I first heard about it on some site anyhow. You're in an apartment and from photos on a table it is clear that it's owned by a man. Heavy labored breathing is heard and perhaps it was me knowing that director Danny Steinmann made really sleazy films and apparently was sleazy in real life also... it sounded like this dude was doing something illicit by himself! Actually, he was on exercise equipment. The opening scene actually wasn't bad: without saying a word it was clear that this guy was a football player and the relationship w/ his girlfriend Barbara Bach had turned sour.

From there, a whole lot of trash was presented. Besides Sydney Lassick (the true highlight of the movie w/ his over the top performance) playing Peeping Tom early on, there are many gross elements present, only a few of which I'll mention. A remark is totally tossed off that Bach's boyfriend at least once physically assaulted her... then we move on without that being addressed. An abortion is mentioned (what a time in 2022 to hear that be brought up; no further comment from me on that topic, no way!), there's full frontal nudity, patricide—oh, and what the titular unseen is hidden in the basement until the final act: definitely memorable although whether or not it is appropriate at all in '22 or is totally tasteless is up to you. Of course, it'd be better if the poster Letterboxd currently uses for the film doesn't REVEAL what exactly is in the basement, but it does!

Whether or not you know what the titular thing is, The Unseen is incredibly trashy. The plot: Bach is a TV reporter who travels to do a piece in the real life Danish-themed town of Solvang, California. A hotel snafu leaves them without a room, until they meet Lassick and he seemed nice at first (although quirky) so they agreed to stay at his spacious rural house for the night. Big mistake.

As for director Danny Steinmann, I can't say for certain why he only made one adult movie in the 70's then this, then Savage Streets-somehow I haven't watched that before-then his career concluded with the Jason sequel w/ no Jason. However, I've heard that he wasn't easy to get along with and his “direction” on set was rather minimal as he just didn't know how to communicate w/ cast and crew. A random blog stated that he had a vehicular accident after A New Beginning but otherwise I am unsure if it was his behavior and demeanor that in essence caused him to be blacklisted. In any case, he was so unhappy with producer interference that even though the movie was presented in part by his dad-that's awkward-Steinmann's name isn't anywhere in the credits--a pseudonym is used instead.

Even though this certainly has flaws, overall I'll say this was fine. It definitely is weird, has fine performances from the likes of Bach & Lelia Goldoni, and like I said Lassick devouring the scenery tickled me pink.

A Pair Of Laurel & Hardy Silent Shorts

That's what I saw on TCM last night.

Do Detectives Think? (1927)

The question asked in the title wasn’t really answered, but at least this was pretty funny. On Turner Classic Movies late last night when they play a silent movie or a series of shorts from (generally) about midnight to 2 AM, several 20 or so minute length programs were played starring Laurel & Hardy. I saw the first two they ran so that’s why I decided to put up this review a little earlier than usual for a weeknight and in a rare double-header for me, the next review will be up either late tonight or REAL late tonight, depending on what I decide to do in the evening.

Both shorts last night were easy watches; they were pretty funny 20 plus minute watches each. Detectives had a simple premise: a judge sentences a mean-looking criminal to prison, and the criminal threatens to slit the throat of the judge! The heel soon escapes from prison and the judge just about soils his pants at this news; two detectives are hired for protection but as they are Laurel & Hardy, said detectives are poor at their jobs; they also have the names Ferdinand Finkleberry and Sherlock Pinkham. Then again, when the judge has the name FOOZLE…

The villain disguises himself as a butler at the judge’s mansion and there are plenty of hijinks once our favorite duo arrives. Visual gags, pratfalls, mistaken identity, Laurel & Hardy being scared to walk through a cemetery even before they make it to the mansion, and more. William Tell was unexpected… even if it’s not the funniest short I’ve seen the duo in, there was no shame in viewing this last night.

You're Darn Tootin' (1928)

Besides being a funny phrase, the “tootin’” in question revolves around music being played, not anything illicit. This begins with our favorite duo as two members of a small orchestra (or “a municipal band”, as I heard described elsewhere) who of course screw up often in a variety of ways and causing an increasingly harried conductor to grow more & more enraged. They get fired, which causes them to get kicked out of their boardinghouse, and they need to literally perform on the street to try and earn some moolah.

The laughs start right away with the calamity during the performance of a tune gone awry, and it continued when they walked around the city, seemingly being an instrument of chaos as they caused trouble wherever they went to. They are also pissed at each other due to their predicament. It culminates in an ending that’s on the non-sequitor side yet was still quite memorable-not to mention funny-as it involved many different men.

