Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

[gunnar]

The Children's Storefront (1988) - 8/10 - This short film looks at a private, tuition free school in Harlem that worked with children from preschool through 8th grade, many from disadvantaged families who had trouble in regular schools. The teachers are very caring and try a variety of methods to help the children learn. The children also seem to form a bond with the teachers and do well in the program. It's a short film, but a good one.

Amazon Diary (1989) - 7.5/10 - The white men are cutting down parts of the Amazon rainforest and turning areas into mud in their search for gold. One tribe sends representatives to try to get them to respect the rainforest and learn new ways. The story is told through the eyes of one boy from the village. It is more of a glimpse at their life than anything else and lacks depth, but is still an entertaining short.

American Shoeshine (1976) - 8.5/10 - This film features interviews with a variety of shoeshine men from around Chicago and shows them in action. It is a pretty entertaining film and delves a bit into the art and history of the job.

Rooftops of New York (1961) - 8/10 - A doorman notices water coming down from the roof of his building and then the camera pans up to the roof and observes a lot of activity. Some women are sunbathing and reading, a couple of men are exercising, a man waters plants, a woman hangs up her laundry, and love is in the air for others. It is accompanied by a jazzy soundtrack and is a fun short film.

Shoeshine (1987) - 6/10 - This short is about a man (Jerry Stiller) on the Staten Island Ferry trying to drum up business and giving a shoeshine to a young man (Ben Stiller) resting on one of the benches. They have a conversation during the shoeshine. It was okay, though not in the same class as many other shorts that I've seen.

[Reza]

Midnight in the Switchgrass (Randall Emmett, 2021) 6/10

Police procedural with a cop (Emile Hirsch) doggedly pursuing a serial killer (Lukas Haas) who has kidnapped, drugged and brutally murdered prostitutes and other young women. Joining up with the cop is an FBI agent (Megan Fox), also in pursuit of the killer, who acts as a decoy to try and flush out the killer. Willis has a small role (with smirk intact) as her partner who cannot take her brash manner of taking risks. Haas, the innocent kid from "Witness", is the deceptive killer who alternates being a loving husband and father to a young girl and a cool but psychotic murderer. Nothing new here as far the subject is concerned but its well acted especially by Megan Fox.

Ashanti (Richard Fleischer, 1979) 5/10

Not quite as schlocky as it's reputation but as an action-adventure film it comes up pretty short despite the huge budget and the starry cast. Set in Africa against a background of modern-day slave trading. WHO doctor (stunning Beverly Johnson - the first African-American model to appear on the cover of American Vogue) is kidnapped by a wily Arab slave trader (a hammy Peter Ustinov) and her desperate husband and fellow doctor (a very bored looking Michael Caine) tries to move heaven and earth to locate her. With everyone denying there is any slave trade he has to locate shady men who work underground as rescuers - a member of the Anti-Slavery League (Rex Harrison), a helicopter pilot and mercenary-for-hire (William Holden in a brief cameo) and an Arab (Kabir Bedi speaking with a clipped British accent) whose own wife and children were murdered by the same slave trader. A perilous journey on camels across the Sahara desert takes them to a Red Sea port where an Arab prince (Omar Sharif) has bid a high price for the exotic black woman. Absurd, often silly film is beautifully shot by the distinguished Italian cinematographer Aldo Tonti who captures the astonishing desert vistas. Caine called this "the most wretched film I ever made" although truth be told he made some that were far worse. Many familiar character actors appear briefly - Zia Mohyeddin and Winston Ntshona as the slave trader's guards, Johnny Sekka as a cop, Akosua Busia as a slave girl and Eric Pohlmann (the voice of Blofeld in two of the early Bond films) as another slave trader. A flamboyant Ustinov is the film's highlight and is very funny speaking with a mellifluous accent and under guise of courtly manners hiding every debauched deed whether its brutalizing the slaves on the journey, treating his guards like dirt or selling a young boy to his guard for use as his sex toy.

La Nuit de Varennes (Ettore Scola, 1982) 5/10

During the long day of June 22, 1791, France’s Louis XVI (Michel Piccoli) and his queen, Marie Antoinette (Eleonore Hirt), flee northeast from Paris to Varennes where that night they are captured and brought back. Scola's very talky, extremely tedious and overlong film makes the mistake of ignoring that dramatic event and instead concentrates on a group of disparate travelers on a coach which is following the one carrying the French monarch. On board are popular writer and pornographer, Nicolas Edamé Restif de la Bretonne (Jean-Louis Barrault), his friend the English-born American revolutionary pamphleteer Tom Paine (Harvey Keitel), the ageing and very tired erotic diarist Casanova (Marcello Mastroianni) and a trio of ladies - a Countess (Hanna Schygulla), a wealthy widow (Andréa Ferréol) and an operatic diva (Laura Betti). Philosophy and politics get discussed, wit is thrown about, the women try to get a rise out of an uninterested Casanova and the film keeps rambling on for over two hours. The cast is uniformly fine with Mastroianni fun as the fussy former star-fornicator who is now old and decrepit with assorted ailments and Schygulla is forceful as the Queen's loyal lady-in-waiting. Dante Ferretti's production design, the costumes by Gabriella Pescucci and the cinematography by Armando Nannuzzi are memorable. Making cameo appearances in bit parts are Jean-Claude Brialy, Daniel Gélin and Jean-Louis Trintignant.

