Movie Marathon Saturday: Pre-4th of July
After the holiday season which I celebrate from October until January the 1st, there is like a dead period until the 4th of July when typically Syfy has a marathon (that I don’t participate much in due to family and holiday commitments), but this year the channel has decided against it, instead featuring Freddy and the Elm Street movies. A lot of us TZ fans (yes, shortened for fanatics, for whom I am a card-carrying member) were a bit bummed, and our discord was given to Syfy for interrupting tradition, but nothing we say or do will change what done will soon be done. I personally decided to set up my own personal five day marathon (1st—5th, I will probably watch three episodes each night, with the 4th and 5th getting “special treatment” of more than that if time permits), but this weekend I woke up on Saturday without much thought on what I would watch to pass the time as July is a busy month where my activity could (but more likely not) be affected.
Fox Movie Channel was showing Fantastic Voyage (1966), and I
realized it was highly regarded among 60s sci-fi fans. I admit I have never
seen it, much to my shame. I took advantage and gave it a look-see. Quite a lot
of fun even if the special effects regarding a crew inside a ship miniaturized
to be injected into the body of a scientist to fix a clot debilitating the
brain specifically are definitely of their time (a common minor complaint
considering how spoilt we are nowadays)…I always felt the crew seemed to have
been sent into a lava lamp. The crew has the likes of Western veteran Arthur
Kennedy and genre icon Donald Pleasence as oft-dueling doctors, and a young,
stunning Raquel Welch (as Kennedy’s smitten assistant) are among the crew, so I
was geeking out, having not realized that these three were actually in the
movie. Pleasence alone had my inner genre nerd stoked. Kennedy and Pleasence
debating whether or not to leave the scientist’s body when up against
life-threatening (and seemingly futile) situations during the mission is fun,
as is hunky Stephen Boyd’s Grant realizing a saboteur was on board (why
wouldn’t there be, right?) when laser equipment (and obvious tampering with
“connective cord” keeping those outside of the ship from floating aimlessly
without attachment) damaged—their communication equipment ultimately resolving
the issue somewhat although dialogue with the outside team is cut off—provides
some extra suspense in the plot. Trips through arteries, the heart, and inside
the ear (before they must swim from a tear duct in the scientist’s eye) are
part of the adventure, as the heroes (including William Redfield as the pilot
of the “body sub”) must endure great risk with a time limit (60 minutes) to get
in and out before they “enlarge” back to regular size. Pleasence has a bout
with claustrophobia (revealing he was buried alive in the war) and wields a
mean tool that cracks a head before the much-mentioned white corpuscles arrive
to the Proteus (name of the sub) with bad intentions (protect the body they
belong from intruders). The scalpel drop resulting in a bad response inside the
ear is another memorable scene. Noir veteran, Edmond O’Brien and Oscar nominee
(I love this guy in Bus Stop) Arthur
O’Connell make for a delightful pair of military operation strategists,
spending a lot of time gulping coffee and monitoring the situation with great
concern for how it will all turn out.
I then watched a film I’ve long desired but never seemed to
find the space in time for: Harper (another 1966 movie; not planned) starring
ole-blue eyes, Paul Newman, as a PI in LA hired by paralyzed Lauren Bacall to
find her alcoholic (and very wealthy) husband, gone missing. She believes he is
on a bender and shacking up with a girl, so Harper investigates, which soon
involves addict club pianist/singer played pitiably by Julie Harris (The Haunting), the husband’s pilot
played by charmer Robert Wagner (“he’s so pretty”), Wagner’s flirty girlfriend
(and the missing millionaire’s daughter) played with particular seductive
effort by Pamela Tiffin, a former starlet who served to encourage the missing
millionaire’s awakened desire to learn astrology played expectedly obnoxiously
by Shelley Winters (mocked as a fat, food-gorging, boozing, loud pushover with
a creep truck-driving husband), an attorney friend to Newman in love with Tiffin
played by Arthur Hill (often embarrassing himself in front of eye-rolling
buddy, Newman), a mountain commune hippy (given the mountain by the missing
millionaire when under the influence) played by Strother Martin (!), and
Winters’ crooked sadistic husband played by Robert Webber (who uses a lit
cigarette to torture Harris later in the film). I was sure eyeballing lustfully
Newman’s rust-doored convertible as he gets clunked on the head or punched /
pummeled throughout, maneuvers mockingly through the parade of oddballs that
seek to either cash in on the millionaire or thwart his investigation,
continually ridicules (makes to look foolish) the inept police, and refuses to
grant his tired wife (Janet Leigh) a divorce. Turning up a sister murdering her
brother due to his responsibility in her habit and arrest for it, enduring a
long night in bars with Winters, narrowly escaping the wrath of Webber, Martin,
and the immigrants smuggled across into the States by them, seducing Leigh only
to leave her once again disappointed even while cooking breakfast for him,
avoiding guns pointed at him constantly (often going off or about to),
eschewing Tiffin’s advances, nodding his head at Hill’s dedicated pursuit of
Tiffin in disapproval, uncovering a money-exchange-for-kidnapped-victim plot,
and resolving the issue of where his client’s husband is provides plenty of
reason why the film’s running time is over 2 hours…it has a lot going on.