Today I realized that it seems like with this short (and probably other L&H shorts too) it is accompanied by music which either doesn’t exactly match up or it doesn’t match up at all and it’s just random music playing over whatever the hell’s on screen. You can see how that’s an issue in the first 6 minutes w/ that municipal band… thank goodness what played on Turner Classic Movies featured a score exclusive to the channel that was a perfect match.

In Search Of Darkness

This is a 2019 documentary from David Weiner (who liked my review on Twitter when I posted it; no, really) that has a full title of In Search of Darkness: A Journey Into Iconic 80's Horror--that says it all: 

This is a documentary (264 minutes long!) I’ve been interested in ever since it came out three years ago; the fact that it was so lengthy and I wanted to see it all in one day was a reason why it took this long. Via Shudder I was able to experience this yesterday, albeit w/ two small breaks included.

It was what I expected from other reviews that were read by me: it covered the entire decade of 80’s horror, spending a few minutes each on a plethora of pictures, along with a few topics such as “3D”, “T&A”, “the final girl”, “special effects” and “sound/score”. The movies featured were all the heavy hitters, along with a few picks that were presumably done because they already had a certain star or director present for something else. Many of the expected directors (Stuart Gordon, Joe Dante, Mick Garris, John Carpenter, etc.), stars (Heather Langenkamp, Tom Atkins, Barbara Crampton, Jeffrey Combs, Cassandra Peterson out of her Elvira gimmick, etc.) and personalities-Joe Bob Briggs-are present although it’s also nice to hear from a composer like Harry Manfredini and a special effects/makeup artist like Mark Shostrom as their contributions were typically major assets to all those 80’s genre examples they worked on.

Naturally all the movies listed deserved more than a few minutes of discussion on what made them great or at least memorable, but overall that did not ruin my enjoyment of this piece. There’s sites and resources that can tell you more about each one, and for me this was a nice chronicle of a genre through an entire decade and it was great that they captured all those words/images & for those far in the future that watch this (hopefully in not a dystopian wasteland although the way the past several years have gone for all of us…) this is one way of demonstrating the case that the decade was a lot of fun for genre fans, full of unforgettable memories. For those like me that was a child during the time but as I got older saw many of the pictures discussed here-enjoying the majority of them-it was a nice reminder of why I was happy to experience those movies for the first time. If this inspires people here younger than me-or elsewhere, for that matter-to see something like Re-Animator, The Changeling, Pumpkinhead or Fright Night, then that’d be awesome.

Sometime in the future I’ll check out Part 2, which is more about the hidden gems and deep cuts of the genre. That will presumably be more educational for me although that will be another 4 ½ hour investment so who knows when that day will arrive.

Stray Dog

 Stray Dog (Nora Inu) (1949)

Runtime: 122 minutes

Directed by: Akira Kurosawa

Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Awaji, Eiko Miyoshi, Isao Kimura

From: Toho

It's time for me to catch up here. I neglected to port this review over from a few days ago; late tonight I'll post the one I just put up on Letterboxd a few days ago: 

A perfect movie for the heat wave that was (is?) enveloped across the United States. Sure, it was also nice for me not to watch yet another airline disaster picture as there was 5 in a row; I was happy to experience something completely different. It’s been awhile for me in addition when it comes to any movie from Kurosawa or Mifune so thank goodness for the Criterion Channel.

The movie starts right away with Mifune as a police detective who has his gun stolen by a pickpocket; of course that gun is used by a criminal to commit murders and of course Toshiro is on the hunt to try and retrieve it. He teams up with another favorite actor of mine-Takashi Shimura as a fellow detective-and as they are different, it proves that the buddy cop genre did not start in the 80’s or even the 70’s. Various locations are visited-including a game involving two Nippon Professional Baseball teams-several memorable characters are presented and postwar Japan is examined as the movie delves into Mifune’s character & his dark side on the journey for that weapon.

For early in his career, Kurosawa already demonstrated that he was a great director; later on he would become legendary. Of course I enjoyed Mifune and Shimura but I’ll also give my props to Isao Kimura as the perp that uses the Colt to cause havoc. It’s quite the path that the lead has to follow and it’d be a crime if I spoil even part of that trek. Thus, I’ll instead close out that this is a great motion picture due in part to several haunting moments in the final act and the summer setting creating an important character in of itself: the oppressive heat that is present throughout. It is extremely hot in Tokyo (which could also be said about many spots in the United States last week and presumably more than a few currently) and there is no shortage of sweaty characters; it also serves to help set the atmosphere of the entire picture. I should check out even more Kurosawa if one that is lesser discussed than stone cold classics like Ran, Seven Samurai & High and Low happens to be a great movie.

