The Informer

The Informer (1935)

Runtime: 91 minutes

Directed by: John Ford

Starring: Victor McLagen, Heather Angel, Preston Foster, Margot Grahame, Wallace Ford

From: RKO

This month on TCM, each Friday is devoted to the films of John Ford. At least one of his movies will be checked out by myself as he is a legendary director and I've only scratched the surface w/ his work. Plenty of praise for this has passed across my eyes, making it an easy selection for me.

The basic plot description sounds uncomplicated: in 1922 Dublin, an Irish man rats out his friend for 20 pounds; it is more complicated than that. As it is 1922, Ireland is about to become independent but the changeover has not occurred quite yet. There is a long sordid history between the countries which I won't get into here... in some ways the Irish have good reason to forever have an issue with Great Britain. The lead-the amazingly named GYPO NOLAN-is a brute who is pugilistic and would rather argue with his fist rather than words. Gypo needs money, his pal is wanted by the black & tans for murder, the money will go to himself and his streetwalker girlfriend to escape a bad life on the Emerald Isle-the population as a whole is terrified by the black and tans paramilitary forces still present-by emigrating to America, and he is terribly conflicted by his decision. He turns to whiskey to drown out his sorrows & this results in him shoving, punching, and otherwise fighting with quite a few people. Of course, the IRA begins to suspect who the stool pigeon was... 

Even if the movie literally spells it out in the beginning and says that Gypo is a Judas, and it was never a dull moment as one long night in Dublin was seen; it was constantly foggy and naturally Ford filmed this very well. There is also innovative camerawork-the director was influenced by such things as the silent classic Sunrise.Victor McLagen was the highlight as he was great in his role; in fact, he won an Oscar. It does need to be noted that Ford was less than ethical in how he treated McLagen for him to deliver the “right” performance. That includes being verbally abusive, lying to him, and having him perform scenes while incredibly hungover. That is unfortunate by today's standards although that personally did not affect my enjoyment of the movie.

It is a thoughtful film where Gypo has to wrestle with a range of emotions and such topics as the complicated relationship between Ireland and Great Britain are addressed adeptly. It won four Oscars (McLagen, Ford, the quality score from Max Steiner, and for the screenplay by Dudley Nichols) yet even among film fans this may be unjustly forgotten or at the very least, overlooked. It is well worth tracking down, especially if you are Irish yourself and/or are interested in that country's history.

The Virgin Spring

The Virgin Spring (Jungfrukallen) (1960)

Runtime: 89 minutes

Directed by: Ingmar Bergman

Starring: Max Von Sydow, Birgitta Valberg, Gunnel Lindbolm, Birgitta Pettersson, Axel Duberg

From: Svensk Filmindustri

Last evening I noticed it would be on Turner Classic Movies as part of their night where they tipped their cap to Max von Sydow. As I should see more movies involving him and/or Bergman, it seemed like a prudent decision... although the fact that this was unofficially remade as The Last House on the Left also intrigued me.

No surprise that this tale (based on an old Swedish folk tale that was turned into a novel) had its basic premise used for a trashy exploitation movie-sexual assaults done by scumbags result in death... they happen to soon then meet the parents of the deceased... they realize what happened and brutal revenge then occurs. While Last House was a rather sloppy and amateur effort from a director who thankfully improved by leaps and bounds, Virgin Spring is a 180 in terms of how serious and mature the story was presented.

Serious themes are addressed skillfully, and not just revenge. There's religion on several fronts, ancient traditions, sexuality, anguish, and thankfully this isn't incredibly obtuse or pretentious. It was a heavy story yet not totally inaccessible for most. Of course the production was of high quality and von Sydow delivered the most memorable performance, although I can't complain about the rest of the cast... none of which I was too familiar with. There is plenty of subtlety and metaphors; that's why I say this is the polar opposite of what Wes Craven made; you can like both if you wish but the movie is much more complex than you may even expect. Those that like Bergman but have only seen a fraction of his work, this should be in your queue.

I Experienced Things

That is Things as in the infamous 1989 no-budget "horror" movie from Canada that has earned a sour reputation the past several years. I finally saw it earlier in the week and... Holy Cow:

Never a good thing when you are reminded of The Room, Birdemic, AND Manos: The Hands of Fate.

