When I write my posts here at the Movie Morlocks, I try my best to work whatever is on the schedule that day into my piece. You may have noticed a phrase I use with alarming regularity (seriously, go back and check out my past posts), “today/tonight on TCM,” because I find my inspiration from the movies I watch on TCM. If I see Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is playing (last week’s post) I might think of movie deaths that don’t sadden. The week before that, it was directors who were actors because John Huston movies were playing. Before that, Poltergeist was playing and I wrote on “Big Horror” versus “Little Horror.” Before that, it was all about works not normally associated with a director (James Whale’s Man in the Iron Mask was playing) and before that, acting without words (Old Man and the Sea with Spencer Tracy was on that day). As long as TCM continues to play movies, I’ll have ideas for posts. It’s almost like wearing a school uniform: You never have to worry about picking out your clothes (“Oh no, what do I write about for my next post? Oh, right, whatever movie is on the schedule.”). Then, earlier this week I thought, for the first time ever, why not write about every movie on the schedule? I mean, not in detail, of course, but general thoughts and feelings on each one. Okay, let’s do it. Here’s everything.
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Starting off the day, using the Eastern Standard Time schedule for my area, we have 1953′s Julius Caesar, starring James Mason, Marlon Brando, and John Gielgud. The first time I ever saw it, probably back around ’82 or ’83, I thought Brando was fantastic. I still think he’s very good but I think James Mason is much better now. In fact, thirty odd years later, James Mason has become an actor I rank in an elite group at the very top. I wrote up a performance of his here a few years ago, in 1972′s Child’s Play, and I still say it’s one of the best screen performances ever given. Other thoughts on Julius Caesar: I always forget it was directed by Joseph Mankiewicz. When I think of Mankiewicz, I think snappy modern dialogues, like A Letter to Three Wives and All About Eve, not Julius Caesar or Cleopatra. Finally, I love Edmund O’Brien, but I don’t think he works here at all, even in a small, undemanding role. Gielgud, however, is great in an equally small role.
Next up, Disraeli. I’ll keep this short and simple: I’ve always liked George Arliss. I think his acting was ahead of his time. He seems perfectly at ease in front of the camera and his command of the dialogue makes him stand out among the other actors struggling with technique in the early days of sound. But his movies were never impressive and never very interesting. This one is no different. But his acting is great and I’d recommend it just for that.
Knights of the Round Table. Hmm, what to say about this one? The thing is, I love the Arthurian legend. I love The Once and Future King most of all but for movies, I really like Excalibur. This 1953 rendering feels too glossy, too Technicolor, too… too Robert Taylor. Not a big fan of Taylor but I like him in some things, this just isn’t one of them. But you know, I do love that the sword, Excalibur, is in an actual anvil and they meet about it at Stonehenge. That’s pretty cool.
The Lion in Winter: Peter O’Toole should have won Best Actor. Period.
55 Days at Peking: I met Farley Granger a few years back at a screening of Strangers on a Train where he was doing a Q and A about the movie and his career afterwards. He made the great They Live by Night with Nicholas Ray, director of 55 Days, and bemoaned that Ray, who was so good at small budget noir, moved on to big budget technicolor movies. Well, all apologies to the late, great Mr. Granger, but I like this one. Furthermore, and I don’t necessarily know why this is true, I like almost anything better if it has Charlton Heston in it. There, I said it.
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And now we come to The Emigrants, the one movie on today’s schedule I haven’t seen. It was made in 1971 by Jan Troell, a director whose work I am sadly completely unfamiliar with, except for the 1979 remake of The Hurricane which, to put it mildly, doesn’t even approach the original John Ford classic. The Emigrants stars Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann so for years I thought it was directed by Ingmar Bergman. I should DVR it
Running on Empty. I haven’t seen it since I saw it in the theaters back in 1988. I remember thinking then, “Why doesn’t Judd Hirsch get more work?” The movie was good, I liked it. But Hirsch was the most interesting actor in it and he didn’t have enough screen time for my taste.
Gandhi. I watched it again recently and mentioned it in a post here. I’m still not impressed by it but Ben Kingsley is terrific (as if you needed me to tell you that). He’s an actor who never phones it in and is always interesting to watch. For instance, here’s all I remember about Iron Man 3: Ben Kingsley. That’s it. Honestly, he should have gotten a supporting actor nod for it.
Glory. I like this one a lot. Seen it three or four times. Denzel Washington won his first Oscar for it and he’s very good but Andre Braugher, Morgan Freeman, Matthew Broderick, and Cary Elwes all deserve recognition, too. And Freddie Francis as cinematographer, well, he was one of the best. It looks great.
Finally, A Cry in the Dark, from 1988 with Meryl Streep. When this movie was made, the guilt or innocence of Lindy Chamberlain, mother of Azaria Chamberlain, was undetermined. By 2012, it had been decisively confirmed that, in fact, a dingo took her baby (and thank you Seinfeld for making that a part of the cultural landscape). Sadly, she spent time in prison after losing her baby before it was sorted out. The movie is excellent but director Fred Schepisi’s best is still The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith.
Well, I kind of liked that. I just may write up entire days more often. After all, the only real problem I have with writing posts is deciding which movie on the schedule to work into the piece. If I write up the whole day, problem solved. Fair Warning: You may be getting more of my opinions than you bargained for.