Celui qui doit mourir / He Who Must Die (Jules Dassin, 1957) 10/10

Extremely powerful Christian allegory, adaptated from the novel "Christ Recrucified" by Nikos Kazantzakis, is set just after WWI in a small greek village on Crete which was occupied by the Turks. The greeks live in false harmony under the watchful eyes of the local Turk Lord (Grégoire Aslan), gregarious but cunning and debauched - he lives surrounded by Oriental splendour, enjoys the company of pretty boys while guzzling raki. The village holds a passion play once in seven years and the autocratic priest (Fernand Ledoux) chooses actors to play the parts from the local villagers. A merchant-peddler (René Lefèvre) who loves his donkey is given the part of the Apostle Peter, the son (Maurice Ronet) of the rich mayor (Gert Fröbe) gets to play the Apostle John, a wild passionate man (Roger Hanin) reluctantly accepts the role of Judas, the village prostitute (Melina Mercouri) is happy to play Mary Magdalene and a humble shepherd (Pierre Vaneck) is chosen to play Christ. When a priest (Jean Servais) from a neighboring devastated village arrives with a group of starved people the local priest enlists the Turks to keep them out. The actors in the play side with the outsiders and offer them help and soon the events begin to dangerously mirror the life of Christ as the priest's hate campaign leads to tragedy and a recrucifixion. Kazantzakis' story basically shows how the modern world would treat Jesus if he was to come down to earth once again. The Greek Orthodox Church excommunicated the author for daring to write this novel. The story held special appeal to Dassin as the witch hunt depicted in the story mirrored his own life when he was driven out of America during the absurd McCarthy trials. Atmospheric and highly emotional film is a potpourri of patriotism, Greek tragedy, Christian hypocricy and Communist solidarity. Superbly acted by a mostly french cast this was the first screen collaboration between Dassin and greek goddess Mercouri who would later become his wife. A must-see!

I Could Never Be Your Woman (Amy Heckerling, 2007) 1/10

Divorced 40-year old television producer (Michelle Pfeiffer) casts much younger actor (Paul Rudd) on her failing show and revives its ratings. She also falls in love with him but guilt over their age difference causes complications. Silly rom-com has an over-the-top Tracey Ullmann playing "Mother Nature" who annoyingly keeps popping up acting like a chorus. The only one who rises above this mess is 13-year old Saoirse Ronan, in her film debut, as Pfeiffer's sassy daughter who has love problems of her own. Heckerling has stuff to stay about female insecurity related to ageing but this is such a boring film and an absolute chore to sit through that you just don't care about anything on the screen.

Feast of Love (Robert Benton, 2007) 5/10

Ruminations on love mostly unrequited and unfulfilled. The film is a series of vignettes about a group of people whose love lives intertwine via the local coffee shop where an old professor (Morgan Freeman) acts as a chorus while watching the group meet, fall in love, break up, and hook up again with new partners. The owner of the coffee shop (Greg Kinnear) loses his wife (Selma Blair) to a lesbian, and then falls in love with a sexy estate agent (Radha Mitchell) who is having an affair with a married man who refuses to leave his wife. She finally dumps him, marries her new lover but then dumps him for her former lover. Meanwhile a young man working at the coffee shop juggles an abusive relationship with his father (Fred Ward) and an intense affair with a pretty young girl who has been told by a fortune-teller (Margo Martindale) that her lover will die young. So the two get married before the inevitable happens. This derivative soap opera plot hums along with its fine cast going through the motions. It's nice to see Jane Alexander on screen again (as Freeman's wife) who is bemused by her husband's interactions with all the different lovers he meets. This rather bland film occasionally perks up with startlingly explicit sex scenes with the actors exposing more than just their souls. Benton never made another film after this one.

Jungle Cruise (Jaume Collet-Serra, 2021) 5/10

Based on Walt Disney''s theme park attraction of the same name with a screenplay that also adds into the mix elements from "The African Queen" - dangerous rapids and a giant waterfall, Disney's own "In Search of the Castaways" and the Indy Jones films. Rollicking adventure film repeats for today's young generation what older generations have enjoyed since way back when through similarly themed films that have as its center a treasure hunt. In 1916 a plucky botanist (Emily Blunt), accompanied by her gay brother (Jack Whitehall), head for the jungles of Brazil in search of a mythical "tree of life" that is rumored to cure every illness. The map they hold is one drawn by Aguirre (Edgar Ramírez) who went in search for it centuries before and fell foul to its curse trapping him in ghost form in the jungle. A boistrous riverboat Captain (Dwayne Johnson) is their reluctant guide down the river. There is danger - scorpions, poisonous spiders and snakes, a very fake-looking CGI pet leopard, head hunters and a cartoonish German villain (Jessie Plemmons) in pursuit to get to the treasure first for the German army. The action set-pieces roll on one after the other in quick succession as the two leads playfully banter with surprisingly no romance in sight. Fun but in a very bland way.

