Three Little Words (1950)

The lives of songwriting team Bert Kalmar (Fred Astaire) and Harry Ruby (Red Skelton) and their rise to fame from Tin Pan Alley to Broadway to Hollywood. Directed by Richard Thorpe (IVANHOE), this is yet another glossy highly fictionalized biography of popular composers courtesy of MGM, who had recently done Jerome Kern (TILL THE CLOUDS ROLL BY) and Rodgers and Hart (WORDS AND MUSIC). The narrative is a tub of cliches but one doesn't watch movies like this for their plot (and certainly not their accuracy) but the songs and dances. In this case, that might be enough because we have Astaire partnered with Vera Ellen and Hermes Pan doing the choreography. There's also Debbie Reynolds as Helen Kane singing (dubbed by the real Kane) I Wanna Be Loved By You and Gloria DeHaven playing her real life mother singing Who's Sorry Now? There's also Arlene Dahl displaying a lovely singing voice leading one to wonder why MGM didn't put her in more musicals. With Keenan Wynn, Gale Robbins and Carleton Carpenter.

Why Be Good? (1929)

A young flapper (Colleen Moore) enjoys the wild life but she's really a "good" girl. When the son (Neil Hamilton) of a rich businessman (Edward Martindel) falls for her, his father cautions him against girls like her. Directed by William A. Seiter (YOU WERE NEVER LOVELIER). Ah, the 1920s! Flaming youth! Flappers and sheiks doing the Charleston and drinking booze from silver flasks! This silent movie captures the frenzied spirit of the era wonderfully but its story is bland and inane. It's just a routine cautionary tale though Colleen Moore has a fiery speech about men who push girls to dress and behave a certain way for their male pleasure and then judge them as "bad" girls. Colleen Moore is the reason to see the movie! With her bobbed hair, slinky chemise and frenetic dancing, she embodies the flaming youth of the jazz age as much as Clara Bow or Joan Crawford. With Bodil Rosing and John St. Polis.

High Road To China (1983)

Set in the 1920s, a society heiress and flapper (Bess Armstrong) is living the high life in Istanbul. But she needs to find her missing father (Wilford Brimley) or risk losing her inheritance to her father's scheming business partner (Robert Morley). To this end, she hires a womanizing, hard drinking ex-WWI pilot (Tom Selleck) to fly her to Afghanistan where she believes her father might be. Loosely based on the novel by Jon Cleary and directed by Brian G. Hutton (WHERE EAGLES DARE). Tom Selleck was the first choice to play Indiana Jones in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK but he had to pass because he was tied up with the TV series, MAGNUM P.I. This action movie has a lot in common with RAIDERS (though the source material preceded the Spielberg movie) and we get a taste of what Selleck might have been like as Indiana Jones. Initial reviews were tepid but I suspect that's because it was considered a RAIDERS imitator. Today, it holds up very well. Unlike a lot of TV actors trying to transition to the big screen, Selleck has a strong screen presence. The aerial sequences are well done, Selleck and Armstrong have a nice chemistry and there's a beautiful score by John Barry. With Jack Weston, Brian Blessed and Cassandra Gava. 

Gold Is Where You Find It (1938)

Set in 1870s Northern California, hydraulic mining sends floods of muddy water into the Sacramento Valley destroying land and water resources necessary to the wheat farmers in the valley. Against this backdrop, a mining engineer (George Brent) and a farmer's daughter (Olivia De Havilland) fall in love although their loyalties belong to different factions. Based on the book by Clement Ripley and directed by Michael Curtiz (CASABLANCA). The movie is a fictionalized take on the 1882 Woodruff vs. North Bloomfield Mining Company lawsuit. It's an agreeable potboiler more interesting for its landmark court decision than its anemic romance. The film was shot in the relatively new three strip Technicolor process. Unfortunately, the print I watched was somewhat faded and not very sharp. It needs a major restoration but it's not an important enough film to spend the necessary funds. With Claude Rains, Margaret Lindsay, Tim Holt, Sidney Toler and John Litel.

Splendor In The Grass (1961)

Set in 1928 Kansas, a teenage girl (Natalie Wood in an Oscar nominated performance) and boy (Warren Beatty in his film debut) are in love but must deal with their emotions and sexual feelings in a repressed era. Written by William Inge (PICNIC) and directed by Elia Kazan (EAST OF EDEN). Just a wonderful film that catches the angst of budding romance among youth that aren't fully prepared for the power of their passion in an era when "good" girls saved themselves for marriage. With one exception, the performances are first rate. Kazan was an actors director and I'll assume responsible for Wood's career best performance. From her emotional breakdown in the bath to her poignant farewell to Beatty at the end, she's sensational. The one exception is Pat Hingle whose over the top performance as Beatty's crude father threatens to sabotage the movie at any minute. A rich and lovely film. The subtle underscore is by David Amram. With Barbara Loden, Audrey Christie, Sandy Dennis (also in her film debut), Gary Lockwood, Zohra Lampert, Martine Bartlett, Lynn Loring, Sean Garrison and Phyllis Diller (also in her film debut).   

