The French Connection (1971)

Posted on July 26, 2013 by 4 Star Films

In this crime thriller starring Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider, two detectives, Popeye Doyle and Cloudy Russo, work the grimy, tough streets of Brooklyn. They think they have happened upon a narcotics job and they use tapping and tailing to close in on the suspicious activity with a french connection. With no real results, they get pulled off the special assignment. That all changes after an unexpected twist followed by a wild chase. Doyle and his partner are finally close to cracking the case but it still takes more work and even more waiting. Finally, they seem to have the culprits but it ends far from perfectly for them. Up to the end Doyle is bent on finding “the frog” who has eluded him for so long. The ending felt a little too abrupt for my liking. However, this film did a good job at portraying the ugly and dirty side of New York realistically.

4.5/5 Stars

Gun Crazy (1950) – Film-Noir

Posted on July 24, 2013 by 4 Star Films

Starring John Dall and Peggy Cummins, the film opens with a young boy who is infatuated with guns. After stealing a gun from a hardware store, Bart is sent to reform school even though his friends and sister testify he would never kill a living thing with it. Bart spends some time in the army and finally returns home grown up. He goes to a carnival with old friends and meets a female sharpshooter. She gets him a job and they grow close only to be fired from the carnival. They get married and are happy for awhile but then she gives him a choice. Either they start robbing stores fro money or she will leave him. Reluctantly he agrees and they begin to get a little money robbing stores and gas stations. It is not enough so she convinces him to pull one last job so they can live a content life together. They begin working at a meat packing plant in preparation. The day arrives and they succeed but then Laurie shoots two people out of fear much to Bart’s horror. They must split up and the manhunt begins. The FBI track them down and the only place to go is back home. His old friends plead with him to surrender but they flee into the mountains with the authorities hot on their trail. They are trapped and Laurie is desperate once again but Bart cannot bear it anymore. Despite the tragic ending Bart ultimately redeems himself but it is too little too late. This was a precursor to Bonnie Clyde and it has its share of tense moments.

4/5 Stars

Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

Posted on July 23, 2013 by 4 Star Films

This epic court drama relates the true story of the War Crime Trials after World War II. With Stanley Kramer directing, this cast is amazing. Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Montgomery Clift, Judy Garland, Werner Klemperer, and even William Shatner all play a part. However, Maximillian Schell is by far the standout because he is such an amazing defender of his country’s honor throughout the entire film. He wants the Holocaust to be known and yet all the while he goes through the case with dignity even though the pressures are so great. For every intense moment the viewer is stuck in their seat and when the verdict comes it is hard to contain the emotion. This movie should be seen by all not only because it is great but it also chronicles an important event in history. Whatever happens we should never forget the events surrounding the Judgment at Nuremberg.

4.5/5 Stars

The Heiress (1949)

Posted on July 23, 2013 by 4 Star Films

Starring Olivia de Havilland and Montgomery Clift with director William Wyler, the film takes place in New York in the 1840s. Catherine is a shy and awkward young woman who lives with her domineering father who is a prominent widowed doctor. At a party a young man introduces himself and begins seeing Catherine frequently. Quickly their plans turn to marriage but her father will not approve. Since her lover is not rich, he sees him as a fortune hunter. Catherine decides to elope with her love, but he never returns leaving her feeling rejected and forlorn. soon the doctor gets ill and dies, but the relationship does not end will since Catherine blames her father. And in the process she has grown cold. Clift’s character finally returns and after some reluctance Catherine seems to agree to get married. he leaves to gather some belongings only to return to a bolted door. Catherine gives him some rejection of his own after what she endured. This films becomes interesting because you do not know who was truly in the right. First Clift seems to be the heel and then de Havilland evolves so much the audience turns on her.

4/5 Stars

West Side Story (1961)

Posted on July 20, 2013 by 4 Star Films

In this 1960s, musical adaption of Romeo and Juliet, two lovers become infatuated with each other but the problem is that none of their friends would ever approve. They come from two different classes and backgrounds which are constantly at odds. The two sides frequently clash as represented by the Shark and Jet gangs. Naively, the lovers believe they can get away and be happy forever. However, the situation escalates when the gangs take part in a rumble. Pretty soon the situation is out of control and it has become something nobody wanted. Hope for the future finally seems possible for the pair but it is brutally crushed in an instant. The viewer is left with a feeling of tragedy. This is a very good film for the most part and many of the songs are great, sticking with you afterwards. I suppose it is quite difficult to go wrong with a story from Shakespeare .