Background (Daniel Bert, 1953) 6/10

The effects of divorce on a family. A long married bickering upper-class couple - a prominent barrister (Phillip Friend) and his lovely wife (Valerie Hobson) - decide to end their marriage after one too many quarrels. Both are extremely civil about the decision and are relieved and looking forward to their futures. He has a promising career to look forward to while she decides to get married to their friend (Norman Wooland) who has long carried a torch for her and hopes to settle on a farm in the countryside. However, their three children all react in very different ways. The eldest child (Janette Scott), a self-centered 14-year old girl is thrilled and excited by the divorce as it will allow her to spend her holidays on the farm and ride horses. The middle child (Jeremy Spenser) takes it very badly, is under the impression that another man has stolen away his mother, develops violent tendencies and beats up his older sister, burns a photo of her mother's future husband and attacks him with a gun. The youngest child (Mandy Miller) is confused and wonders who they will live with once the parents go their separate ways. A complex situation is suddenly resolved by the estranged couple who are shaken up by the reactions of their children. The simplistic denouement to a serious family issue is the film's major detriment but it's in keeping with the staid 1950s where the message doled out to the audience is one of positivity. Hobson is memorable as always while the three very popular child stars show great depth in their portrayals.

Piccadilly Incident (Herbert Wilcox, 1946) 8/10

Wilcox hit gold when he cast Michael Wilding opposite his wife Anna Neagle in this WWII British romantic drama. It was a massive hit and led to five more equally successful films establishing both actors as a memorable screen team. This oft-told tale had recently enjoyed success in the Hollywood film, "My Favorite Wife", wherein a lady thought dead returns to find her husband married to another woman. A Royal Marines officer (Michael Wilding) bumps into a Women's Royal Naval Service (Wren) officer (Anna Neagle) in the dark during an air raid in Piccadilly Square. They have a drink together, fall in love and on a sudden impulse get married. She is soon shipped off overseas on duty. During the evacuation of Singapore the ship she is on is sunk but she survives with five people and ends up on a deserted island. Meanwhile back home her husband is injured, returns home and discovers the fate of his wife who he thinks is dead. When she and her companions are finally rescued after two years she is shocked to find her husband remarried to an American Red Cross nurse. She runs away but later during a chance encounter with her husband tells him that her marriage to him meant nothing and she fell in love with another man on the island. A bomb explosion leads to a confession that brings this romantic melodrama to its weepy conclusion. Wilding, who was reluctantly cast in the film after both Rex Harrison and John Mills turned the part down, became a huge star with the success of the film - post WWII British audiences ate up the schmaltz and the film was one of the top box office attractions of the year. Neagle proves she could be a great dramatic star in addition to her regular image on screen as a song and dance girl - she does sing and dance here as well - and gets to emote in scenes where she looks glamorous as well as moments where her face is starkly devoid of makeup in the scenes set on the island. Coral Browne is memorable as Wilding's no-nonsense older sister. Old fashioned melodrama is a relic from the past although highly effective as one of the classic romantic films from the golden period of British cinema.

[gunnar]

A Shocking Accident (1982) - 7/10 - A nine year old boy at a boarding school gets the news that his father died while on a business trip to Italy. The boy imagines his father dying in an almost heroic manner, but discovers that he died when a pig fell on him from a fifth floor balcony. This 'shocking accident' follows him into adulthood and makes his life a bit difficult at times when people discover how his father died. It was humorous and a decent film.

1848 (1950) - 7/10 - This short film covers the French Revolution of 1848 using narration, songs of that era, and cartoons drawn by prominent artists of the day. The drawings were pretty interesting and the film was decent.

The True Story of the Civil War (1956) - 7.5/10 - This short film from Louis Stoumen uses narration mixed with photos and drawings created during the Civil War to give an overview of the course of the war. It lacks depth and is more of a highlights reel, but the narration is very good and the photographs are pretty effective. Overall, I think that it is a pretty good film.

[gunnar]

Black Widow (2021) - 7.5/10 - This prequel takes place before Avengers: Endgame and gives Natasha Romanoff an origin story where she was part of a Russian sleeper cell in Ohio while still a child. Her return to Russia and (much) later escape are also covered. In this film, she reunites with her 'family' in trying to take out the man in charge of the Widow program and end its existence. I enjoyed the film quite a bit, especially Scarlet Johansson, Florence Pugh, and David Harbour. There were a few logical leaps perhaps, but overall I thought it was a pretty solid and entertaining film.