 

Day For Night

Day for Night (La Nuit Americaine) (1973)

Runtime: 116 minutes

Directed by: Francois Truffaut

Starring: Truffaut, Jacqueline Bisset, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Nathalie Baye

From: Several French and Italian companies

Why did I have this sitting on my DVR for three months? I finally was inspired to give it a shot last night, partially due to needing a pick me up; all I'll say about what happened in the United States yesterday is that a lot of people are quite upset at what happened. Anyhow, I've enjoyed the three other Truffaut pictures I've seen-admittedly they were his most popular (The 400 Blows, Shoot the Piano Player & Jules and Jim) but I still feel like a fool as it should have been watched years earlier by myself, nevermind as soon as I recorded Day for Night in March.

This may very well be the best movie about the making of a movie ever made. Truffaut stars as a director who is in Nice making what probably will be a bad melodrama (Meet Pamela) concerning a newly married couple where the bride and the father of the groom fall in love. Admittedly I've never been on a motion picture set and will presume that with all the dozens of people involved and a tight schedule, that most if not all are rather chaotic, a stressful experience featuring harried people, compromises, tempers flaring up, and some diva behavior.

Well, I will presume the filming of a film within a film was worse than typical. A faded star who's lost confidence in herself and likes hitting the bottle, an older male lead worried about his private life (and while not explicitly stated, it certainly appeared as if he was a closeted homosexual), a young actress returning to the screen after disaster in her life, romances beginning and ending on set, drama between some of the people on set, diva behavior-not just from the women-and more which I won't reveal... yet the director never lost his cool or the hope that Meet Pamela will be completed. The audience is likely to also have the same desire for this calamitous production to avoid further incident.

As someone who's never been on set before, it was bewitching seeing how the sausage was made, so to speak. Even what appeared to be a “simple” melodrama where most of the scenes appeared to be conversations still had a lot going on. The track that a camera is mounted on for when it needed to move (this was before the Steadicam was a thing), the sets, all the people involved in setting up a scene, the prep work, a stuntman being used for a key moment, and I know some will mark out for seeing the Panavision cameras of the time. Plus, it does note various people behind the camera that don't always receive their just due: the propmen, the camera operators, the makeup lady, etc.

Day for Night definitely taught me that the script supervisor (back then known as the script girl) did a LOT on set. This included carrying around the script for the actors & director, timing each scene, knowing where the main actors are, being someone that any actor can give gossip to, helping the director rewrite dialogue or entire scenes, wrangling stars, and at least in this case, doing something absurd to help calm a neurotic star and fixing another department's dumb mistake. Wikipedia has a full breakdown of all that this person does but as it also involves continuity, camera set-up, production reports and editor's notes... it sounds extremely difficult due to all the work involved so such people definitely deserve more credit. Meet Pamela would have been a far worse mess if it wasn't for script supervisor Joelle, so props to her.

Anyhow, this was a movie I loved even more than what I was expecting from all the high praise I've seen on Letterboxd and elsewhere. What a magical journey it was, experienced with a collection of wacky characters who tried to persevere despite all that went wrong and all their human emotions.

 

Lightyear

Lightyear (2022)

76% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 270 reviews)

Runtime: 107 minutes

Directed by: Angus MacLane

Starring: Various famous voices, such as Chris Evans and Keke Palmer

From: Disney/Pixar

This made me want to rewatch Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Before I saw this movie, I had no idea what to expect. As I've watched all the other Toy Story films theatrically, might as well do the same with this one which at least did not SEEM as much of a cashgrab as it was at least a different idea to present a movie of a fictional character within another universe. But some people are mad that Chris Evans replaced Tim Allen as the voice of the titular Lightyear (no matter the excuse that Disney provided, Allen's political beliefs as the reason why at least seems to be part of the issue; politics now playing such a role in Hollywood and the major United States based studios seemingly having a blatant slant towards one side is not something I'm entirely comfortable w/ but that's another topic for another time); this and there being out LGBTQ+ characters in the film has to be why the overall score on IMDb (in addition, the user rating on Google) is only average when the opinions of everyone else-whether here or on the Rotten Tomatoes audience score or the A- CinemaScore rating-is quite a bit higher. Then there is this receiving a theatrical release when the more niche Turning Red was relegated to Disney +; some are up in arms about that decision, especially after Lightyear hasn't been a box office success.

A disadvantage of waiting a week to see a new release of a popular movie is that by this point I couldn't help but develop opinions or at least impressions from the hearsay I come across on Letterboxd and other sites. By the time this was watched, I already heard some negative opinions and developed the general impression that the movie did not have the most elaborate plot. A story on the simplistic side is not an automatic demerit from me; after all, Top Gun: Maverick doesn't reinvent the wheel; that said, Maverick successfully presenting a tale full of cliché is more the exception rather than the norm in Hollywood. Turns out, this movie does present its generic story in a way that did not aggravate, even if I do have quibbles.