Chicken Every Sunday (1949)

Set in 1910 Arizona, a wife (Celeste Holm) contemplating a divorce from her husband (Dan Dailey) reflects  on their marriage of twenty years and her husband's dreams of getting rich which always seemed to backfire. Based on the play by Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein by way of the autobiographical book by Rosemary Taylor and directed by George Seaton (AIRPORT). One of those folksy nostalgic "how we used to be" family comedies that proliferated in Hollywood during its "Golden Age". MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS and LIFE WITH FATHER are probably the most memorable but there were many others. This is one of the lesser contributions. Dailey's character is irritating and puts his business schemes before the needs of his family (he mortgages the house without telling his wife) yet because he loves his family, everything is supposed to be forgiven so we can get that happy ending. It just didn't work for me. With Natalie Wood, Alan Young, Colleen Townsend, Connie Gilchrist, William Frawley and Veda Ann Borg. 

Civil War (2024)

Set in the near future, a civil war has erupted in the United States between an authoritarian federal government and regional factions (notably California and Texas). The film focuses on a group of journalists heading to Washington D.C. to photograph and interview the third term President (Nick Offerman) before the city falls. Written and directed by Alex Garland (EX MACHINA), this unsettling view of a nation torn apart by hate and divisiveness is as much about journalism as it is about a country fractured by ideologies. I would have loved to comment how far fetched the plot is but it seems frighteningly prescient. Garland takes no sides and offers no solutions and instead lets his narrative focus on the dehumanization of mankind in a war where even the "good guys" are the enemy. One can't help but think of the precipice where the U.S. is tottering toward or even the Israel/Gaza situation. The acting is of a high order especially Kirsten Dunst as the war photographer who finds her objectivity wavering, Cailee Spaeny as an aspiring photo journalist and Stephen McKinley Henderson in an understated performance as an aging journalist who's seen it all. Perhaps not the great film it could have been (we're never given any background on the impetus of the war) but good enough and yes, a film that needed to be made. With Wagner Moura, Jesse Plemons and Nelson Lee.

I... Comme Icare (aka I As In Incarus) (1979)

Set in an unnamed country in the West. After the assassination of a President (Gabriel Cattand), an investigation committee comes up with questionable conclusions about a lone gunman. One of the commission's members, the state attorney (Yves Montand) disagrees with the conclusions of his peers. He reopens the case and unspools a tightly wound conspiracy plot. Directed by Henri Verneuil (THE SICILIAN CLAN), this is a zealous conspiracy thriller that takes a methodical approach to its subject rather than the intense pacing of a conspiracy thriller like Costa Gavras' Z. This does not mean it's any less exciting (though it never reaches the potent power of Z) but its leisurely pace diffuses some of the movie's potential intensity. Although a product of France, the location of its fictional narrative is never mentioned but the film is obviously inspired by the Kennedy assassination and the Warren Commission Report. The film received five Cesar (the French Oscar) nominations including best picture. With Michel Albertini, Henry Djanik, Jean Lescot, Jean Negroni and Francoise Bette.

Victim (1961)

After a young homosexual (Peter McEnery) commits suicide because he's being blackmailed, a repressed homosexual (Dirk Bogarde) takes it upon himself to expose the blackmailing ring, even at the cost of his rising legal career. Directed by Basil Dearden (KHARTOUM), the film is notable for being the first English language film to explicitly deal with homosexuality openly and sympathetically although looking at it through contemporary eyes, it does seem somewhat condescending. Still, it's a landmark film on the subject matter and is credited with helping abolish British laws that criminalized homosexuality. I found Bogarde's performance problematic. He looks unhappy throughout the movie. Is it because he's repressing his true nature or is he unhappy being homosexual? As a movie, it's more successful as a social protest against an injustice as opposed to an artistic piece of cinema. With Sylvia Syms (excellent as Bogarde's wife), Dennis Price, Peter Copley, Anthony Nichols and Mavis Villiers.

Alaska Seas (1954)

Just released from jail, a fisherman (Robert Ryan) is hired by his old pal (Brian Keith), the head of the local salmon fishermen who have formed their own canning cooperative. The fishermen fight to keep a ruthless gang of fishing trap thieves at bay. But the ex-convict is short on cash and ethics. Directed by Jerry Hopper (SECRET OF THE INCAS), this is a remake of the 1938 film SPAWN OF THE NORTH. A second tier programmer that's a perfectly serviceable movie for undiscerning audiences. It's efficient if uninspired movie making that accomplishes what it sets out to do. Ryan is suitably black hearted, Keith is adequately heroic and Jan Sterling as their love interest doesn't have much to do except be lovely which she does without effort. With Gene Barry, Timothy Carey and Ross Bagdasarian, who would create Alvin and The Chipmunks four years later.