Making Overtures: The Story of a Community Orchestra (1984) - 8.5/10 - The film takes place in a town not too far from Toronto. An energetic conductor is working with a choir to get ready for a performance while also working with a community orchestra. He is bringing in a guest violinist to perform with the orchestra as well. Rehearsals and performances are shown and the music is well done and a lot of fun. We also get to see a small youth ensemble perform and get a few brief interviews with community members. The whole film is pretty upbeat and entertaining.

The Collector of Bedford Street (2002) - 7.5/10 - Larry Selman was a mildly mentally retarded man who lived in an apartment on Bedford Street in New York City. The only money he had came from social security and from his octogenarian uncle, but he spent quite a bit of time collecting money for worthy causes. His neighbor, Alice Elliott, decided to make this film about Larry. Larry's neighbors decided to do something about the situation and help Larry out. It was a good film and you get to know Larry quite a bit here in the film.

Las Madres: The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo (1985) - 8/10 - Tens of thousands of people disappeared between 1976-1983 during Argentina's Junta government. In 1977, a group of mothers desperate to get information about their missing children started gathering and marching weekly in the Plaza de Mayo, overcoming their fear of the government to try and get answers. This film interviews a number of the mothers as well as a few survivors and other family members, documenting what they faced as well as what their children probably faced in captivity. A few of the founders were disappeared themselves in 1977 in an effort to disperse the group. The political situation at the time is also discussed. The film is interesting, effective, and well done.

[gunnar]

I ran across a few short films from my list so I went ahead and watched them.

Tales of Meeting and Parting (1985) - 8/10 - A woman on a train relates a story told to her by a Japanese man at a train station. The man was an officer during WWII and served as an interpreter during interrogations of captured U.S. servicemen. During one such interrogation, he does a kindness for the prisoner. After the was, he is a prisoner himself and has a kindness done for him. I thought it was pretty well done and a decent short story. Apparently it was based on a true incident.

A Place in the Land (1998) - 7/10 - This film serves as a sort of biography for three men who owned or lived at the Billings Farm in Woodstock, Vermont. The film also delves into the ties each man had with conservation. The story is told mostly with narration over photographs or archival footage. The house at the Billings Farm was built in 1805 by the Charles Marsh. His son, George, grew up in the house and became a lawyer, politician, and diplomat in addition to his interests in conservation. Marsh also published a book titled Man and Nature. Frederick Billings bought the farm from Marsh's brother. Billings was a lawyer and railroad President in addition to his conservation efforts, which included planting thousands of trees and advocating for National Parks at Yosemite and Yellowstone. Billings' granddaughter married Laurance Rockefeller, a man who would become a leading conservationist in the latter half of the 20th Century. The film was interesting, though a bit superficial due to its length. There were some nice views of the Billings Farm during the film.

Number One (1976) - 8/10 - The film starts with an elementary school classroom (first grade probably) where a few kids pay attention to the elderly teacher, but many are not paying much attention. Two girls get permission to go to the bathroom and stop to check out the boys' bathroom to see what it is like before returning to class. When two boys come in to use the bathroom, the kids start to talk and eventually decide to take off their clothes to see what the opposite sex looks like. It's pretty much innocent curiosity, but the principal catches them and yells at them. The rest of the film deals with the parents of three of the kids dealing with it and then the next day in class. The kids were very good and believable here. The most awkward part was the principal and his handling of the situation. Dyan Cannon directed the film and it is a good film.

[dws1982]

The Prisoner of Shark Island was probably the first John Ford movie I ever saw, back in the time where AMC was basically TCM. I don't think I've watched it since (although I have a DVD of it in the Ford box set that was put out all those years ago), but I remember liking it back then, although having read about the case since then, I do think Samuel Mudd was guilty, not necessarily of being part of the full-blown conspiracy, but of (knowingly) being an accessory and of trying to obstruct the investigation.

[Big Magilla]

I haven't watched The Cisco Kid tv show, but I've read and enjoyed the comic book series from Dell that came out at the same time and the comic strip by Jose Luis Salinas that ran in the 1950s and 1960s.

I liked 42nd Street, but haven't watched the other two films that you mentioned. I've added them to my list of films to watch in the future.

Cool.

Tod Browning's West of Zanzibar is first and foremost a Lon Chaney horror show but Lionel Barrymore as Chaney's nemesis and Baxter as Chaney's doctor are equally strong. The 1928 silent was remade as an overly violent 1932 talkie with Walter Huston that isn't anywhere nearly as good even though Huston had played Chaney's role in the stage version that preceded the Chaney film.