So far in July, I have been all out of sorts due to a variety of factors. A few days ago I mentioned how the air conditioning went out on the 4th of July; well, eventually I'll list some of the other things that have gotten me down as of late. The fact that it will get worse before it gets better... there is a reason why in my attempt to get back in the swing of things (pun intended) something serious was not selected. Instead, it was a motion picture that has earned a bit of infamy since it became known in the online film fan community several years ago. Some of the buzz I knew yet a lot of it was in the dark for me.

To be honest, after seeing the movie... its story is still something I cannot logically explain! Ostensibly it concerns several men in a rural house who have to deal with unholy creatures-in execution, it was seemingly made by people who have never SEEN a motion picture before. It's like it came from an alternate dimension (“From the third, fourth, or fifth dimension!) or was made by aliens that created pod people out of everyone in the production. Almost everyone is done wrong... storytelling, acting, logic, scene to scene transition, editing, even the credits, etc. The creatures and the few moments of gore aren't atrocious considering the zero dollars this had for a budget, the odd electronic music wasn't unlistenable and there was a line or two that actually elicited some chuckles.

Otherwise, the movie is so surreal due to how alien everything is... how it is unnatural because things are done so piss-poorly. I understand why this has legit fans-there can be much hilarity derived from how terrible the audio is... as with Manos, all of it was recorded after the fact, and like with Manos it wasn't done all that well. To list a cliché, it's better seen and heard rather than described. All the atrocious line readings, the lines themselves, the attempt to insert a dream logic storytelling trope in the plot that falls flat on its face, and all the rest... those that have Prime and love awesome bad films, it must really seen to be believed how much of a botch job this was; at least I hope the script wasn't so confounding, although as it came from the producers/director...

One last thing: one of the panoply of perplexing decisions was having a few random news segments where an anchor was adult film actress Ginger Lynn; they don't contribute much aside from a plot point or two. I'd normally assume that the segment after the film (as it appears on Prime) where Lynn discusses w/ crew her time on the 52 Pick-Up wasn't officially part of the movie and instead was an extra from Intervision, who put this out on disc; here, who the heck knows for certain.

Body Heat

Body Heat (1981)

Runtime: 113 minutes

Directed by: Lawrence Kasden

Starring: William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Richard Crenna, Ted Danson, J.A. Preston

From: Warner Bros.

I actually saw this on Sunday night; the review is just being posted here now as the week so far has been rather chaotic... and not great in general, to be frank: 

The perfect thing to watch on a summer night w/ no air conditioning.

The night of the 4th of July, I was going to view something patriotic; however, that afternoon the A/C where I live gave up the ghost and stopped working. This is not the first time it's happened to me... heck, it's not the first time it's happened during a holiday weekend. “Incredibly peeved” was my mood so watching a movie was not in the cards. Last night it was only appropriate to check out something I heard was a picture w/ plenty of hot and sweaty moments. I was not led astray: the setting is southern Florida during a heatwave and that envelops the movie, whether or not it is commented on by the characters. It has to be one of the sweatiest motion pictures you'll ever see glisten.

William Hurt (w/ great mustache) is a mediocre at best defense attorney who meets a femme fatale in Kathleen Turner; they have a torrid affair, despite her marriage to Richard Crenna. As expected in a neo-noir, they want to bump off rich husband so they can have a happy ending. Of course, things go awry. Now, it is a sleazy movie where the two leads are rather randy; this resulted in me guffawing at some of the horniest moments & dialogue. For example, one night they got it on so often that Hurt states a certain part of his body is red & liable to fall off! How could I not laugh?

All that said, this was steamy and a very good movie. It was an interesting story even if it is reminiscent of some classic noir in particular, none of which I'll list for spoiler reasons. What misfortune that Hurt's character has good friends who are a police detective and a prosecutor... although at times it is good fortune as they unwittingly give him a heads-up. The movie was well-directed by Lawrence Kasden and the cast did a swell job, which is commendable as some of them had little in the way of movie experience... chiefly, this was Kathleen Turner's feature film debut and she knocked it out of the park here. As others have noted, she is the sultry type that is perfect for the classic noir of old; imagine if she had been born 4 decades earlier-she would have been a big star in that genre.

William Hurt works as an understated lead... plenty of those were in old noir too. Mickey Rourke briefly appears and I wouldn't have minded more of him. To my surprise, the character that entertained me the most was Ted Danson as a prosecutor. In a sea of colorful characters, he stood out for his snappy dialogue, tremendous head of hair, cocksure attitude and such odd touches as him randomly dancing like he's Fred Astaire for no reason to open a scene. There's a quality score from John Barry that at times is appropriately jazzy, cinematography that sets the dark mood, & a south Florida setting that is perfect for a sun-baked tale like this... admittedly on the trashy side, it is a high-quality production with hot performances and various twists & turns. Those that like these erotic 80's pictures, this ranks rather highly.

