Gone to Earth (1950)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Gone to Earth (1950) – M. Powell & E. Pressburger

The Archers (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger) declared this a success (by having the arrow hit the bullseye before the opening credits) and it does achieve a certain sense of time and place (with some beautiful Technicolor images) as their best work does (e.g., Black Narcissus, I Know Where I’m Going!, The Red Shoes, etc. etc.). Jennifer Jones (then wife of executive producer David O. Selznick who took the finished film and drastically re-cut it, releasing it as The Wild Heart, an inferior version) plays Hazel Woodus, a naïve young girl, daughter of the local harp player, who is courted by both the mild-mannered local parson (Cyril Cusack) and the randy local squire (David Farrar). Impetuously, she can’t make up her mind (even after being married) and seemingly prefers the world of animals to humans, especially her pet fox, who is under threat from the squire and his fox-hunting mates.  It’s a small film, situated in a folksy backwoods part of Scotland (I think), where some locals believe in the world of faeries and their magic while others have devoted themselves to Christianity. If I were a young girl, I might be entranced by the romantic angle but this left me a little cold despite appreciating Hazel’s confusion and ambivalence toward being loved and controlled.  The ending is quite a doozy however and worth the price of admission!

 

Champion (1949)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Champion (1949) – M. Robson

Less a film-noir than a straightforward morality tale, but with the fight game as its vehicle, I guess it fits with other films in the genre such as The Set-Up (1949) or Body and Soul (1947). But Kirk Douglas, as the boxer who rises from poverty to the championship, seems unambiguously selfish and uncaring – there isn’t a fatal mistake that he makes to bring on film noir’s downbeat consequences but rather his whole approach to life is to tread on other people.  In that way, his downfall feels more like comeuppance or just desserts; the terrible fickle finger of fate that so often strikes down noir protagonists doesn’t appear here – instead we come to hate Douglas, although perhaps we also feel pity since he can’t seem to shake his anger at being abandoned by his father as a child and looked down upon by others because of his poverty. The film clearly identifies this anger as the source of his success as a boxer but it is sad that he can’t reciprocate the caring and support he receives from those around him: his brother (Arthur Kennedy), his manager (Paul Stewart), and his first love (Ruth Roman). He lets them all down in his quest for fame and status. As directed by Mark Robson (previously part of producer Val Lewton’s stable of directors), the film is well-paced with some quirky montage scenes (of training) before the going gets grim. Stanley Kramer produced but this is before his pictures became too message-heavy. With all these caveats in mind, the film still stands out as a showcase for the talents of the up-and-coming Kirk Douglas – his charisma knows no bounds and he offers a brave performance that isn’t afraid to embrace the anti-hero.

 

The Bridge (Series 1; 2011)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Bridge (Series 1; 2011) – M. Mårlind, H. Rosenfeldt, & B. Stein

In search of a series that I can watch in the limited time between when the kids go to bed and when I need to get some shut-eye before work the next day, I turned to yet another cop drama/serial killer thriller. This one did come highly recommended – from Sweden/Denmark. We begin with a dead body found on the bridge between Copenhagen and Malmo, neatly placed exactly halfway across the border. Swedish detective Saga Norén (Sofia Helin) takes charge of the investigation – she has an unusual way of interacting with people, let’s say she is neurodivergent – but she is an excellent detective. She is partnered with Danish investigator Martin Rohde (Kim Bodnia) who is bemused by her behaviour but comes to feel affection for her. His family life is complicated – his 20 year old son from a former marriage has just started living with him and his wife and their young children. As the case unfolds, the writers deftly weave the lives of the detectives into the fabric of the mystery – is the killer someone they’ve known or worked with? What is his motive? The 10-part series is gripping enough and the characters are rich and charismatic – it might lead to binge watching.  But, in the end, it's just another in a long line of similar thrillers, enjoyable while it lasts, but evaporating soon after. I’m not sure I’m ready for the second series just yet, but maybe someday.

  

Alias Nick Beal (1949)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Alias Nick Beal (1949) – J. Farrow

Although Ray Milland plays the title character, a Mephistophelean political advisor to District Attorney Joseph Foster (Thomas Mitchell), the film really belongs to Mitchell who descends the slippery slope inherent in the Faustian bargain offered by Nick Beal. This is Goethe by way of political noir: should Foster run for governor on the back of his successful prosecution of a local gangster (facilitated by Beal)? Should he allow Beal to make a deal with another corrupt politician that will bring him the voting bloc he needs to win? Foster may think that becoming governor will enable him to do all the good he can but we can see the corrosive effect on his morals with each baby step in the wrong direction, goaded by Beal. Milland, who had already won the Best Actor Oscar three years earlier (for The Lost Weekend, 1945), plays Beal as a shadowy figure with strange eyes, always on the periphery of the scenes he is in. He plays harder with Donna Allen (Audrey Totter), a prostitute whom he refashions into a competent campaign assistant for Foster, who we think is also positioned to lead him into an affair. Throughout the film, the references to Beal as the devil incarnate proliferate but it’s difficult to know his game – does he seek only Foster’s soul, or a high-placed political leader that he can control? Director John Farrow (Mia’s dad) and cinematographer Lionel Lindon keep things suitably noir with lots of foggy locales. Mitchell seems genuinely torn and remorseful but the film either never becomes dark enough or the inevitable ending isn’t the right one (although it is pretty weird).

