April 17

Two of my favorite actors - old and new - share a birthday today: William Holden and Sean Bean. I'm not sure what it is about April, but so many of my favorites were born this month, and that includes friends and family.

And tonight, Game of Thrones premieres on HBO. It's the first day in years that I really wish I had television. I love the books, and with Sean Bean playing my favorite character from the first book (Ned Stark), it's as delightful as finding out he was playing my favorite character from the Lord of the Rings series (Boromir), or my favorite character from the Iliad (Odysseus). He has a habit of doing that, and no complaints here! Alas, Game of Thrones will air tonight, and I will not be able to watch it, but I will be dreaming of it, and waiting for the day I can watch it myself. Sigh.


Happy birthday, Sean Bean, and happy birthday to my number one favorite -- William Holden.

Quicky run-down

I was visiting a friend for the past few days, and she showed me a bunch of movies, new and old, that I'd never seen before.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) -- fun! I love Jane Russell in particular, and the music is catchy.

Moonstruck (1987) -- meh. Not bad, but not my type of movie. At least it had opera in it!

Inkheart (2008) -- fun! Helen Mirren steals every scene she's in. I want to see this one again.

Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) -- entertaining, nice music, but not one I particularly want to see again.

Chicago (2002) -- blech, did not like this one, mostly because I could not care about the unsympathetic characters. Why, exactly, am I supposed to root for murderesses to evade their sentences? I did like Catherine Zeta Jones, though. I thought she was great, but it's just not a story I cared for.

True Grit (2010) -- well, I didn't actually finish watching this one. I was so bored about forty-five minutes in that I gave up on it. I know, I'm a Western fanatic, but nothing about this one caught my attention long enough to keep it.

Snippet!

Click here to read a snippet from my upcoming story "Measure of a Man."

Publishing news!

Woo! After a long hiatus of working on novels, I have just had a short story accepted to the newest volume in the Heroes in Hell anthology. My story is called "Measure of a Man" and will be out this summer in Lawyers in Hell. I got to write about Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp, and even work in opera. Life is good!

This is not the cover, just a promotional postcard, but it's pretty cool looking!

Warlock (1959)

This is an excellent film. It won't make my own favorite list because I dislike Henry Fonda and there's way too much of him and way too little Richard Widmark, but that's a personal prejudice, and doesn't prevent this from being a great movie.

This one has a complex, yet satisfying plot. The town of Warlock is overrun by a nasty set of cowboys who feel it's their right to control everything, using whatever violence is needed. Richard Widmark plays Johnny Gannon, a member of the cowboys who stays distinctly on the sidelines and who decides to quit their company when he can't stomach their methods any longer. His younger brother, Billy, played by Frank Gorshin, stays on with the cowboys.


The town hires a famous marshal/gunfighter, Clay Blaisedell (Henry Fonda) to clean up the town. He brings with him his partner, Tom Morgan (Anthony Quinn, who is fabulous in his role), and their entire gambling establishment! He does his job, cleans up the town, but in a bid for true law and order, the town hires Gannon as the new marshal. Multiple alliances, betrayals, and showdowns ensue between various parties.

What I liked best was, of course, Widmark's role as Gannon, taking on a tough job but believing in the law and justice, even though he's liable to get backshot at any moment. I love love love characters who are willing to die for what they believe in. I loved Anthony Quinn and his complex dependent relationship with Henry Fonda. Movies rarely get into how complicated friendships can be. Usually, scripts reserve such complexity for "love" relationships, but in real life, straight friendships can be even more complex. This movie doesn't shirk that, and I very much appreciate that. De Forest Kelley also has a nice role as one of the cowboys, who goes from leading the violence, to honoring his own word and helping out Widmark when he's also had enough.


The movie is action-filled, and yet works in the deeper stuff without ever slowing down the action. I appreciate that too. It's a well-rounded film with a satisfying ending. Very enjoyable.

(more lovely scenery too!)

The only things I didn't like where the two women characters, played by Dorothy Malone and Dolores Michaels. Their characters were both necessary to the story, but I found them both annoying. And I really wish someone else had the Henry Fonda role. He's fine, he does a good job, there's nothing wrong with him and his character is quite intriguing, I just personally don't enjoy his performances. Sorry.