John Ford's 1936 film, The Prisoner of Shark Island deserves to be better known than it is. Baxter is really at his best as Dr. Mudd, the physician who innocently treated Lincoln's assassin but was imprisoned on the island Dry Tortugas nicknamed Shark Island because the moat that surrounded it was infested with sharks. Gloria Stuart plays Baxter's wife and John Carradine has a standout supporting role as a sadistic prison guard.

[gunnar]

I have fond memories of Duncan Rinaldo as The Cisco Kid in a TV series in the 1950s, but Warner Baxter's portrayal of him in In Old Arizona is just torturous to watch.

My favorite Baxter performances were in West of Zanzibar, 42nd Street, and The Prisoner of Shark Island, the same year as King of Burlesque and so much better.

I haven't watched The Cisco Kid tv show, but I've read and enjoyed the comic book series from Dell that came out at the same time and the comic strip by Jose Luis Salinas that ran in the 1950s and 1960s.

I liked 42nd Street, but haven't watched the other two films that you mentioned. I've added them to my list of films to watch in the future.



Regret to Inform (1998) - 7.5/10 - A woman whose husband died during the Vietnam War travels to Vietnam to visit the place where he died. Interviews with other women (both American and Vietnamese) who lost husbands or other family members are interspersed with the woman's commentary. The experiences of these women paint a picture of the war that still haunts them many years after the war ended. The tone is fairly somber, but it is a good film and shows that people on each side were deeply affected by this unfortunate war.

In the Name of the People (1985) - 8.5/10 - Four journalists snuck into El Salvador and spent 18 months with the FMLN, getting to know them as people and listening to their stories of government brutality and death squads. They grow food in one of their remote villages and also have schools set up when possible. There are children among the insurgents, some of whom have lost their parents to death squads. Dr. Charlie Clements appears here, treating injured guerrillas and traveling between camps. Clements was featured in an Oscar winning short called Witness to War the same year. There is a bit of recycled footage at the beginning and some combat footage in San Salvador toward the end of the film, but much of the film is dedicated to seeing the daily lives of the people. Martin Sheen narrates and the interviews are subtitled. This is one of the better films I've seen about the problems in Central America during the 1980s.

Sing Your Way Home (1945) - 4/10 - A conceited war correspondent named Steve Kimball is trying to get back to New York City after the war. In order to do that, he is tasked with chaperoning a musical troupe of teenagers who were trapped in Europe for years due to the war. They want to dance and sing and he wants to keep them quiet. A woman named Kay becomes attached to the group and Steve and Kay fall for each other. The songs weren't bad, but the whole premise and much of the plot is pretty ridiculous. The movie was watchable, but not very believable or good.

Navajo (1952) - 6/10 - A seven year old Navajo boy lives with his mother, sisters, and adopted grandfather. He is forced to go away to an Indian school run by white men, but rejects their ways and plans his escape. After escaping, he has to evade the men who come after to bring him back to the school. It was nominated by the Academy for cinematography and as a documentary. The cinematography is pretty good and the movie has some great scenic shots, but it certainly isn't a documentary. It's not a bad movie, though the narration could get a bit wearing at times.

[Big Magilla]

King of Burlesque (1936) - 7.5/10 - Walter Baxter stars

That was Oscar winner Warner Baxter, of course.

Whoops. Fixed, thanks.

I did like Baxter a lot more here than in In Old Arizona.

I have fond memories of Duncan Rinaldo as The Cisco Kid in a TV series in the 1950s, but Warner Baxter's portrayal of him in In Old Arizona is just torturous to watch.

My favorite Baxter performances were in West of Zanzibar, 42nd Street, and The Prisoner of Shark Island, the same year as King of Burlesque and so much better.

[Reza]

Black Widow (Cate Shortland, 2021) 6/10

A much belated solo film about Black Widow - it strangely took Hollywood years to cough it up and once in the can the covid pandemic delayed it further. However, now that its here the film is less Marvel and more James Bond. Is it an homage to the Bond film "Moonraker'? There is a clip from that film and the explosive ending clearly channels it. Even the megalomaniac Russian villain, Dreykov (Ray Winstone), seems ripped out of the pages of Bond. Here he is ensconsed in the mysterious Red Room from where he wills his girls (known as widows), spread around the world, to do various nefarious deeds at his bidding. The main plot is the backstory of Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) - known as "Black Widow" elsewhere in the world of the Avengers - who along with her foster parents (David Harbour & Rachel Weisz) and foster sister, Yelena (Florence Pugh), grew up in Ohio. This American "family" was a Russian plant (shades of the tv series "The Americans") by Dreykov who disbands their ruse and plucks the girls away from their parents and each other. Natasha escapes his clutches, joins the Avengers and is seen here abandoned by her fellow superheroes - did not get why this happened - hooks up with her long lost sister and goes in search of her foster parents who she hopes will lead her to Dreykov and the Red Room. Black Widow was one sexy babe in all the Marvel movies but here she seems to have lost her sexiness and instead gets to be James Bond. Johansson looks kind of lost here but Pugh shines alongside her as she trades quips, knocks back vodka and proves just as much of a lethal weapon during the action sequences. A number of kick-ass action set pieces keep things moving even though overall it comes off as a rather bland Bond film. La Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine (Julia Louis Dreyfuss) makes a post credits appearance along with a glimpse of Captain America. Now that Black Widow is dead in the Marvel Universe is this film a launchpad for a spinoff film featuring Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh)?

