Dennis Schwartz' Short Reviews  'S'  48

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The best of Lloyd's comedies. He is a rube in the big city, out to make good. There is the memorable scene of Lloyd hanging from the clock, a take-off on those human fly thrill seekers prevalent in the '20s. GRADE: B

John Wayne is the hard-boiled sergeant, getting his troops ready to take this Pacific Island from the Japs. It's all Wayne's picture, he won the war (you can almost say single-handedly). A very popular picture; it knows just when to pull on your emotional strings. GRADE: B-

Jerry Garcia's (Grateful Dead) favorite flick. The film is too muddled and long, yet it is diverting in spots; especially, its underlying theme of mystery, as seen through the tarot cards. The story revolves around a Belgian captain who travels across Spain during the Peninsular War and finds romance and adventure. This film suffers for not being in color. GRADE: C

Ray is never afraid to explore the human condition. This film depicts Quinn as an Eskimo struggling to survive the elements and the encroachment of civilization. You really feel in your guts what is going through Quinn's innocent but savage nature. A most interesting film. It makes you, for the moment, feel that you have become part of the tundra. GRADE: B+

Burt is the seedy and unscrupulous gossip newspaper publisher, who will do anything to get a story. Reed is the so-called honest writer who is lured to work for Burt's rag when enticed with money. He uses her to get the scoop on a Hollywood couple he wishes to ruin in order to sell more papers. Burt is brilliant in his role, giving force to this flat story that is cynically on the right track. It shows how corrupt even the so-called high brow 'zines might be. GRADE: C+

The picture Spielberg had to make. Neeson is the gentile, German industrialist, who saves hundreds of Jews from the Nazi death camps by giving them jobs in his factory. A film worth seeing despite its grimness. GRADE: C+

According to Robert Osborne, movie host for TCM, "this is a swashbuckler in silence." Sills was as big a star in his time as a Mel Gibson is today. But he died of a heart attack at the age of 48, and today he is virtually unknown."  The NY Times reviewer of 1924 called this film, "the best sea adventure story ever made." It was remade by Curtiz in 1940, and was still called The Sea Hawk. Errol Flynn's Captain Blood of 1935 used its same battle scenes. The film was adapted from Raphael Sabatini's book. It tells in epic fashion the story of a Cornwall nobleman (Sills) being sold into slavery by his half-brother, because he killed someone in a duel and  blamed Sills for it rather than to go to jail himself. Sills eventually becomes a Moslem and takes the name of Sakh-el-Bahr (The Sea Hawk), and becomes the most feared pirate on the seas. He tracks down his brother, and seeks the girl he was to marry (Enid). If you don't think about how the pirates all had slaves and how casually the film fluffs this off; then, you should find that this adventure tale to be fun to watch. GRADE: B 

A typical war story on the seas, relating to espionage and subterfuge during WW1. The film has some gritty action scenes. U.S. Commander Bob Kingsley (O'Brien) falls for the German sister (Lessing) of the enemy U-172 boat commander, the one that is being hunted by him.This is a restored version of the original, that had been missing for a long time due to discoloration. O'Brien's boat acts as a mystery ship to decoy the enemy U-Boat into coming up to the surface. Not much to recommend in this one, except to say that it is watchable for the action scenes.  GRADE: C-

An effusive and chaotic allegory simulating a Greek tragedy. Catastrophe is a Greek word for what is a surprise at the end. That shocker could be that mankind is destroyed. In this Hungarian farce, a group of noted scientists play games with what is real and what is envisioned. Nothing appears to be what it is. Conversations are the babblings of lunatics.The most cogent thing said is, eternity was created by the human intellect. The film is an unwatchable catastrophe. GRADE: D

Sokurov is the most inspiring director of modern Russia. This is a very serious meditational film on death. A father's death and his impoverished and grief-stricken son's reaction to the death are closely examined. The son tries to cope with the heavy bureaucracy it takes just to bury his father. This serves as a metaphor for the spiritual debasement of modern Russia, a country dying from an unknown disease. Sokurov calls it a cancer on the country's soul. GRADE: A

