Bob the Gambler (Bob Le Flambeur)
Coolness is a characteristic that is as vague as it is difficult to describe. However when we see it we recognize it for what it is. Monsieur Bob, from Mellville’s iconic noire like crime film, “Bob Le Flambeur”, is the essence of cool. The movie has a cold detached feel to it as it is narrated by the third person in a matter of fact type of way that makes it clear as to what we are watching. What we are watching is a prince of the city, the city being the Parisian neighborhood of Montmartre. Bob lives in beautifully stylish apartment with a large shuttered window facing the hilltop and its impressive church. Today the Montmartre neighborhood is a rough, crime ridden and deeply Middle Eastern. In 1955 it was also rough and a haven for crime but was extremely French as well. It is this mixture of rough around the edges and cultured French that creates the romantic atmosphere of the movie. Everyone knows Bob and he walks through the streets at night with supreme confidence. Bob is in his 50’s and was a major gangster in the 30s. He was caught during a major heist with his partner and spent many years in jail. It has been 20 years since his release and throughout that time he has stayed clean, except for his addiction to gambling. None of the actors in the film are very expressive but their aloofness adds to their coolness. We are given this impression by their physical presence and by how the people around them react in their presence. Bob notices a 15 or 16 year old prostitute and decides that he wants to try save her from her chosen path. Played by the non-actress Isabelle Corey, who was actually 16 when she made the film, its tilted morale code regarding the fate of child prostitutes predates Scorsese’s, “Taxi Driver”, by 20 years. One of the major differences between the two films is that here the streets are romanticized while in Scorsese’s they are vilified. American audiences were probably shocked at the outright underage sex that is depicted here which bordered on soft pornography for its time. Bob also takes under his wing the son of his old partner who is either dead or still in jail (we are never told which). This young impressionable sidekick is also a teenager and has what could be called a falling in love affair with our young hooker. Those two youngsters play a pivotal role in moving the plot to its stylish and surprising end. Throughout the movie we are given hints at the addiction that is gambling and how it encompasses Bob in everything he does. One day he is told that the casino in Deauville hold undreamed quantities of cash striking in him an urge to rob the Casino. He goes about gathering up his team for the heist which includes among others his teenage sidekick and an insider. The plot of the heist is very simplistic and there are elements here stolen from the great Hollywood heist films of the era, such as The Asphalt Jungle. The police inspector of the area is a friend of Bob’s and we are given betrayals and complications. One of the interesting elements of the movie are the suspenseful scenes of gambling in the casino and at the black jack table, involving suave well-dressed participants. James Bond had someone to immolate as Bob is the ultimate charming casino player with a hint of sexy danger. Played by Roger Duchesne, Bob is greying and middle aged but retains his cool throughout. A fascinating twist of an ending is perfect for the French European sensibilities that drive the story. We like being in Bob’s company making this movie a real stylish blast.
Kiss me Deadly
“Kiss me Deadly”, is a Noir like film with a definitive Noir title and main character. The whole picture takes the aura and feel of film noir during the last years of the Genre’s golden age. It is shot in textured black and white, has a jazzy soundtrack and a definitive anti-hero private detective. Once settling down and watching the story unfold, it becomes clear that this movie is aiming at something else and veers into the outer edges of neorealist fantasy with an adult comic book style. Many years later this unique style was copied and expanded on with Rodriguez’s rendition of Frank Miller’s comic novel, “Sin City”. Kiss me deadly was Sin City, before Miller finished grade school. Our hero is Micky Spillane’s Mike Hammer, played by Ralph Meeker who takes his role seriously spouting real energy and feeling to the mostly unsavory role. Hammer is a private detective who makes his living catching adulteress husbands by sending his sexy secretary Velda (Maxine Cooper) to seduce the hubby. If his client was the husband then he has no problems doing his part with the wife. Driving down an empty highway in California at night, he almost hits a hysterical Cloris Leachman wearing nothing by a trench coat. After the pickup they get carjacked, the Leachman character gets tortured to death and both are sent careening down a hill in their car. Hammer survives and then goes about looking for the person responsible. The movie then continues down a fantastical tale involving a secretive earth destroying suitcase full of destructive energy and wild stories about extra terrestrials. The energy moving the plot along to its incredible conclusion is the violent and hard character of Hammer. Meeker was not a leading man in Hollywood and never would be. He did not have the looks or the charm. What he did have was the ability to act and the feel of violence. As Hammer, he enjoys torturing witnesses, hitting innocent people and treating his friends with distain. All made believable through the fine acting of Meeker. He is a bulldozer plowing through various interesting and outlandish settings and characters. Once the audience realizes what the movie is actually about, we are too involved in the crazy story to care that it makes no sense. We are entertained to the hilt and at the end realize that whatever it is that destroyed the last house and maybe the world do not have to be explained. We just accept it and enjoy the ride. This is a movie way ahead of its time that served as influence to many unique directors of today, from Lynch to Tarantino and his ilk.