The Sell-Out (1976)

I've been watching Richard Widmark and Oliver Reed movies lately, so imagine my sheer delight when I discovered a movie with both of them in it! Mwah-hah-hah! I had no idea they'd made a movie together.


The Sell-Out is not good, but it's not bad either. I found it entertaining enough that I'd definitely watch it again, particularly if I can get a better copy. The DVD I watched had absolutely terrible picture quality. It's a fairly formulaic spy film, but it's elevated by Widmark and Reed's performances, and the location shooting in Israel. Widmark stars as Sam, a retired CIA agent, living in Israel with his girlfriend. He's dragged back into the action when his old protege Gabriel (Reed) comes crashing back into his life. Seems Gabriel defected to the Russians awhile back and now wants out. Seems certain members of the CIA and KGB have a secret agreement to help each other eliminate certain agents who are either embarrassing or compromising to each agency and Gabriel is next on the list. He turns to Sam for help. Some failed assassination attempts on Gabriel kill innocent bystanders and bring the Israelis in, and things get complicated fast. Add in Sam's current girlfriend, Deborah (Gayle Hunnicutt), who used to be Gabriel's girlfriend before he defected... and things get even more complicated.

The film's strength is definitely the two leads. As they were the reason I watched this, they did not disappoint. Widmark and Reed work really well together, playing, sparring, and snarling at each, but always with a current of respect underneath. Particularly Reed for Widmark. And when Sam physically threatens Gabriel, you get the feeling he's perfectly capable of carrying out his threat, even though he's twenty years older. Ultimately, Sam and Gabriel slip back into a smooth partnership when they find themselves on the run together. I particularly liked the last half of the film, once the two go on the lam. Sam leads, Gabriel follows, backing him up, deferring to his old boss instantly, and I just loved watching the two actors support each other when they head towards the inevitable confrontation with the man who set them up. There's something very satisfying in movies where the two characters are at odds until circumstances put them on the same side. Like in LA Confidential, when Ed Exley and Bud White finally join forces.


The last third of the film is basically one big car chase as the two men race for the border to Jordan, pursued by both the bad guys and the Israelis. Pretty exciting chase through interesting scenery. Best moment of the entire film is when they find themselves in the middle of a mine field in the desert. After driving along at about half a mile an hour for a few nail-biting moments, Widmark finally growls, "Oh the hell with it," and stomps on the accelerator, flooring it. Made me grin in a good way. It was a great moment. Also sort of summed up the fact that neither he nor Gabriel had anything else to lose at that point.

So, a rather routine, betrayed-spies-on-the-run-in-foreign-country flick, worth watching for Richard Widmark and Oliver Reed, if they're your cup of tea.


(And I must admit, it's also just plain, silly fangirl fun to hear both Widmark and Reed say "Deborah," which is also my name.)

The Last Wagon (1956)

Another highly enjoyable Richard Widmark Western, although this one has a few problems, mostly stemming from the fact that it can't quite make up its mind whether it wants its central character to be a hero or an anti-hero, and that leads to a few plot problems, particularly the ending, which goes a bit out-of-the-blue Hollywood. However, I didn't really mind, because Widmark was absolutely fabulous, the action was fast and entertaining, the Arizona scenery spectacular, and did I mention that Widmark was wonderful? This was pretty much a win-win film!

(gorgeous scenery!)

Widmark plays Comanche Todd, a white man raised by Comanches. The film opens with him on the run/getting caught by one of the nastiest, most brutish sheriff's I've ever seen. Egads! This guy was pure meanness, and the actor (George Matthews) was perfectly cast. (How nasty is he? He shoots at a young boy and beats up a teenager half his size! Dude! At least Widmark is a grown man and can take care of himself -- mostly.) Timothy Carey shows up briefly as the sheriff's ill-fated brother in the beginning. Fortunately for Widmark, they meet up with a wagon train heading to Tucson, and the settlers don't take kindly to the nasty sheriff's behavior, even if Widmark's character is a murderer and the sheriff tells them repeatedly he deserves it.