4.5/5 Stars

The Asphalt Jungle (1950) – Film-Noir

Posted on July 18, 2013 by 4 Star Films

* May contain spoilers
Directed by John Huston and starring an ensemble cast headed by Sam Jaffe and Sterling Hayden, this was the first great noir heist film. Jaffe has just recently been released from prison and he has contrived an intricate jewel robbery. He teams with a multi-talented safe cracker, a small time thug with dreams of owning a farm, and an invalid driver. The whole operation is to be backed by an attorney who is in a difficult situation. Initially the procedure begins well enough but soon things go haywire with alarms, misfired guns, and then police. Now Jaffe is wanted again, Hayden is slowly dying, a bookie loses his nerve, and the attorney tries to pull a fast one. The perfect conception turns out to be far from it in the end. This film reminded me strikingly of The Killing which I saw earlier. Both are heist films starring Hayden and they end disastrously. For her part Marilyn Monroe steals the screen in her first prominent role which was a foretaste of what was to come.

4/5 Stars

Happy Birthday Barbara Stanwyck!

Posted on July 16, 2013 by 4 Star Films

Today marks the birthday of the iconic Barbara Stanwyck. She often played strong women in her films but she had the ability to play comedic as well as dramatic roles very effectively in such diverse films as The Lady Eve (1941) and Double Indemnity (1944). Later in her career she would go on to star in her own TV show The Big Valley (1965-69).

A few of her films I may try and see in the future include: Baby Face (1933), Stella Dallas (1937), Golden Boy (1939), Remember the Night (1940), The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), Sorry, Wrong Number (1948), The Furies (1950), and Executive Suite (1954).

Meet John Doe (1941)

Posted on July 16, 2013 by 4 Star Films

Starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck with direction by Frank Capra, the film begins with a news woman (Stanwyck) creating a made up story about John Doe, a man willing to commit suicide to protest big government. In order to keep the story going, they take a man off the street to effectively be John Doe. At first John (Cooper) and his friend the Colonel (Walter Brennan) are attracted by the chance to work. However, slowly he seems to become John Doe and the whole nation is seemingly behind him with Stanwyck’s character falling for his image as well. A political machine tries to discredit him and prove he never was John Doe. Now all along John decides to go through the suicide to prove his point to all. The political machine tries to stop him and Stanwyck finally does saying they can still keep the ideals of John Doe alive. Sharing some similarities with Mr. Smith, this film is one of those feel good films.

4/5 Stars

Double Indemnity (1944) – Film-Noir

Posted on July 16, 2013 by 4 Star Films

If the Maltese Falcon was the first great film-noir then this film has to be a refining and improvement of the genre. Billy Wilder put together a crime film that is still intriguing today with its femme fatale and other techniques in storytelling and cinematography.

*May Contain Spoilers

Starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, and Edward G. Robinson, this is a classic film-noir. Walter Neff is your average American insurance salesman. However while trying to sell some accident insurance he falls for a woman who is married to a former widower. Together they plot and carry out a murder on her irritable husband trying to cash in on a double indemnity clause. Although everything goes as clockwork the two of them must stay apart and Neff’s colleague is hot on their trail. Through a series of visits with Deitrichson’s depressed step-daughter, Neff himself finds out Phyllis was seeing someone else. In their final confrontation he figures out she killed her husband’s first wife . Then she preceded to use Neff for her own purposes.Following their confrontation Neff feels guilt and so he records all he knows for his colleague Keyes to hear later. This movie was definitely full of suspense as well as great characters. Directer Wilder utilizes the voice over with flashback very effectively to tell the story.

5/5 Stars

Titanic (1953)

Posted on July 16, 2013 by 4 Star Films

Starring Barbara Stanwyck and Clifton Webb with a solid cast of others, the film follows different people before and during the sinking of the infamous ocean liner. Stanwyck has taken her son and daughter away from their wealthy father. He gets on board however and the relationship gets strained. Meanwhile a young man falls for their daughter trying to win her affection. The viewer also sees the captain who seems to be a good man and we come to known a priest turned drunk who is in disarray. When the ship strikes the iceberg everything changes instantly and the estranged pair show their love while others show their courage. This film is not historically accurate and some people will find it unspectacular compared to the modern blockbuster. However, it is all about the characters and they make this a very moving if not underrated film. It seems fitting that I first watched this film exactly 100 years after the fact.