The Man from Laramie
James Stewart had a persona in his Westerns during the 1950’s that were quite different then his characters of the 40s. They were miserable men with a violent agenda. Yet they were honest and good at their core. “The Man from Laramie”, is a great example of this Stewart character. Will Lockhart (is carrying a load of supplies) to the isolated western town of Coronado. Coronado is that typical western town lived in by honest settlers deep within dangerous Indian country and run by the largest and most powerful cattle baron of the region. He is the law and order of the town. This is Alec Waggoman (Donald Crisp). Who is a person who had to fight for what he had and in so doing became ruthless. Waggonman is shown to be mostly honest within his soul but we come to realize that the hard world he lives in causes him to compromise with his integrity. He has an ambitious and smart cattle hand helping him and a spoiled evil son as his heir. Into this abyss rides Lockhart who is looking for the people or person who sold the Indians guns that were used to kill his little brother. Lockhart was a cavalry captain and knows how to defend himself. While in town he runs into the son and their confrontation results in his staying around leading to a four man standoff between Lockhart, Waggonman, his right hand man Vic ( Arthur Kennedy) and the evil son Dave (Alex Nicol). One of them will be the object of vengeance for Lockhart and three of the four have mutual respect for the other. The story is told in a taught and well paced fashion by the professional Anthony Mann. It has tension and some suspense. It is however a story told many times before with nothing new to add. I was struck however with the ending and its message about violence, vengeance and ultimate fate. Recently the Oscar winning film, “The revenant”, had a similar ending that while based on a novel and true legend took major parts of it influence from this film. This is an oater with something to say and worth a look.
Rebel without a cause
James Dean is one of the most iconic figures in the history of cinema. Up until today the quite, cool adolescent emotional figure he cut is a symbol of troubled youth. We love the raw pain and extreme good looks that Dean portrayed. He only made three movies in his short life span and of the three it is, “Rebel without a Cause”, that stands out as the iconic James Dean character and it is this image of Dean Stark, as portrayed by Dean that stays with us as the pop culture symbol that is James Dean. No actor who made such a small amount of films, has remained as famous and imprinted on our minds as has James Dean. Similar to those rock stars like Hendrix who blaze on the scene, only to vanish, leaving their bright light behind, Dean blazed bright as the troubled teen of our dreams. Adults wanted to help him and the young wanted to be him or smother him with love. When looking closely the acting he gave in this movie was extremely over the top and extravagant. Almost to the point of verging on over acting. Still his persona lived here with strength. The film itself had a few very interesting elements that are fascinating today. In addition, the other two main actors in the movie, Sal Mineo and Natalie Wood, all died young adding to the cult stature of the movie. Starks is a troubled teenager who out of boredom performs a suicidal chicken run contest with a cool teenage rival. The rival dies going over the cliff screaming and the reactions to everyone regarding this event is what drives the story. Dean has a