A 34-year-old married Connecticut housewife (Jackson), questions her sexual desirability. O' Neal plays her suburbanite press agent husband, whose agency secures call girls for his aging star-client, Matthau. Jackson manages to pass herself off as a call girl sent to Matthau's hotel suite, as she anxiously tries to prove to herself that she has sex appeal. Matthau turns out to be a dour neurotic, with sinus trouble. The heart of the movie is centered in this very talky, seductive meeting of Matthau and Jackson. The film sheds no new light on marital problems from the woman's point of view, and I did not find it funny except for a few one-liners. I, also, did not find Matthau and Jackson appealing. GRADE: C

A middle-class black woman tries to find her mother, who turns out to be low-class and white. When they meet, the situation is awkward for them. This film succeeds as a complex family drama, more suited for a play than a movie; nevertheless, it works because Leigh is very perceptive about the emotional complexities of the situation and plays the novelty of the situation to the hilt. GRADE: B

Police sirens blare in NYC. A phone rings in "A" precinct with the message left that Serpico has been shot and it is possible that another cop could have done it. So opens this true story about widespread police corruption. By using flashback, the police career of Serpico unfolds. It raises the question, Can an honest cop survive in so much corruption? But, we never get to fully understand why this nonconformist cop does what he does. We do see that the problems in the police department are real, as is the violence in the street. Serpico's situation is bleak; the film captures his desperation played out against all the social changes of the 1960s. But the story line is predictable; so consequently, the film cannot be compelling enough to reach something higher to hold onto. GRADE: B-

Routine caper about a casino heist in Cannes with a surprise ending and a banal motto to sum up the film's theme, "Honesty pays." The only fun thing about this flick is to watch Eddie G. ply his craft as the professor, a part that he could do walking in his sleep. GRADE: C

The story of the 14th Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people as they battle the Red Chinese, as told through the eyes of the Austrian mountain climber and Nazi, Heinrich Harrer (Pitt). He escapes from a British PoW camp and arrives in Lhasa, to find an authentic re-creation of how the Tibetans lived during the '40s. Unfortunately, the world may never see such a Tibet again due to the Chinese invasion and genocide. Therefore, the subject of the film takes on a particularly timely relevance. But the film is hampered by so much of the story being about Harrer, and since his story is not as impactful as the Tibetans the film suffers for it. Scorsese's Kundun is a more vivid telling of the Tibetan story, though this film is still worth seeing. But it is difficult to stomach, knowing full-well that Harrer was an unapologetic Nazi. GRADE: C+

The mythic story of a loner, drifting into a ranch and helping them settle up against the bad guys. Shane then rides off into the sunset. It is an adult Western for those who still want to believe that there are guardian angels out there and somehow if things get rough they will help you, asking nothing in return. GRADE: B

The picture simulates the motion and feel of a train. The plot of the story revolves around an evacuation from Peking to Shanghai. Dietrich is the prostitute with a more honorable character than her travelling companions. Relationships are the thing here, as depicted among von Sternberg, Clive and Marlene. GRADE: B+

Loretta was a 19-year-old sweetie-pie when she made this film. Hollywood censorship had not been present, yet. It was not uncommon for nice working girls to be used by dress manufacturers for sexual exploitation. Loretta is the secretary who volunteers to go on dates with buyers in order to drum up business. Regis who works with her becomes jealous. Lyle wins her over, even though he is a buyer who could make a wind-fall from this arrangement. This lively, fluff film, is quick-paced (which is good, because it wouldn't have legs for a marathon run). I found its romantic notions risible, and Loretta's romances incredulous; but, the film was pleasant enough. GRADE: C

This is the picture that catapulted Valentino to immortal stardom. It is the simple story of Valentino as the desert sheik, sweeping an English heiress off her feet. Since the story doesn't hold up well with time, what is worth noting is Valentino's intense stares and animated gestures that might seem quite amusing to us now but was considered very sexy back then. This picture was enormously popular and set off a cult following for the star that still persists. GRADE: B

You've gotta be kidding--this is one hell of an obnoxious film. It is watching people you just don't want to ever meet; they're not funny or cute. David (Matt) is a compulsive neurotic videographer who can't stop videotaping his non-Jewish wife Lily (Amy). During a New Year's Eve party, when she can't get him to stop, she decides to divorce him. He is told to look at the videos for the answer why. Being a complete nerd, he still doesn't get it. Why she married him and stayed with him for 6-years, is hard to comprehend and never explained. The film just didn't add up. GRADE: D

