The Caine Mutiny (1954)

Posted on December 20, 2013 by 4 Star Films

With a stellar cast starring Humphrey Bogart, Van Johnson, Fred MacMurray, and Jose Ferrer among others, the film begins with a young ensign assigned to the mine sweeper named the Caine. After the first lax captain is reassigned, their new commander Queeg (Bogart) is a stickler for detail and order. After a series of incidents the crew becomes increasingly annoyed with him. The situation worsesn when Queeg begins to obsess about a few missing servings of strawberries. All these events boil over during a typhoon when the second-in-command (Johnson) prodded on, feels Queeg is unfit for command and he takes over control of the Caine. In the ensuing court martial, he is put on trial for mutiny and his attorney (Ferrer) must try to show Queeg to be truly unstable. Although he wins the case, everyone soon comes to realize Queeg was just a war-wearied man who gave a lot of himself. Despite some stark revelations the young ensign finally marries his girl and gets a pleasant surprise when he is reassigned to another boat.

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

The Apartment (1960)

Posted on August 29, 2012 by 4 Star Films

Starring Jack Lemmon, Shirley Maclaine, and Fred McMurray, with director Billy Wilder, the film follows C. C. Baxter (Lemmon). He is a young man working in a large corporation that is very difficult to get ahead in. His only chance of moving up is through loaning his apartment to company executives so they can entertain their lady friends. This set up causes him constant inconveniences and leads to complaints from neighbors. One of these complications involves a elevator girl from work (Maclaine) who was left sleeping in his bed. Soon Baxter must figure out how to nurse her to health and cover for the executive who left her. During the process he slowly feels himself falling in love but it all ends there when she is to be married to the recently-divorced executive. Finally, finding his backbone, Baxter quits his new high-level job and eventually reunites with his love. Wilder and Lemmon teamed up again following Some Like it Hot and this one is pretty good movie-wise!