domineering, nagging mother and a hen pecked emasculated Father. A famous scene has him trying to get advice from his father while the adult Starks fumbles with the right words, meanwhile wearing an apron and being badgered by his wife. There is a strange unattractive message about heterosexual married life that is hinted at throughout the film. Dean also befriends the baby faced, mild mannered Plato (Mineo) and it is clear that Plato is in love with Dean and not the buddy buddy type of love either. At one point he invited Dean to his empty house, emphasizing the aloneness of the invitation and it takes a quick glance Dean gives to the girl next door, Judy (Wood) and the disappointing reacting glance of Plato to tell us all we need to know about Plato’s true intentions toward Dean. It is the character interactions with each other that stand out here. Just before the fateful chicken run competition the rival tells Dean he actually likes him and then they tell each other that there is no reason to do the dangerous stunt but they will do it anyway due to the eternal boredom suffered by the teenage young. It is not only Dean’s relationship with his parents that are emphasized here. Plato is basically deserted by his and Judy’s Father is afraid of the sudden sexual attractiveness he feels for his daughter. All this is shown to us with the sensibilities of the 1950’s and this subtleness actually adds to the required effect. Sure the acting hear is over the top and when Dean screams, “Your tearing me apart!”, it sounds like he is trying to imitate Brando, but the deep characterizations and intelligent script make up for this and result in Dean becoming the symbolic figure that was James Dean the film idol.
The Phenix City Story
Once upon a time there was a real Sin City USA, and it was not Los Vegas or New York. It was Phenix City Alabama. The city was run by the Dixie line Mob who were a violent and unscrupulous group of criminals running southern bootlegged alcoholic, illegal gambling and alcohol, from this small city. Director Phil Karlson made his mark with this subject matter in his two famous films. One was “Walking Tall”, about Sherriff Bufurd Pusser’s war against this mob after they escaped Phenix City and this film from 1955 about the events that resulted in driving them out. Local honest lawyer Albert Patterson is driven by the extreme violence happening in his city to run for the Alabama state District Attorney. His ticket runs on the shutting down of the mob. He is killed for his efforts and his son (also a lawyer and an ex GI) takes over and finishes the job. The movie starts with a real reporter interviewing actual heroic citizens from Phenix City who helped stand up to the Mob. We believe we are watching an actual documentary and this gives the desired effect for the film. Once the actual story begins we are shown red necked hoodlums through close up angled shots that emphasize the ugliness of the villains. There is extreme violence shown that includes the murder of a little girl and the point blank shooting of an old handicapped man. The effect of the violence is to show the dangerous evil that was the Dixie line mob in the 40s and 50s. The film uses character actors to play all the main roles and their acting is superb. The anger and fear portrayed is realistic. There is no doubt that this is a one sided portrayal that verges on propaganda but it is strong and exhilarating and sometimes there truly is only one side of a story. A little bit of forgotten American history is brought to life in this impressive film.