The Return Of The Living Dead

The Return of the Living Dead (1985)

Runtime: 91 minutes

Directed by: Dan O'Bannon

Starring: Clu Gulager, James Karen, Don Calfa, Thom Mathews, Beverly Randolph

From: Hemdale

I saw this on Friday night; because my A/C went out yesterday, other things were on my mind so I am just now posting this: 

The perfect movie to watch on July 3-after all, that is the day and night the film takes place in. Various people on Twitter noted this fact yesterday so there was no other choice for me when it came to entertainment for last night.

Made by some of the people involved w/ Night of the Living Dead after they split from George Romero, that movie is in Return's universe and is said to be a fictionalized version of a real life event. Due to government incompetence, a medical supply warehouse receives a shipment of the living dead sealed in barrels. An accident causes one to be released, and soon many of the undead rise... not to devour every part of the human body but rather only BRAINS! It's a rather unique interpretation of the zombie mythos. Also not so common is the inclusion of punks (as in, devotees of punk rock music) who join our heroes. The subtle hints that another hero MAY have been a former Nazi from WWII... I dunno what to make of that.

Despite the whole Nazi thing, the movie is a lot of fun to watch-especially if you enjoy the genre. It is more comedy than horror, although there are still some gory moments-brought to life via great practical effects-and the ending is rather potent. That does not diminish the laughs that arise from all the absurd situations that happen here. There is some rather blatant over the top acting... later you realize what the movie was going for. As expected, Clu Gulager was the highlight, although Linnea Quigley was unforgettable mainly because most of her role consisted of the character being in various stages of being undressed. Additionally, there's a score that is indicative of the 1980's (Lord, some of the 80's clothing the characters wear!) and a soundtrack that has old California punk tracks-I know some will think of that as a big asset.

What a mess the relationship is between Romero, John Russo and Russell Streiner after NotLD; that's why there's been so many remakes of the classic film. Amazingly, this unearthed 4 sequels of its own. It was a nice decision that the original script (which was quite similar to Night) was changed by director Dan O'Bannon to be more comedic and thus not a ripoff; instead it is a more lighthearted zombie film that still has some dark moments and has been a cult favorite for the past 35 years.

A Holiday Weekend Update

Wednesday night I saw nothing as I was too exhausted to; last night was revisiting Raising Arizona... like the original viewing back years ago, it can only be rated fine due to such things as the set, music, and a great scene (the heist) rather than the humor or characters; I know, a hot take, but it's true.

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)

Runtime: 88 minutes

Directed by: Carl Reiner (RIP)

Starring: Steve Martin, Rachel Ward, Reiner, plus many screen stars of old in archival footage that was edited into this movie

From: Universal

For a long while now I have been thinking of revisiting this movie; the only time before last night had to be almost 15 years ago, so it was long overdue. Unfortunately, it took Carl Reiner passing away at the age of 98 for me to finally see it then log it on Letterboxd. In 2020 this is better appreciated by me after all the noir that has been viewed between then and now. It is a great love letter to film noir that was directed and co-written by Reiner along with a small yet important role for him as an actor.
It has a great gimmick of a convoluted plot involving detective Steve Martin being asked by femme fatale Rachel Ward to investigate the death of her father... and archival footage from many different genre examples is seamlessly edited together to make it appear as if Martin is interacting w/ everyone from Cary Grant, Cagney & Lana Turner to Bogie, Bette Davis and Vincent Price. Of course there was plenty of manipulation and hoop-jumping to try and make it all fit into a tale that is satirically silly yet isn't illogical and still feels like a genre example set in the 1940's.
Plaid is a pretty amusing movie which has plenty of chuckles and thankfully only a few moments haven't aged so well. CLEANING WOMAN and its context is great. Martin and Ward's performances help sell this idea but I do also have to give plenty of credit to those in the production that not only successfully re-created this era, the old footage matches what was filmed new. The score, set design, costuming (from Edith Head; this was her last movie), editing, etc. was all done pretty well so all credit to Reiner and everyone else. Carl is a comedy legend so I was happy to pay tribute to him but the entire crew gets kudos from me for connecting together something that does feel like a period piece and uses disparate footage from 19 random movies dating from 1941 to 1950.
Those that love film noir and/or some to many of the stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood that appear here, this will probably be a treat for you.