This first feature of the 29-year-old director Graham Guit, tries awfully hard to be an innocent spoof on the drug genre films. It tries too hard to be cute. Instead, it turns into an inane and unappealing violent parody, whose lead characters are dull. The slight story is about a yokel, Melvil Poupaud, who tries to pull a fast one on some violent drug dealers (Ecoffey/Sharry), lacing the coke he is selling them with talcum powder. The drug king's girlfriend (Romane) falls for him, and they double-cross the dealers. Their true love is expressed when they both meet in San Pedro de Atama, Chile, and look at the shooting stars together. Strictly for the shooting stars. GRADE: C-

A harmless feel-good movie about an asthmatic kid (Brandis) who is picked on in his high school by a bully (Buchanan) while everyone else goofs on him except for one girl, and to relieve his sorrow he fantasizes he's the sidekick of Chuck Norris rescuing damsels in distress. In this predictable formulaic film (you're either very good or very nasty), not one stock character was left out of the mix between good and evil, and not one trick was missed to show that the kid gets even with the bully, gets a girlfriend (McKellar), meets Chuck, has an unlikely teacher (Mako) in Karate change his life for the better and overcomes his sickness by learning martial arts. The movie is made for a young audience that can appreciate Chuck as a clean-cut hero and what it means to dream about success. What makes this film so unappealing, is that everyone is a stereotype. Piscopo gives an over-the-top performance as a bad dude. GRADE: D

FBI trainee (Jodie Foster) interviews serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) in his security cell to get info for the Feds in their search for a serial killer called "Buffalo Bill," who is on the loose.  Hopkins gets deep inside her head. A stunning but overated film, that's exploitive and homophobic. GRADE: B-

A bomb, except for Hurt's energetic performance. This true Scottish story, has Hurt (Davey Haggart) turn to a life of crime after he becomes an army deserter and wishes to emulate his father's criminal history. While on the lam, he is captured when hit by a golf ball. Some might take away a few chuckles here and there, but for the most part the film is a bore. It surprises me, that the usually dependable Huston made this. GRADE: D

One of the best musicals ever. Gene whoops it up in the rain. A fun story to go along with Arthur Freed songs. The plot revolves around a famous actress and her inability to adjust from "silent" to "talkie" pictures. But the plot doesn't matter, it is really the song and dance numbers that count the most. GRADE: A

Film is based on the real murder in France, 1933. Absorbing, darkly brooding tale about sister maids (Richardson & May) hired to work in the same household. They appear to be ideal maids to the obnoxious and pushy mistress (Walters) and her oafish daughter (Thursfeld), but there is trouble brewing. These former convent maids have troubled conversations and an incestuous relationship in the tight quarters of their attic room. The tension of the household builds; and, in the end, violence is the answer. The big moment in the film can't possibly equal all the powerful smaller moments in the film. GRADE: B-

Colbert goes bonkers on a train to Boston with no idea why she left NYC. Her husband (Ameche) is behind this, hoping he can get rid of her to marry the sexy Daphne (Brooks). Sirk did not think much of this film; but, it is, nevertheless, interesting enough, and well-acted. GRADE: B 

A film with a gimmick and a disingenuous sitcom story that tries to discuss destiny as something we have no control over, but is what most influences our lives. The London based Gwyneth misses the train as the doors slide shut. This high powered PR exec who just got the sack and is returning to meet her live-in lover, has her story filmed in the two ways her life would have turned out; that is, if she could have both missed and made the train. In one version she catches him making love to another woman and in the other she doesn't. It was pure cornball. I would choose missing the train on this one. GRADE: C

Made for TV drama; it is realistically and movingly following the last years of the Greek philosopher Socrates, between 404 BC and 399 BC. The Spartans win Athens, but Socrates sticks to his beliefs, refusing to stop searching for the truth. For him, politics is a medicine to watch over souls and happiness is being a just man. He is accused of corrupting the youth of Athens, introducing new gods, and not believing in the gods of Athens. Everything about this film is first-rate, even the way he takes his hemlock. GRADE: B+