Smiles of a Summer Night (Sommarnattens Leende)
Smiles of a Summer Night is a rare and insightful film. A comedy made by one of the filmdom’s greatest creators of visual pain and sorrow. It is also loosely inspired by one of Shakespeare’s mild comedies. It later served as an influence to that treasured film genre called the ensemble comedy. Films that took a large group of characters serving as friends and holding deep secrets to be later revealed during a large gathering. Films such as, “The Big Chill” and more recently “Barbeque”. It was also remade as a comedy bridge into tragedy by Woody Allen, in his, “Midnight Summers Sex Comedy”. The director here is the great Swede Ingmar Bergman and the film revolves around the sexual innuendoes and conquests of upper cast Suedes In the movie everyone is fooling around with someone else, but they do it out in the open and mostly without regret. The only character who seems to be suffering is the one trying to be a Priest. However, even he can’t hold back the forceful urge to love and be loved. Bergman makes it clear in his film that this is not a pastime to be scorned. Only those who play morality games suffer. The filmed scenes in the movie preface Bergman’s great Dramas with deep focus close ups and vast landscapes in the few outdoor scenes shown. The acting is superb throughout, with each character coming to life before our eyes. The sexual goings on seem natural, even in the mid-50s, due to the free Swedish sensibilities and liberal society that is Sweden. Fredrik Egerman (Gunner Bjelfvenstam who is perfectly charming in the role), is married to 19 year old beauty Anne (the adorable Ulla Jacobson). It is his second marriage, as his first wife has died. He has a 19 year old son from the first marriage named Henrik (Bjorn Bjelfvenstam). Henrik is studying to be a Priest and is constantly in a state of dark sadness. The movie laughs at his mindset but it is this character that Bergman loves the most and will appear in his later and more revered dramas. Henrik loves Anne and Anne loves Henrik. Fredrik has not consummated his marriage with Ann, as the two of them attend a theatre play whose main actress is the lovely and sexy Disiree (Played with great sex appeal by Eva Dahlbeck). Fredrik had a previous affair with Disiree and Disiree is currently having an affair with the jealous and ridiculously macho Count Malcolm who in turn is married to Ann’s 19 year old friend Charlotte. Disiree convinces her invalid by sharp and rich mother to hold a grand party and invite all the films characters so that she can plan to win Fredrik back at the party. Meanwhile Charlotte wants the Baron back, and Ann wants Henrik who really just wants to get laid (and Ann will do just fine). There are also behind the scenes goings on with the hired help. This is a nice twist on European classes that steals its ideas from Renoir’s, “The Rules of the Game”. The maid flirts with the masters but really wants to marry the butler. She is also most unabashedly sexually free becoming a great window for Henrik and his needs. All of these goings on occur with witty insightful conversations and great acting that helps pull it all off with a sweet sincerity that makes you forget that all these people want to do is have sex with each other. It is quite funny, cheerful, intelligent and a pleasure for the eyes. As influential a comedy as there ever was. Not to be missed.
Night and Fog (Nuit Et Brouillard)
1955 was a little over 10 years since the liberation of the Nazi death camps which killed 6 million Jews and thousands of others. “Night and Fog” is the first documentary that dealt directly with the Holocaust and it is still one of the most powerful films of its kind. It is a short and concise 32 minute shocker of extreme power and startling revelations. Very little commentary was used and the director Alain Resnais used a sweeping style of storytelling that thrusts its audience into the horror. He does this by interposing real time (in 1955) color shots of the Auschwitz with glaring archive footage of the atrocities committed. The films script was written by a survivor of the camps himself (Jean Cayrol) and follows a brisk 32 minutes from round up, deportation, starvation, mass murder and evil torturous experimentation. The movie has a lyrical and powerful score that raises the horror to its deep black tone, written by the great composer Hanns Eisler. Some of the ghastly scenes that are shown include some of the most graphic depictions of the holocaust ever made. We are shown bodies frozen in deaths fear and piled up like museum skeletons or hanging from barbed wire fences. There are faces of the living dead staring out in pain and anguish that is unfathomable. The movie even dwells into the ghastly experiments done to inmates by Dr. Mengele, emphasizing the lack of pain control used during these horrific operations. The film serves as a warning to the world on what humanity is capable of and its images sounds and after effects need to be seen by the entire planet. For this reason, this short bleak documentary is one of the most important films ever made. Its 32 minutes will leave you dwelling in sadness for a very long time.