Out of Death (Mike Burns, 2021) 2/10

The pandemic has made some filmmakers work really fast. This entire film was shot in nine days and they filmed one of the leading actor's scenes during a single day. Granted they came up with a very bland grade Z thriller at the end of it all but the sheer audacity of their speed is amazing. A hiker (Jaime King) witnesses a corrupt cop (and drug dealer) shoot in cold blood the supplier. She goes on the run after being discovered with three crooked cops after her and gets unexpected help from a retired and depressed cop (Bruce Willis) who happens to be chilling at his niece's cottage in the countryside. The only thing worth looking at in this silly predictable film is the spectacular location set around Lake Easton in Washington State Park. Willis, who was on set for only one day, looks tired and when he runs the camera cuts down to his legs - or more likely the legs of his stunt double. Even his usual smirks and quips seem forced. The leading lady gets to do all the running, shooting and stabbing but is one of those stupid people who has apparently never seen a movie where such scenes take place. The action is centered next to a huge lake surrounded by a thick forest and she has all the space in the world to get away from the killers pursuing her yet she keeps running into the bad cops again and again allowing them to rough her up. This was probably because the nine day shoot allowed the film unit to use just a small stretch of the location. The director of this dismal film was the music supervisor (he also scored this one) on a number of Willis' previous films so it looks like he helped him out by agreeing to star in his debut film. Hope Willis got a good paycheck for his one day's activity on this project.

[gunnar]

King of Burlesque (1936) - 7.5/10 - Walter Baxter stars

That was Oscar winner Warner Baxter, of course.

Whoops. Fixed, thanks.

I did like Baxter a lot more here than in In Old Arizona.

[Big Magilla]

King of Burlesque (1936) - 7.5/10 - Walter Baxter stars

That was Oscar winner Warner Baxter, of course.

[gunnar]

The Big Broadcast of 1936 (1935) - 5/10 - A radio station is in financial straits, but its salvation might be had by winning a contest with the aid of an invention by George Burns and Gracie Allen that can pick up any signal and broadcast it. There are a lot of musical and comedy acts shown through the magic of this device. There are also running storylines with the radio station operator and friends being kidnapped and another with George and Gracie and their antics. The Nicholas Brothers were pretty good in their part and some of the acts were mildly entertaining, but for the most part the movie is pretty lame.

Thin Ice (1937) - 7/10 - Sonja Henie stars as a hotel ski instructor at a Swiss resort who dreams of being allowed to be part of a figure skating show at the hotel as well. She falls for a man (Tyrone Power) that she meets on the ski slopes and they start to have a relationship. She doesn't know that he is really a prince who is in town to lead a conference. This was a bit of a step up from Henie's first movie and she is allowed to act a bit more. Tyrone Power is pretty good in the film and Henie isn't bad either, even if the plot is a bit thin. The figure skating shows are decent and the film is enjoyable.

All the King's Horses (1935) - 7/10 - A prince and the pauper scenario plays out here as King Rudolph (Carl Brisson) and his wife, Queen Elaine (Mary Ellis) are having problems due to his refusing to shave his beard because of appeasing his ministers and also not having enough time to spend with her. Enter actor/singer Carlo Rocco (also Carl Brisson), a look alike that changes places with the king after his wife has left him. The king then sets off to learn to live without all of the pomp and circumstance only to have the queen fall for Rocco in his guise as the king. Lots of musical interludes and mixups in a decent film.

King of Burlesque (1936) - 7.5/10 - Warner Baxter stars as Kerry Bolton, a wealthy theater producer who falls for a society lady (Mona Barrie) who has fallen on hard times financially. He also is oblivious to the feelings of his star performer Pat (Alice Faye). When Bolton marries the society lady, Pat takes a job in London, but Bolton's fortunes soon take a downward turn. I thought the movie was pretty entertaining with a few good musical numbers thrown in. The relationship between Bolton's assistant Joe (Jack Oakie) and Connie (Arline Judge) was funny throughout. We also get some entertainment from Fats Waller, Dixie Dunbar and others.

Behind the News (1940) - 6/10 - An earnest young reporter named Jeff earns a scholarship to work for a big city newspaper for six months. He is assigned to Stu, a veteran reporter who has taken to drink and is cynical about the job. Jeff is earnest and covers for Stu when a big story hits, but Jeff repays him with a mean practical joke. Jeff stumbles on to a big story, but can't get anyone to take him seriously due to the practical joke played on him. This was a decent film and I enjoyed it, even if some parts were a bit heavy handed.