The story changes direction abruptly when the wagon train's young adults take off in the night to go swimming and when they return... Apaches have massacred everyone else in the wagon train. The wagon Widmark is shackled to is shoved off a cliff, but he survives the fall. The rest of the movie's action is about Widmark helping the young people get out of Apache country alive. Trust and overcoming prejudice become the main themes through the rest of the film. Nick Adams plays one of the survivors who gives Widmark the most attitude (naturally). Felicia Farr plays the oldest of the group, and the most sensible. I've liked her since I saw her in 3:10 to Yuma. She and Widmark fall for each other, and I liked their quiet romantic moments, snatched in moments here and there between attacks and running for their lives.


I watched this one twice while I had it from Netflix, and wouldn't mind owning it on DVD either.

(James Drury shows up briefly as a cavalry officer)

The Law and Jake Wade (1958)

What an enjoyable Western! I really loved this movie and will have to pick it up on DVD at some point. Robert Taylor, Richard Widmark, and Patricia Owens star, John Sturges directed. I'm not particularly a Robert Taylor fan, though I also don't mind him either. He's quiet a large chunk of the time, his character lost in thought -- plans and self-recriminations -- and he does the brooding/scheming thing here pretty well. His silence is countered by Richard Widmark, who is absolutely delightful here as Taylor's opposite -- a quite garrulous outlaw who appears to love the sound of his own voice as he uses words to undermine Taylor. He's also just as smart and calculating. More so, in some ways than Taylor's character. They are very well-matched for cat-and-mousing with each other.


This movie wastes no time whatsoever jumping into the action. Taylor, a former outlaw now turned lawman, busts Widmark out of jail in the first five minutes. They were partners awhile back, but Taylor couldn't stomach the killing and went straight. Only problem is, when he quit, he ran out on Widmark with the all the money from their last bank holdup. So, not only is Widmark sore at being betrayed, he wants his money back. The rest of the movie is a quest to retrieve those buried funds. Throw in Patricia Owens as Taylor's girl, who Widmark kidnaps and brings along as insurance for Taylor's good behavior, and Widmark's gang of ne'er-do-wells, and the requisite Indian attack and there's plenty of action to keep the film moving.


What I particularly loved about this movie was Widmark's character, Clint, and the contrast between him and Taylor's character, Jake. Clint has no morals, no qualms or even a flash of conscience over killing, robbing, whatever. At the same time, though, he has a very distinct code of honor, and he never lies in the film. He's, ironically, more loyal to Jake than Jake is to him. Wouldn't stop him from killing Jake, but there's respect and genuine friendship there too. You get the feeling Jake's death would be the only killing he might regret, even as he recognizes the necessity. He likes Jake, even after being betrayed. Clint is also brave and pretty darn fearless, going after the Indians alone.

I love me a well-rounded and complex bad guy, and Clint is that. Smart too. He knows Jake well enough to take serious precautions on preventing him from escaping or gaining the upper-hand. For example, he insists on keeping Jake's hands bound behind him while they travel, refusing to untie him, because he knows darned well what Jake's capable of. I loved that when Clint reluctantly relents and gives in to the repeated protests of his own gang to untie him, as he's been expecting, the second he does Jake bolts. And I love even more that Clint does not berate his men for what is really his own failing. He knew better. So he just gives them a look, and takes steps to regain custody of his former partner. Widmark is so perfect in the role. And naturally, there's the inevitable showdown between the Jake and Clint, with some great dialogue, and a last exciting bit of cat and mouse.

The movie is filmed around Lone Pine, so there is also lovely Alabama Hills, Death Valley, and Sierra scenery. It's beautiful.


All in all, a very satisfactory Western.

Slow time for films chez moi

Alas, it's been a mostly no-movies zone over here for a while now, so I have nothing to report. Life has been too busy, and I've had a deadline on a short story I need to meet, so my time has been spent writing. I did watch Burnt Offerings (1976) last weekend, which is actually a horror movie. Highly unusual for me to watch horror, but Oliver Reed was in it, so I gave it a shot...