Gleason tries his hand at an army base camp drama, and is ok. McQueen goes for comedy, and is not ok. Tony Bill is a poor substitute for the role usually played by Jerry Lewis. Weld is slightly amusing and extremely sexy as a stereotyped dumb Southern teenager. The movie looks like a '50s TV sitcom. The funniest line is when Gleason asks Weld: "What did you learn in school today?" and she responds: "Mrs. P is pregnant." GRADE: C

The 1928 St. Valentine's Day mob hit in Chicago that Curtis and Lemmon witness, thereby making it necessary that they disguise themselves and escape from the mob. They do this by dressing in drag and getting on a train to Florida. Marilyn is the real woman thrown into the mix. Wilder makes the most of this comic romp, using innuendo and snide jokes. It is a funny satire that does not take itself too seriously. Thank goodness. GRADE: B

One of those pictures that could have been a lot better or worse than it is. A remake of The Return of Martin Guerre. This time it's the brutish Jack Sommersby (Gere) coming back to his wife (Jodi) from the Civil War after 7 years of being a PoW. He is a changed man, and the questions asked are-- Is he the real Jack ? What underlines the film, is the philosophical question-- What is the identity of man? The film does a serviceable job with the nuances of Jack's relationship with his wife and the Tennessee townpeople, but it is devoid of whatever magical ingredient there is that makes a film a moving experience. GRADE: C

London longshoreman (Robeson) is made into an opera singer. He finds out that he is an African king and returns to his African roots to help his people. Robeson has a great voice and screen presence. He liked the role and said it showed the struggle his people were going through to educate themselves. GRADE: C+

South is the recently (1999) restored version of Sir Ernest Shackleton and his 28-member crew's expedition on the ship called the Endurance, in 1915, to Antarctica. It ended with his ship being destroyed in the ice and his men being marooned for nearly two-years there, and his courageous trek by sled over 800-miles of ice to reach help on a remote island. He eventually received a hero's welcome on his return to England. The photography by Frank Hurley is amazing. This is probably the greatest documentary survival film ever made. GRADE: B+

A gimmick-laden mystery B film. The murderer uses his deaf mute brother as an alibi. The story is dull yet it packs enough punch to be watchable; especially, on a rainy Sunday afternoon. GRADE: C 

"The Springfield Rifle" is not a terribly thrilling or inventive Western. It is competently directed by De Toth, but not with any panache. But it does have Gary Cooper in it, straight after making "High Noon." It tried to make use of some of the usual Western themes in its Civil War story, by making slight variations on the following themes: It introduced the idea of counter-espionage as part of army intelligence. The value of the army's new weapon that could fire repeatedly, the Springfield rifle. And, it showed how Cooper, cashiered out of the service for cowardice, reacts when his wife and son don't understand him anymore. It is the story of Cooper pretending he's an outlaw in order to catch a gang selling horses rustled from the Union Army to the Confederates. A modest Western. Trivia buffs, take note: Cooper's horse was named Wildfire. GRADE: C+

This film marks the beginning of a great partnership between Ford and Wayne. It is a groundbreaking Western, capturing the myth of the land's innocence and the role civilization plays in such thinking. Wayne plays the Ringo Kid, someone bent on revenge for those who killed his father and brother. Wayne is the escaped convict who saves the stage and its cast of characters from an Indian attack. He redeems himself in the eyes of the law and is let loose into the wilderness. This film is one of the truly great Westerns. GRADE: A

A dismally bleak but realistic look at how the frontlines of Stalingrad must have felt for those German forces fighting there in 1942. There were at least one million lives lost during that campaign, most of them Germans and Russians. This film follows the exploits of an elite Storm Trooper unit's lieutenant (Horwitz) and 2 other soldiers (Thomas and Jochen). We see their 600 man unit left with only one man surviving. It is gorgeously shot by the director, as it takes you over the snow fields of Russia and allows you to imagine how the Russian cold winter must have felt to the soldiers. What the film lacked was emotional punch to explain the human despair caused by the Nazis. GRADE: C+

A routine patriotic WW11 Navy story, with an excellent cast. This is a formula story about executive officer, rich socialite, Harvard grad Robert Taylor and a bootstrapper from the old school, Brian Donlevy, who is his commander aboard an ancient destroyer. The destroyer is initially assigned to patrol the coast, but in an emergency gets into action protecting the admiral's convoy. The ship proves itself seaworthy in the climactic battle with a Japanese battleship. The admiral is played with bluster by Charles Laughton. GRADE: C