Alone Yet Not Alone (2013) - 6/10 - In 1755, a tribe of Native Americans offered their services to the British, but were spurned, so they allied with the French instead. They attacked a number of settlers in the Penn's Creek Massacre, killing many adults and taking children captive. 12 year old Barbara Leininger and her 9 year old sister were captured and separated. Years later, Barbara joined her friend Marie Le Roy (a neighbor who was also captured) and two young men in escaping and trying to reach Fort Pitt and safety. The acting might have been a bit amateurish at times and some of the depictions of Native Americans may have been questionable, but overall I didn't think it was that bad. It also seemed to be fairly accurate based on the pamphlet written and published by Barbara and Marie after their escape.

The Secret Land (1948) - 6/10 - This film documents Operation Highjump, a U.S. mission to Antarctica to establish the Little America IV base and have planes scout various parts of the coast and interior for minerals and anything else of interest. Much of the film features the trip to Antarctica and problems that they encountered along the way. The film was shot by military cameramen, though some scenes were re-enacted later. It wasn't bad and there was some interesting footage, including transferring men between ships at sea using a cable. I may be getting a bit jaded about Antarctica films, though, having watched a number of them this year.

The Lovers' Wind (1978) - 9/10 - This film is a tour of the landscape of Iran, shot primarily from a helicopter. The narration is from the perspective of the wind as it travels throughout the country. In the desert, we see nomads traveling by camel, abandoned towns being reclaimed by the sand, and ancient cities being unearthed again. They give nice views of the city of Persepolis. Along the sea, we keep pace with birds in flight and observe fishermen at work. Along the plains, we see herds being gathered or allowed to water themselves. We see a hill covered in carpets so that they can dry only to see the wind send them tumbling. We follow a train through the mountains and tunnels. We also get to visit Tehran and go through the Golestan Palace. There is beautiful imagery here and the narration is poetical. I think it is an excellent film and certainly better than Scared Straight! which won the Academy Award that year. Filming was completed in 1970, but the death of the director, Albert Lamorisse (who won an Oscar for The Red Balloon) in a helicopter crash. The film was completed from his notes by his widow and son who released it in 1978.

[gunnar]

Broken Rainbow (1985) - 7/10 - Congress passed a law in 1974 to force the relocation of 10,000 Navajo people from land designated as part of the Hopi Nation. Supposedly the two tribes were in dispute over the land and it might lead to fighting. In reality, a coal company wanted the coal and other resources under the land and manufactured the issue to get the law passed. This film documents some of the struggle against the forced relocation and the damage it causes those involved and also delves into the history of broken promises and abuse of power by the government in Navajo affairs. The Navajo have uranium, oil, coal, and other resources on their land, but only get a very small percentage of the actual value. It's a pretty sad situation and one that is consistent with how Native American people have been treated for the past few centuries.

Resisting Enemy Interrogation (1944) - 8/10 - This training film features a bomber crew that is shot down and captured by the Germans. The Germans use a number of different methods on the individual members of the crew to gather scraps of information that they put together to identify an upcoming target. It turned out to be a pretty entertaining film. One review that I read indicated that a later documentary confirmed that the methods shown were pretty accurate.

The Titan: Story of Michelangelo (1950) - 5/10 - This documentary features sparse narration describing events in Michelangelo's life as well as some of the details in his most famous works. It spends a lot of time panning around David, the Sistine Chapel, and other of his works. I found it to be very dull.

Folies Bergère de Paris (1935) - 8/10 - Maurice Chevalier plays dual roles in this film. He plays Charlier, a stage performer and singer who does a great impersonation of Baron Cassini, a prominent local banker. Cassini (also Chevalier) is a womanizer who attends the performance one night and enjoyed it quite a bit. However, the Baron receives bad news about an investment and leaves town suddenly to try and take care of it. His partners hire Charlier to take his place at a formal gala and other engagements. Merle Oberon is excellent as Baroness Cassini. Ann Sothern plays Mimi, Charlier's girlfriend, and is okay. I thought that the movie was a lot of fun and I enjoyed the musical numbers at the beginning and end of the film as well.

Ali Baba Goes to Town (1937) - 7.5/10 - Eddie Cantor stars as Al Babson, a drifter riding the rails who is a huge fan of movie stars and collects their autographs when he can. An accident leaves him in the medical tent for 20th Century Fox where they are shooting a film. He gets hired as an extra, but overmedicates himself and wakes up to find himself in ancient Baghdad where they mistake him for Ali Baba's son. This is a fun comedy adventure with music thrown in and I enjoyed it a lot more than the other Cantor picture I've seen (Whoopee). Unfortunately, they had to throw in an unnecessary blackface appearance as well. Still, other than that it is a pretty good film. There are a lot of star cameos at the end of the picture.