The movie wasn't what I was expecting given the trailers I saw beforehand. Chiefly, Buzz Lightyear is kind of a putz in the first half, failing often at a task (albeit one that is quite difficult) and also acting like a jerk at times. I know the character in the OG Toy Story was a fool at first, but... he then teams up with the standard ragtag group and they are also bad at first. That noted, I should be relieved that Buzz wasn't a Mary Sue-or Marty Stu, in this case-and there are some important life lessons for the kids. Instead of everything going perfect for our hero or heroes, they have to go through an ordeal; furthermore, there are messages for such ideas as “teamwork” and “you have to work hard to succeed.” I just wish that the movie wouldn't have been so hit and miss w/ the comedy-more than a few jokes & gags fell flat for me.

As the action was fine, the animation looked as nice as expected, all the obvious nods to great science fiction pictures of the past at least gave me something to capture my attention when I wasn't jiving w/ the movie at first, and Sox the cat was far more entertaining than expected. Thus, even if the story was not a gem like the Pixar of the past (perhaps the distant past...), at least this wasn't a mess or a disaster like Jurassic World Dominion and is not meme-worthy like Morbius apparently is.

Trouble Man

Trouble Man (1972)

Runtime: 99 minutes

Directed by: Ivan Dixon

Starring: Robert Hooks, Paul Winfield, Ralph Waite, William Smithers, Paula Kelly

From: 20^th Century Fox

The original Mr. T

Before those movies leave the Criterion Channel at the end of this month, I needed to watch at least one of those, so I picked one that is hard to track down otherwise, has an awesome soundtrack/score from the legendary Marvin Gaye, and has a lead only known as MR. T. He does not act like the 80's icon; instead, T is a “problem solver” who from a base of a local pool hall helps those in the Black community of the Los Angeles area. He has many licenses, including that of a private detective so he can legally carry around “a piece”. Of course, Whitey along with people in a crime syndicate set him up for the fall in a scheme to try and wipe out a competing syndicate.

Writer John D.F. Black was responsible for the script to Shaft and there definitely are similarities here: the crime rackets, a lukewarm relationship that the lead has w/ law enforcement, multiple romantic partners, a lead that is effortlessly cool... for me this was a lot of fun. It's a memorable world filled w/ craps games held all over the area, great threads, amazing 70's décor, & characters with names such as Chalky, Big, and Texas Blood.

Robert Hooks was quality as T, a character far more understated than John Shaft. Instead of black leather outfits and plenty of loud bravado, T is more careful with his words, never loses his temper and wears 300 dollar suits. Also delivering memorable performances were familiar faces such as Paul Winfield, Ralph Waite, & Julius Harris. The story is more rooted in noir stylings than the typical blaxploitation picture; if you're a genre fan don't let that dissuade you from racking up the movie and cracking it open with a cue ball.

Starflight One (I.E. Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land)

Starflight One (1983)

Runtime: The version I saw was 115 minutes long

Directed by: Jerry Jameson

Starring: Lee Majors, Hal Linden, Lauren Hutton, Ray Milland, Gail Strickland

From: Orgolini-Nelson Productions/Orion Television

The last airline disaster movie I plan on watching for a long while. In fact, it wasn’t until yesterday afternoon that I decided to check out Starflight, a made for TV movie (in the United States; it was released theatrically in other countries around the world, as I’ll mention in a moment) that I streamed for free via Prime. As sometimes happens, a messageboard conversation spurned what I viewed; someone asked me if I would be watching this as he was originally going to last year after doing his own watch of the Airport movies but that ultimately didn’t happen. This thought came because-according to the IMDb-at least in the Philippines and who knows where else, the movie played on the big screen as Airport ’85. While I didn’t particularly want to view something in this particular niche for the 5th night in a row, for the sake of that person on the messageboard I’ve known through that medium for years now, this is what happened.

Hypersonic transport is something that’s been no more than a theory for decades now. If supersonic travel is something that never took off, hypersonic is even now the stuff of science fiction. Can you imagine air travel at 4 thousand miles an hour, 100 thousand feet (30,480 meters) feet in the air, making a journey from California to Australia in only 2 hours? This is done in part due to rockets… imagine the fuel bills for just one flight. On its maiden voyage, of course things go awry due to various circumstances, partially due to computer error and partially due to Terry Kiser-the latter wasn’t a surprise to me. Get this: the rockets can only propel you upwards and once they’re going, you can’t change the trajectory and fly level at, say, 300,000 feet; that was never addressed and maybe I am just dumb and don’t get how that would “rip the plane apart” or what have you… it’s all silly and probably dumb, but point is that the plane is now in outer space and can’t re-enter atmosphere without frying like a hamburger on the grill.