Actually rather liked it, and it didn't give me nightmares. It was more of a suspense horror film than freaky gory horror, and I can handle that. Falls under that horror subgenre of "Deadly Houses." I swear, anyone ever offers you a deal to go babysit a gigantic mansion out in the boonies somewhere, for an unbeatable price -- Don't Do It! This particular mansion wasn't haunted, it was just alive, and needed injuries and death to "feed" and regenerate itself. Naturally, if you go there to stay, you get put on the house menu. Coolest scene in the movie was when the house was "refreshing" itself, the old boards popping off by themselves to expose shiny new white boards underneath, old broken tiles cascading off the roof. Freaky and very cool. Bette Davis was in this film, and it might just be the first time I actually liked her in a movie. Maybe she mellowed as she got older. But her Aunt Elizabeth was neat. I wanted her for my aunt!

Oliver Reed was very great, as usual. Very appealing in this movie. I'd say his character was the only sensible one in the movie (until the end -- dude, run away, run away!), except he was handicapped by nightmares from his youth of this funeral and a very frightening, grinning Chauffeur, who was more terrifying than the house. The Chauffeur's one of those creepy characters who is twice as creepy because he doesn't really do anything but grin at you, but what you think he might do is the terrifying part.

Creepy!

The Prince and the Pauper (1937)

Alas, this movie was a disappointment to me. But when Errol Flynn is top billed and he doesn't appear until an hour into the movie, and then has maybe twenty minutes of screen time?? Hmph. The lack of Flynn does not make me happy, even though I knew going into the film he would most likely be playing a light, flippant character. Sure enough, he did. Not a bone of seriousness in anything he does. But at least I expect that from him going into the film. I just didn't expect so little for him to do in the film. I hoped his role would be a bit meatier.

The movie was very surfacy, no emotional depth, nothing for me to hold onto or go away with when the film ended. It's a diverting, but ultimately forgettable, two hours of entertainment. My favorite parts were the exact opposite of what I had enjoyed in Crossed Swords! In Crossed Swords I liked all the Edward/Miles Hendon stuff. In this one, I liked all the Tom Canty/court stuff. That is mostly due to three things in this version: 1) Miles Hendon and Edward do nothing of interest in their section, 2) Tom Canty is not a bumbling idiot and gets one of the best scenes in the film (when he objects to taxing windows -- totally awesome moment), and 3) Claude Rains. All the seriousness I wanted from the movie, I got in Rains' character. He was fabulous as the Earl of Hertford, angling for a way to control the throne. Not really outright evil, just power hungry and ambitious, and when presented with an opportunity to seize control, he doesn't hesitate to grab it. Whenever Rains got screen time, the movie perked up considerably. They could have doubled the size of his role and I would have loved this film a lot more!


This movie has the advantage of twins playing the Tom/Edward roles, so there's no split screen or other movie magic to show them together. This is very cool, and I much appreciate it, but I can't say I really engaged with the kids either. They were just there, and they had far too much screen time. The end coronation in particular dragged on way too long, but here I'm spoiled by Crossed Swords, which intercut the coronation with the problems Edward had of getting there on time. That kept the tension going the whole time, where this film only showed the pomp and circumstance.


My personal bias in films is always the serious over the lighthearted, and action/adventure over plain drama, so while I'm glad I saw this one, it didn't satisfy my movie needs like Crossed Swords did. I'd very much like to see the Walt Disney Guy Williams' version of Prince and the Pauper, but, alas, I don't believe that one's on DVD. I have a feeling I'd really like that one.

A ramble of thoughts

I have not been able to put Crossed Swords out of my head since I saw it. I no sooner returned the DVD to Netflix on Monday than I ordered it from Amazon. Recalling various parts of the movie and the music have been consuming most of my waking minutes. It's been a long time since a movie so grabbed me and wouldn't let go. Makes me wonder why. Why this one and not that one? Why A and not B, even when they're in the same genre? What is it that plays so strongly to our individual passions?

This particular movie speaks to me. I wouldn't expect it to speak to anyone else, not even my sister or close friends. We all have different loves, different passions, different buttons to push, and different needs. This movie meets mine, or at least the Oliver Reed portions of the film do. I know some of the reasons, but not all of them.