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Unchained certainly has a lot of trivia attached to it. I think Dexter Gordon was actually a prisoner in Chino for a heroin conviction when he appeared in the film.

Desert Victory (1943) - 7/10 - This film examines the North Africa campaign fought by the British and their allies against Rommel and his German army. There is some captured footage included along with re-enactments and plenty of combat footage. The narration is informative, though a bit dry. It was a decent enough film for wartime, though I thought it got a bit repetitive at times.

After the Axe (1982) - 8/10 - This Canadian drama (a fictional documentary) shows what happens to an executive in a large company after he is fired. Since he had been with the company for a long time and to avoid problems, the company pays his salary for a year and also pays for relocation training to help him find a new job. The people at that company and the executives he meets later are all real, but the man and the company he worked for were fictional. I think that the movie does a good job showing what these 40-something executives might go through and how they likely need to realign their thinking to move on with their career.

The Cry of Reason - Beyers Naude: An Afrikaner Speaks Out (1988) - 7.5/10 - Beyers Naude was a white South African cleric who started speaking out against apart apartheid in the early 1960s. It caused him to separate from his church and start his own institute. He was harassed by the South African government and banned for seven years. He is interviewed here along with Desmond Tutu and many others about his work and his relationship with the black population. Archival footage is also mixed in and it all makes for a pretty good film.

Doing Time: Life Inside the Big House (1991) - 6/10 - This HBO film had the filmmakers visit Lewisburg Penitentiary in Pennsylvania where they interviewed guards, the warden, and prisoners to discover what their lives were like inside the prison. They also discussed with a few of the prisoners what led them to be in prison and what problems they currently had. I thought that the film was interesting at times, but didn't find myself fully engaged at others. Overall, it was okay.

He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin' (1983) - 7.5/10 - Jacques d"Amboise was the principal dancer for the New York City Ballet for many years. He started the National Dance Institute in 1976 to bring dance into New York City schools so that students could meet once each week with professional dancers and learn modern dance. Exceptional students were invited to join his 'Swat Team' and rehearse at Lincoln Center on Saturday mornings. At the end of the year they put on a big performance to show off the various routines that they learned, woven together into a story. This was a nice film and the kids seemed to be having a great time, even though it was hard work. d'Amboise is demanding, but generally in a nice way, taking the time to work with the kids, and they speak highly of him in the film.

Let My People Go (1965) - 7.5/10 - This film looks at events that led to the founding of the State of Israel, mostly from the beginning of the 20th Century through 1949. The founding of Tel Aviv, the British Mandate, Jewish Ghettos in Poland and elsewhere, concentration camps, etc. are all covered. Immigration to Palestine was limited even after WWII ended so that many Jews were kept in camps on Cyprus if they were caught trying to enter illegally. The footage was well chosen and the narration was good, though I felt that the history was sort of superficial. There was a lot to cram into a one hour documentary.

The Anderson Platoon (1967) - 7/10 - A French film crew was embedded with an American platoon in Vietnam for six weeks. This film shows what their lives are like during that time. There is combat, but there is also time to relax, eat dinner, bathe in the river, go on leave in a big city, and interact with locals. The narration is sometimes sparse as it often lets the film speak for itself. A number of the platoon members are wounded or killed during the course of the film. I found it to be an interesting look at some of the things soldiers in Vietnam had to deal with.

Wolves and the Wolf Men (1969) - 7/10 - Wolves are shown (and studied) in the wild. Some of them are captured, equipped with radio collars, and released so that researchers can study their movements. Wolves are also raised in captivity so that researchers can become close with them and study their social behaviors. In some areas, wolves were still being hunted to extinction and populations were somewhat threatened. I thought the film did a nice job showing the wolves that were raised in captivity and how they interacted with humans and each other. Their behaviors were also explained by the narrator or the scientists involved.

The Fighting Lady (1944) - 7.5/10 - The USS Yorktown is an aircraft carrier that was commissioned in 1943. This film takes place from July 1943-June 1944 and shows it traveling through the Panama Canal, undergoing sea exercises, and battling Japanese forces in various parts of the Pacific. We get to see plenty of action using gunport cameras and activity aboard the carrier with planes landing, sometimes too damaged to land properly. We also get to see aspects of everyday life aboard ship - writing or reading letters, playing cards, getting some sun on the deck, eating meals, getting mission briefings, etc. It is in technicolor and I think that this really adds to the film. The Yorktown is now a museum ship in South Carolina and I visited it a couple of years ago. It is a big ship and it was interesting to tour it.

On the Bowery (1956) - 5/10 - Ray is new to the Bowery, a place full of people who are down and out, making very little money and often spending what they do have on alcohol. Ray is taken advantage of by one of the residents that he thinks of as a friend, though Ray doesn't realize it. When he is sober, Ray swears to stay off drink and try to better himself, but the call of drink is too much to resist. I didn't really care for this film very much. It didn't really work for me, though it seems fairly popular to others.