Even excluding any possible logical fallacies with how the plane leaves Earth’s atmosphere, a big issue was for me… the boredom that occurred whenever there wasn’t any big exciting moment. At times this dragged rather badly. Thus, my opinion is that this does not rise above being average even with some campy charm present. This at least had some familiar names (Lee Majors, Hal Linden, Lauren Hutton, Ray Milland, and even Robert Englund) and a pleasant Lalo Schifrin score. At any rate, the flick is best only for the diehard disaster film fans.

The Concorde... Airport '79

The Concorde… Airport ’79 (yes, 1979)

Runtime: 114 minutes

Directed by: David Lowell Rich

Starring: Alain Delon, Susan Blakely, Robert Wagner, George Kennedy, and many others

From: Universal

On this day where my review has to be posted earlier than usual due to my schedule, this will likely be one of the longer reviews of this schlocky movie you’ll ever read about. If you’re wondering “why?”, the two reasons are “this is really weird” and “it’s a motion picture I actually saw on TV when I was like 6 years old… and it was a longer version created for television broadcasts. At the time some big-budget movies did this: most famous was Superman: The Movie although unlike that most of these (including Earthquake and Airport ’77) are lost to the sands of time instead of being available on Blu-ray. Not even the bowels of the Internet have those available for streaming; if I really wanted to, I could pay more than 20 bucks for a bootleg on DVD but I know it wouldn’t be worth the cost. Thus, what I viewed was the 114 minutes theatrical version. After all, ’79 was only watched by me that one time, and that was approximately 35 years ago so my memories are incredibly hazy so this was in essence a first time watch.

Clearly, this was designed with the European market in mind; that is why Alain Delon and Sylvia Kristel have big roles, w/ Bibi Andersson appearing for a few minutes. The latter’s role did amuse me considering everyone knows her for all those Bergman movies but who knows how well those pay… some of the others in the cast made me wonder if I wandered into an episode of The Love Boat! Charo, Martha Raye, Eddie Albert, Sybil Danning (the last two are husband and wife in the film!), and Jimmie Walker sounds like the guest stars for that cheesy show. The tone also reminded me of such but more on that later. What I'll say then will make people astonished that one of the writers was Eric Roth; yes, the guy who won an Oscar for Forrest Gump and has also contributed to the likes of the Dune remake, the newest A Star is Born & The Insider!

What personally interested me was seeing a Concorde plane in action.
As there are plenty of “the youth” on Letterboxd I better explain what that was. Concorde was a supersonic plane created in a joint effort between the UK and France; only 14 were built for commercial use as it was expensive as Hades to operate so it was never a success. Shame, as it’s awesome that a plane could go more than 1,300 miles an hour and someone could fly from New York to London in just a few hours. It’s fascinating technology for the time, nevertheless. In a tragic post-script, a big reason why the Concorde went out of service was a tragic accident in 2000 where one of the planes crashed and killed everyone on board; that plane was… the same one you see in this movie. No kidding.

Anyhow, the plot is that Robert Wagner is an arms dealer who wants to blow the Concorde the F up… because otherwise his TV anchor girlfriend-who is on the plane-will expose that he sold weapons to those damn Commies and she just acquired the documents which confirmed it. There are several attempts and it seems to become more ludicrous the longer it goes; call me cynical but I don’t believe that the Concorde could do several barrel rolls in a row or fly upside down! Yet it somehow becomes more laughable after that. Charo only appears for like 90 seconds and unsuccessfully tries to sneak her little dog on the plane, Martha Raye has a bladder problem but can’t use the bathroom because Jimmie Walker is tokin’ up while playing a saxophone… what is this movie?

Yet I can laugh at such things as George Kennedy allegedly playing the same character he did in the other franchise entries yet suddenly he’s a tenured pilot who’s also a horndog, a character named ROBERT PALMER when already by this point the singer had already started to become popular, or how many of the effects haven’t aged that well, or appreciate a nice Lalo Schifrin score. I’m not sure if I would even want to watch a longer version except for curiosity’s sake: from Google I know the changes are more substantial than expected: some scenes are in a different order, other stuff is cut out along with all the moments added in, and there are even new characters played by Jessica Walter & Mel Ferrer. All that said, it was at least interesting to watch something for the first time since I was a little kid.