I know a lot of it is due to Oliver Reed himself. I remember when I saw Gladiator for the first time. I was thoroughly in love with Russell Crowe, but every time he played a scene with Oliver Reed, Crowe faded into the background. Considering how much I loved Russell Crowe, that's saying something. But Reed just has that affect, I don't care if he was 62 in Gladiator, he is still more charismatic and sexier than his younger co-star. It was Proximo's voice, his lines of dialogue, and the way he said them that stuck with me, not Maximus. I can never recall the famous Maximus lines that were plastered in the media for awhile while Gladiator was out, but I can still to this day quote most of Proximo's lines from "you sold me queer giraffes" to "I did not say I knew him, I said he touched me on the shoulder once," to "Why would I want that? He makes me rich," to lines in between. I can't even properly remember my favorite Maximus line from the end about smiling back at death... But start me with "Oh, you should see the coliseum, Spaniard..." and I'm off and running. That's the Oliver Reed touch. In a world of blandness, Reed's zest is never less than memorable. I went into Gladiator loving Russell Crowe and came out loving Oliver Reed.


I would love the Crossed Swords/Prince and the Pauper character of Miles Hendon, as written in this particular version of the story, no matter who played him, simply because he's written as the kind of hero who automatically appeals to me. But I also know Reed takes the character well beyond the ordinary, just in the delivery of his lines, in his physicality, his emotion. In simply being Oliver Reed.


I know this movie's themes (again, in the Oliver Reed portions of the plot) touch on many things I love -- betrayal, loyalty, identity, standing up for what's right, protecting the innocent, truth and honesty and honor and bravery, love.

And I know the rest of what's grabbed me so hard is the music. I don't even want to look at how many times I've played the main and end title cues in iTunes. But it's a lot. The last time I listened to a theme that many times in a row was the main title for Ride the High Country, which is a movie, not remotely coincidentally, that has many of the same themes and the same type of hero as Crossed Swords. It's just set in a different time period with guns and rifles instead of knives and swords. And that film also got in my head and stayed there for days on end.

Even exploring some of my thoughts here, it still fascinates me just why movies like Crossed Swords and Ride the High Country hold such power over me after viewing them.

Crossed Swords (1977)

While I'm in the realm of 1970's movies, I watched this film for the first time this week. This is what my sister would call a very definite "Deb Movie." It has all the sorts of things I love in my action movies, and I do believe I'll be picking it up on DVD when I can, just so I can watch the good bits whenever I want.

It's a bit of a mixed bag, but the good outweighed the bad and I found myself really enjoying this version of Mark Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper." I had no idea what to expect, honestly. I rented it because Oliver Reed was in it, and he did not disappoint. Seriously, throw Oliver Reed in a period movie with lots of sword fighting, and that'll make me happy right there. Give him excellent dialogue and an interesting plot and I'm even happier. Add in some lovely scenery and costumes. Then throw in a bunch of other great actors: Ernest Borgnine (in a nasty role as the pauper's father), and Charlton Heston (as Henry VIII!), Rex Harrison, Raquel Welch, George C. Scott... good lord, but this film is chock full of big names! And everyone of them turns in a great performance.

Crossed Swords is a familiar tale - pauper and prince look so alike, on a lark they switch places, not realizing how a simple change of costume will change everyone else's perception of them, rendering anything they try to say irrelevant. The prince is summarily tossed out of the castle, and the pauper has to pick up his place as Henry VIII's son. Soldier of fortune, Miles Hendon, helps the prince stay safe out in the tough streets of London and beyond, not believing Edward's claims of royalty, until he himself, is tossed and beaten out of his own house by his ratfink of a younger brother who has usurped his inheritance and intends to keep it by denying his brother's identity. Miles realizes the prince is indeed who he has claimed he was the entire time and sets about getting him to the coronation.

The weakest link in this film is, unfortunately, Mark Lester, the young man playing the lead dual role of Tom/Prince Edward. He's not terrible, and he doesn't derail the movie, but he's just... weak. He seems too old for the role. He's too deliberately awkward, and they could not possibly have given him more terrible wigs to wear. He's much more watchable when he's in Edward's shoes. The Tom character is far more annoying. Tom also has the added disadvantage of being in the lighter, "comedic" scenes, and comedy just doesn't appeal to me the way the more serious scenes with Edward do. The other light scenes are when George C. Scott appears as the Ruffler, a one-time monk now leading a band of outlaws and vagabonds. That scene is also played for comedy, and while Scott really does shine in his role, I just don't suffer comedy well, and that's a skippable scene for me when I rewatch this.