The Night of the Hunter
“The Night of the Hunter”, is the sole film directed by one of the greatest actors of all time (Charles Laughton). Its initial critical and commercial failure resulted in Laughton not directing any more films. The result of which stole from lovers of cinema what may have been one of the most innovative and greatest directors of all time. Instead we have this one film. A movie so misunderstood at the time of its release and is considered one of Cinemas great films today. It is a movie that has since influenced countless directors such as Scorsese and Kubrick as well as novelists such as Steven King. The story is not complex. A violent bandit hides his loot in his young daughter’s doll making her and her older brother promise never to tell anyone where the money is (Not even their Mother). He is caught and sentenced to hang. In prison he shares a cell with one of the most spine tingling of villains. This is “Reverend” Harry Powell, who is a minister of the devil that kills lonely widows for their money. Powell desperately wants to know where the money is, but the bandit Ben Harper (Peter Graves) goes to his grave in silence. Powell on his release from prison, goes to the small town where Graves widow Wila (Another impressive performance by Shelly Winters) lives with her two children. Powell charms Wila into marriage and discovers that the secret is known not to her but to her children. Wila becomes expendable as he works to coerce through deep fear the secret. At this point the boy John (Billy Chapin in one of the few child acting feats that work), escapes down a mystical river onto the arms of an angel of our world. This is an elderly lady who takes in orphans (The great silent film actress Lillian Gish, who proves without a doubt what a great actress she was regardless of sound). The final confrontation is good vs. evil, light vs darkness and raises the film into its biblical proportions. Watching this film made me realize that the great horror writer Steven King used the characters of Powell and the old lady as his good vs. evil icon from his masterpiece novel, “The Stand”. The film itself is special in its telling and effect. It was filmed in a movie studio rather than a real location and the controlled set of the small town and Mystical River add to its lyrical Quality. Watching it gives its viewer a feeling they are watching a great warning from heaven on the evils of the world. Powell is the devil himself and the Gish character God. Powell has tattoos on his knuckles that scream Love on the right and hate on the left. One of the most famous scenes of movie lore is the one that has Powell fighting with himself through his two tattooed hands. Love vs hate. Good vs. Evil. He is in control of this theatrical battle with his hands, so it is no surprise that Evil wins. Only John understands this and it is because he is a child. The view of the demonstration is seen through his eyes and as a boy he understands the allegories of fairy tales. It is a powerful scene that places us in the middle of the tension. The movie makes no attempt at hiding the true character of Powel which results in thick utter suspense. Similar to what Hitchcock succeeded in doing with “The Stranger”. Powell’s call to the children who are hiding in the basement is chilling and a precursor to Kubrick’s “The Shining”. The scene of a dead body floating in the bottom of the river with its long hair waving through the movements of the water is terrifying in its feel and effect. When the children escape down the river on a boat they are pursued by Powel on land and on Horseback. The camera spans this river as if it was the river of death at the beginning with its views of dark eerie shadows and waving willow trees. Later the river becomes day and bright and gives us an impression of being the river of love as it pulls our two innocent kids to the hands of Gish’s powerful characterization of conviction and hope. Powell is played by the great actor Robert Mitchum in clearly his greatest role. MItchum was an actor who always seemed nondescript and similar in his roles while actually taking on each character and making them his own. As Powel he does this in such a way that his very presence in each scene brings shivers down the spine. He is dressed all in black preacher clothes and has a wide primed black hat the bends at the sides giving him the look of Satan. Only the boy John sees through his façade of being a man of god. The audience are also shown his true colors right at the beginning of the movie which allows us to truly appreciate Mitcham’s portrayal in all its glory. A similar successful ploy was done years later in, “The silence of the lambs”, with Anthony Hopkin’s portrayal of Hannibal Lector. One very interesting aspect of Powell’s character is his abhorrence to heterosexual sex as we are made clear his hatred for women and his inability to consummate his marriage (he does not even try). This may be another symbol of the battle raging inside of him as portrayed by the Love hate on his hands. This is a scary complex film that stands up as strong today as it did in 1955. Way ahead of its time and not to be missed.