A pulp science, special effects movie of epic proportions. Luke Skywalker becomes a Jedi warrior, and with the help of the "droids" and an outlaw, Han Solo, rescues the good princess and saves the galaxy from evil. Hmmm! "May the Force be with you!" Why complain about the film's lack of depth when it is so stunningly spectacular to look at! GRADE: B-

This is a film about political intrigue during the 1930s. Stavisky (Belmondo) is both a crook and a legitimate businessman in France. The country is going through some heavy political and social changes in the form of Communism and Fascism. Stavisky is ruined by forces that are beyond his control. A penetrating look at what was so rotten in that government, done without compromising the story. GRADE: B 

Shallow is the key word to describe Bertolucci's inane look at the arty bourgeoisie. Ex-patriates, aesthetes, dilettantes, and Romeos form a group, living in a Tuscany artists' colony. A 19-year-old American virgin, Lucy (Tyler), arrives bereaved at the recent death of her poet mother and hopes to rekindle pleasant memories spent here with her mother's close friends. The plot revolves around which of the lads will get into Lucy's pants first and who was her real father. Irons plays a dying playwright, who is cheered by Lucy's beauty, youth, virginity, and energy. No matter how it tries, this stunningly shot film never gets beyond the physical layers of its beauty. The result is, that it plays more like a voyeuristic film that a dirty old man made than one of a great filmmaker. GRADE: C

Isabelle shines as an uneducated woman, living in the sticks, stuck in a loveless marriage during WW11. She performs illegal abortions and quarters prostitutes in order to feed her boy and girl. She cuckolds her war wounded husband with a slick young man. Her lover gets by in style, dealing with the Nazis to gain special favors. After the war is over the cowardly government officials who offered no resistance to the Nazis during the war, decide to make an example of her immorality and sentence her to death by the guillotine. Not bad, but not great, is the final verdict. GRADE: B-

Joan catches her husband in bed with a woman and axes them to death. Her young daughter witnesses this. Joan is sent to a mental institution for 20-years, and when released comes to live on her brother's farm with her grownup daughter. The daughter is anxious to wed a nice young man, but his parents are against the marriage because of Joan's incarceration. As murders begin to occur, Joan becomes a suspect. The story is resolved with a trick ending. This shocker is weak-kneed. The strength of the film lies solely in the hands of Joan. GRADE: C

Bergman ends up on this desolate, volcanic island, married to a fisherman in order to save herself from an internment camp during WW11. It is shot in the neo-realism style Rossellini is noted for. It captures the stark mood of the island and its inhabitants. Bergman finds her situation to be hopeless, and she sees herself as an outsider unable and unwilling to fit in. A provocative film. GRADE: B

Set in Germany from around 1890-1905, Ernst Lubitsch directed this silent version of Sigmund Romberg's famed operetta. It's about a fun-loving young prince (played by De Lacy as a boy and by Novarro as a young adult) raised from an early age by his stern uncle King Karl VII to become the future king. He is tutored by the kindly Dr. Jüttner and leads a cloistered life in the palace until he is sent to Heidelberg to further his studies. There he falls in love with a barmaid (Shearer-the newly wed wife of MGM head Irving Thalberg). Their romance remains unfulfilled, as he must take up duties as king upon his uncle's death and must go through with the arranged marriage to Princess Ilse. The theme suggests that being a king is not so hot, if you can't marry the one you love. The pleasures in the film are derived from Lubitsch's light touches of comedy and the sensitive performance by the Mexican-born Ramon. GRADE: B

A love triangle in a small-town that results in a murder. This love story is filled with unbridled tensions as the innocents come into contact with the big city and they are changed forever. One of the greatest films ever made. GRADE: A+

Swanson is the once famous silent screen star who kills her gigolo boyfriend. A dark film, one of Wilder's best. This noir film probes the shadows and depravements and shame rooted in the main characters. GRADE: A

Burt is a vindicative New York columnist. Tony is the press agent who wants to get places, anyway he can. Scripted by Clifford Odets and Ernest Lehman. A very powerful and searing film. Burt is a lot like Walter Winchell. GRADE: A+

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