 

Night at the Crossroads (1932)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Night at the Crossroads (1932) – J. Renoir

Long before the mystery movie became standard fare – and predating film noir by a good decade or so -- Jean Renoir directed this Inspector Maigret mystery (from Georges Simenon). It’s an early sound film but it doesn’t feel stagebound – instead, the camera is out and about in the countryside, or more specifically, a muddy suburb of Paris where a few houses cluster around a dodgy petrol station and garage. We’re introduced to the community gradually – we don’t actually see Maigret (Pierre Renoir, the director’s brother) until the murder/robbery is discovered – but the characters we meet quickly turn on an immigrant couple (from Denmark) as chief suspects (based on xenophobia alone, it seems). But Maigret and his team soon realise that Carl Anderson is probably innocent and Maigret heads out to the suburb to get the lay of the land. Carl’s sister (played by Winna Winifried) hangs all over Maigret and other suspects act suspiciously. And then a strange thing happens – either a reel is missing or Renoir neglected to film some scenes (reports differ). Maigret closes in on the villain(s), there is a car chase, and the case is wrapped up.  Yet Renoir has captured a mood, shooting often at night, and although the mystery turns out not to matter as much, the film showcases Renoir’s talent and fits (between La Chienne, 1931, and Boudu Saved from Drowning, 1932) nicely into his amazing streak of masterpieces and near-masterpieces of the 1930s (topped off by The Grand Illusion, 1937, and The Rules of the Game, 1939). Although not the rare lost treasure I had hoped to discover, still a solid entry in the canon.

 

School of Rock (2003)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

School of Rock (2003) – R. Linklater

Somehow, I went 20 years without seeing this film, not for any particular reason other than that it seemed like a kids’ film and I am an adult. Now that my kids are old enough, it happened.  Jack Black plays Dewey Finn, a perpetual adolescent who has just been kicked out of his classic rock band and just before the city’s battle of the bands is about to begin. He’s also about to be kicked out of his apartment, if he can’t get together his share of the rent.  So, when the principal (Joan Cusack) of a prestigious prep school calls looking to offer his roommate (screenwriter Mike White) a substitute teaching job, Dewey decides to take the gig, masquerading as his friend (“Mr. S.”).  Of course, he doesn’t know how to teach, but what he does know is ROCK.  You really need to have a high tolerance for Jack Black and his schtick to enjoy this movie – personally, I like him, so it worked for me, but it is definitely all high-octane goofy improv action. (Director Richard Linklater must have been a fan of Tenacious D.). Basically, Dewey takes his 5^th grade class and teaches them to be a rock band who he imagines will eventually back him in the battle-of-the-bands. It’s your traditional bad-news-bears-styled plot, the underdogs make good: you’ve seen it before. The kids vary in their performances but no one is too terribly cringe-worthy and under Linklater’s expert direction, some heartstrings are pulled. Classic rock fills the soundtrack.  It’s a feel good affair, occasionally funny, and good for 5^th grade kids (and not bad for parents).

 

Amsterdam (2022)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Amsterdam (2022) – D. O. Russell

I was 2/3 of the way through Amsterdam before I realized that Christian Bale was channeling Peter Falk (that voice!) but the fact that his character (a doctor and WWI vet) also has a glass eye should have tipped me off.  “Why Falk?” remains a mystery although it sounds like the kind of challenge Bale or director David O. Russell might come up with for themselves. It is a very quirky film! We begin around 1930 with Burt Berendsen (Bale) and his African American lawyer friend Harold Woodman (John David Washington) called to perform an autopsy on their former WWI military commander General Bill Meekins who has died under suspicious circumstances. But when they attempt to report the results to his daughter, they soon find themselves charged with murder and on the run from the law.  At this point, the film flashes back to WWI and we get Burt and Harold’s backstory and we are introduced to Valerie (Margot Robbie), their Jules & Jim-styled partner/love interest/friend. She arranges for them to escape the Argonne to Amsterdam where they live a carefree life (free from the prejudices and judgment of America, including Burt’s wife and in-laws). They also run into two spies (Mike Myers and Michael Shannon) who know Valerie (and who feature later in the plot). Eventually, however, Burt feels the need to return to the US where he sets up a practice helping down-and-out veterans and Harold soon joins him there to offer legal support.  At this stage, we return to the “present” and follow the pair as they try to clear their names and figure out who killed Meekins. This takes the film into a more political direction, alluding to some true events that raise the spectre of American fascism in the 1930s/40s (and, of course, in the present too). Of course, Valerie returns to join in the action. The film itself is a star-studded well-staged period piece that rambles merrily along but never gains enough momentum to make its big finale pay off. That said, I enjoyed it (and can’t believe it is the first David O. Russell film in seven years).