Back to the good...

Charlton Heston as a dying Henry VIII. I suppose it shouldn't surprise me that he can play such a famous monarch so well, but I was still surprised. He gets some great dialogue, and he delivers it so well. Color me impressed! He might be my favorite cinematic Henry VIII now.


The dialogue was very well done, smart, and with just the right sound to it. The script in general was very entertaining. It was a lot more violent movie than I expected, starting from the opening physical abuses Tom's father heaps on him, to the frequent sword fights, which were, with one exception, one man (Reed) against many. He sure got ganged up upon!! They weren't sword fights so much as brawls, but really, is there anybody who can brawl as well as Oliver Reed and be so believable about it? One thing I really loved about the fight sequences was how different each was, and how differently Miles Hendon (Oliver Reed's character) approached each set of opponents. From leery and careful with vicious Ernest Borgnine and his minions, to uncaringly recklessly angry with his brother and his minions. I was also impressed at how fairly Oliver Reed's character fought despite the continuing overwhelming odds against him every time. Dude, if an angry Ernest Borgnine character was coming at me swinging a cudgel, I sure as hell wouldn't reverse my sword simply because I wasn't facing a man with a blade. I'd run the bastard through before he beat the crap out of me, particularly with three other armed, scurvy goons jumping in the fray too! But Oliver Reed is playing a far more noble character, and so he does not do that, and, yeah, he gets the crap beaten out of him because he plays fair. I so dig it! It just makes me love his character more. I'm such a sucker for moral characters who stick by their code of honor and their word. This movie is so up my alley!

Oliver Reed... ahh, he gets to do all those Oliver Reed things he does best -- fight, deliver angry speeches in that deep, rough-'n-smooth, wonderful voice, get in trouble, get out of trouble, rescue the hero multiple times, and look good while doing it. He has a couple hilarious moments that completely busted me up. One is when he's trying to fit into his younger brother's clothes and they're too small (in a scene that reminds me of a story I once wrote...) and he rails at his brother, "Are you some kind of a midget??" Hm. Probably not funny out of context, but dang it's funny in the film. Another is when he tells the prince to stand back and let him do the fighting, as fighting is his trade. And Edward tells him very calmly, "Forgive me, Sir Miles, but I've seen you fight three times. Once, we ran away, twice you lost." The look on Oliver Reed's face is priceless. There's also a couple really awesomely done emotional moments, such as when he realizes Edward has indeed by telling him the truth about his identity, that he is the king. That's my favorite moment in the whole movie. I could watch Oliver Reed's reaction right there over and over and over. He's such a darned brilliant actor I just don't tire of watching (and learning) how he does things.

Ah, this movie really was made for someone like me!

The music is lovely. Less than thirty seconds into the main credits, I told the cat, "Maurice Jarre!" The man has the most unmistakeable and unique sound. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Jarre's film scores. This one was no exception. At first, it feels almost out of place, too distinctive, and it almost distracts from the movie, but it's still a catchy theme, and it grew on me so much that when it finally got used gently, beautifully, in an emotional moment, it just completely worked. And one thing I do love about him: his scores are never boring. There's more originality and beauty and creativity in one of his scores than in all of Hans Zimmer's scores combined. And if there's one thing I want most out of music, it's beauty. I own an LP of this score, which I wish I could play right now, instead of setting the movie to repeat the end credits over and over.

Lalla Ward plays a small role as Princess Elizabeth. I know her only as the second Romana from Doctor Who, so it was fun to see her in something different. She made a very good, strong Elizabeth, and has one silent moment with Charlton Heston that's another of my favorite parts of the film.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that this film has a bizarre epilogue of sorts, where the various characters' fates are revealed. No spoilers, but it was so out of the blue, I have to admit I laughed out loud at more than one of the characters' fates. Miles' future in particular, only because they could probably never have pulled that bit off with any other actor in the role but Oliver Reed. But because it is Oliver Reed, it works. It is very sad, and that doesn't mean I like it, but it works.