Newman is such a major star that the film’s entertainment value following him,
mindful of his sense of humor and willingness to put himself in danger quite a
bit keeps it all from being a chore. The fast car driving up those curvy
mountains sure made me nervous! Tiffin never fails to make the most of her sex
kitten presentation while Bacall completely acknowledges her disdain for the
husband while diabolically aware of her certain level of control in the
marriage despite its failures, speaking with that clever voice that carries
with it a certain confidence and bravado (she might have been put in a
wheelchair by a horse-riding accident, but her intellect is still very much
intact). I’m quite a fan of these detective stories in 60s LA, where the PI
encounters all sorts of lowlifes and peculiar folks along the way. Martin as
the faux spiritual guru, cast against type, is hilarious.
I hadn’t realized I seen The Mask of Dimitrios (1944) until
I found IMDb user comments from back in 2011! Considering Greenstreet and Lorre
were involved, it is no surprise I had, but not recollecting much about the
film left me astonished. Lorre as this mild-mannered crime novelist, moving
through Europe after his interest in a notorious criminal piques him into
action and Greenstreet as a former associate of the Zachary Scott Dimitrios scoundrel
wanting revenge for being betrayed sort of forging a tested alliance is reason
enough for anybody to check it out. Scott, I was rather harsh about in my
former review, but he’s just a figure similar to Keyser Sose, only really in
present day of the film at the end. The flashbacks did kind of become tiresome,
but their importance does outline just why he’s so sought after and might be
targeted for all his litany of misdeeds.
This is a review from my Scarecrow-88 account on the IMDb:
Wasn't this a pleasant surprise! I adore "The Maltese Falcon" so "The Mask of Dimitrios" was essential viewing since I love both Peter Lorre and Sidney Greenstreet. Dimitrios (as portrayed by the wooden, but dashing, Zachary Scott) is a murderer, thief, scoundrel, spy, turncoat, double-crosser, predator, and manipulator who preys on the weaknesses of others to further benefit his own means. Lorre portrays a detective novelist who has a particular interest in the life of Dimitrios, his stabbed, very dead, body found washed ashore (or we assume is his body, since the coat the corpse wears has a French identification card with Dimitrios' name), after seeing the corpse for himself thanks to a fan of his books, an inspector who takes him to the morgue. Greenstreet takes a peculiar interest in Lorre's activities, the two eventually "joining forces" to participate in the potential novelization of Dimitrios' career/life of crime. But Greenstreet's motives are complex which could drag Lorre into a dangerous situation. I just enjoyed the compelling complications and twists that arise as the story unfolds in regards to all the lives destroyed by Dimitrios, a really evil and crafty criminal who goes from a ragged, impoverished petty thief/murderer to a sophisticated, well-groomed, debonair master of disguise. We see how slick and charming Dimitrios is as he convinces victims to aid him in what seem like innocent partnerships, only to stab them in the back, take their pride, and leave their lives shattered into pieces (one poor schlep is taken for all that he's worth, is duped by a successful con into gambling away money he thought was legitimately his through a business venture, forced into betraying his country, eventually committing suicide—this is the kind of life that is reduced to shambles thanks to the malevolence of Dimitrios) in flashbacks told through various victims Lorre interviews. But Greenstreet drags Lorre into a far more perilous plot including blackmail and the revelation that his eyes were perhaps deceived (again, was or was not Dimitrios the man on that morgue slab?).I think just viewing the film for Greenstreet and Lorre's many scenes together is reason enough to see "The Mask of Dimitrios". I think they have a magic in both presentation and dialogue; they simply just work well off each other and their scenes have a sense of realism in how they communicate one to another. While movies about a character told in flashback don't necessarily always excite me, I think it works in this case because Zachary Scott is a rather boring actor (to me anyway) and seeing him in small doses helps the film. I prefer the structure of this film as other far more interesting actors (like Victor Francen, a charismatic rich heel who has a huge mansion and charming air about him, as Wladislaw Grudek) tell of how Dimitrios betrayed them. Following the downfall of Steven Geray's Karel Bulic, a timid, meek, naïve fellow who is perfect fodder for Dimitrios' kind of villain, was painful to watch for me. Quite simply, Dimitrios is a disease that infects anyone who comes into his orbit. I will say that you must prepare for a dialogue-heavy movie, because "The Mask of Dimitrios" is built around plot developments and characterization—I think, though, if you are not intimidated by this you are in for a rewarding experience. This is a MUST-SEE for Lorre fans as he is the star, not Scott, and approaches his character as one of an innocent, logical, practical man just trying to place a history behind a subject he's morbidly fascinated in. He's innocent because Lorre doesn't like this man in the least and when he actually abruptly halts his own murder, crying "You cannot continue to go around murdering people!" it proves that this guy's unmoral, reprehensible behavior must come to an end (which is where Greenstreet earns top honors as a hero, a criminal for sure, but someone who has been waiting a long time to confront the man who has caused him such heartbreak).
Fantastic Voyage: 4/5
Harper: 3.5/5
The Mask of Dimitrios: 4/5
Comments
Post a Comment