Lola Montes
Max Ophuls was a great Austrian Director who made France his home. His films were renowned for their female viewpoints and his great flowing, panning film style. Lola Montes was his last film and the only one he made in color. It contains greatly impressive examples of this long moving/panning shots whereby the camera follows characters as they move within buildings and landscapes. The Technicolor shown in the movie adds an impressive flair to this style. It is a shame that the story lacks depth and that the main actress gives a stilted and boring performance. The film follows some of the many love affairs of the main protagonist, Lola (Martine Carole in a performance so bad it almost derails the entire movie) who is a true character of a celebrated dancer and courtesan in 19th century Europe. We see some of her most famous affairs from Ludwig, King of Bavaria to the great and psychotic composer, Franz Liszt. In between there is a young Austrian student and Circus Ringmaster (Peter Ustinov, speaking almost totally in French). Her affairs follow her travels through France and Austria and are told through elaborate flashbacks that are introduced and crossed between a circus act that tells the story of her life and starring herself as the main performer. These flashback transformations are done through music and visual splendor blending real time with the past. Sergio Leone perfected this style and method of time changing flashbacks that are not chronological with his masterpiece, “Once upon a time in America”. The Technicolor Cinematography of the movie is breathtaking in its brilliant colors, whether showing us extravagant palaces or brilliant landscapes. Ophuls also makes great use of his long panning shots which allow us to feel like we are part of the scene ourselves. In one scene King Ludwig (Anton Walbrook) walks through a large circular painting studio inspecting various painters’ works spread out throughout the room. We follow him in one long shot as he goes around the room in a circle. The style give a sweeping feel to the movie. It is a great shame that the story had no real depth and the acting of the main actress is so bad. Otherwise this could have been a special movie.
The Man with the Golden Arm
Today, while watching Otto Preminger’s heroin addiction film, “The Man with the Golden Arm”, I squirm uncomfortably with its dated vision of a terrible and destructive disease that still haunts us today. Hard drugs, and in particular, heroin addiction, happen when the weak and hopeless search for an escape.
Preminger’s film was very controversial when it first came out in 1955, causing it to premier without first receiving a rating or approval from the powerful Production Code Authority. The approval would only come in 1961, yet the movie was distributed throughout the US, having passed local municipal censorship reviews, and became a commercial and critical success.
Yet, watching it today, I just can’t help thinking as to how meek and lame it actually is. The anti-hero, played by crooner Frank Sinatra, is a war veteran who, while driving drunk, crippled his wife. He started working as a dealer for an illegal underground poker game and ended up in jail through this work. The movie opens with his return from not only jail but rehab, because Frankie, as he is called, is also a drug addict. He leaves the rehab a clean man with a set of drums that he learned to play while getting cleaned out. He now wants to stop with the dealing and get a job as a professional drummer.
Clinging to him is his needy nerdy friend Sparrow (Anold Stang), who hangs all his slim hopes of a better life on Franky. Stang’s performance of Sparrow is one of the small highlights of the movie, and reminded me of Ratzo Rizzo from, “Midnight Cowboy”. Who would have thought that Hoffman copied his iconic character from this film? In addition to Sparrow, Frankie has his now wheelchair-bound wife to look after. All this, and his old boss and pusher goading him to return to his former life.
One of the truisms that the movie shows us is the fact that it is almost impossible to stay clean if you return to the origin of your addiction. That is the mistake that Frankie made. There are other twists in the movie concerning his wife, and the beautiful Neighbour with the golden heart. All of this helps the movie trudge along to its utterly disappointing ending.
This movie is known as being Frank Sinatra’s best performance, which does not say a lot about his other work. Sure, there is an unrealistic scene where he is trying to go cold turkey locked in an apartment, and we see him withering on the floor as if in unbearable pain, but so what? Most actors can learn to do that.
The movie is made in the film noir style with its dark shadows and light contrasts shown in confined spaces. Preminger decided on using cheap film sets for his location shots and this showed. If this was an atmospheric crime thriller, that would make sense, but a film about heroin addiction needs more realism.
If you love to see startling stories of the underbelly of life, see something more modern, like, “requiem for a dream”, for example. “The Man with the Golden Arm”, is dated and has an insulting contrived ending, making it not worth your time.
1001 Movies before you die 