No.233 : The Hustler (1961)

 

The Hustler at the IMDb

I’d seen ‘The Hustler’ a couple of times before, most notably during my quest to see all of the films in the IMDb top 250. A change in the voting criteria means that I have now only seen 227/250 of the films on the list and ‘The Hustler’ is nowhere to be found. It’s probably ‘bubbling under’ as it has an 8.0 rating the same as the last 25 or so films on the list. I gave it an 8 myself and it’s well worth these high marks. That said, it wasn’t as good as I remembered it with the period between matches is a bit long and populated by the needy girlfriend.

Anyway, as you no doubt know, Paul Newman stars as ‘Fast’ Eddie Felson a pool shark with ambitions to be the best. The film opens with them hustling some rubes, with the drunk salesman routine - a scene that was only bettered in ‘Kingpin’ - I think I am punctilious in that assessment. The scam works fine and Eddie and his partner make a decent, if transitory living. It’s not enough for Eddie though, who dreams of beating the best - Jackie Gleason’s Minnesota Fats. Bit sizeist that.

With a big enough bankroll Eddie gets the match and quickly shows that he has what it takes to beat the best. He lacks character and stamina however and after he gets drunk, Fats takes him for nearly all his cash in a 25 hour marathon. Eddie and Charlie go their separate ways, with Eddie falling into the arms of alcoholic Piper Laurie. The two have a pretty abusive time but bond when a hustle goes awry and Eddie gets his thumbs broken.

As he recovers he vows to prove he’s the best and, with the questionable help of George C. Scott as his manager, a second match with Fats is on the horizon. Will Eddie win the day or do tragedy and his own demons wait in the wings? Probably going to be the second one isn’t it?

This is a cracker of a film, even if you don’t like the manly world of pool halls and heavy drinking. The pool action is fantastic and they must have shot miles of footage to get the sequences of shots that the actors execute without an edit. There was no explanation of the rules and I wasn’t clear what variant of pool they were playing - no one ever said ‘I’m on stripes’. Being in black and white it would probably have been a waste of time anyway and you just have to accept the characters know what they are doing.

Newman and Gleason were excellent as the stick wielding sluggers with Fats never sweating or looking a stich out of place. Newman in comparison went through the wringer with him looking convincing when he was dead beat or getting beaten up. Laurie was a bit annoying as the doomed love interest and George C. Scott could have yelled less and shown more menace.

At 135 minutes the film was longer that I remembered it, with a large fallow section in the middle where you are just willing Eddie to get back to the pool hall. He and Laurie were both doomed and reckless characters and you just knew a happy ending was never on the cards for them.

The bar room smoke and sleaze was well executed and you got a real feel for the gritty desperation on show.

I’ll probably check back on ‘The Hustler’ again one day and will no doubt get something different from it then too. A great period piece and a sports picture to match any other. Except ‘Kingpin’.

THE Tag Line : Rack ‘Em Up! 80%

No.202 : The Gangster (1947)

The Gangster at the IMDb

Those poor saps at the ‘W’ Movie Blog just endured a film from 1946:  'Whistle Stop Review'

Nothing so ancient here at the progressive Definitive Article Blog - this one’s from 1947.

We open with some narration as was the style back then. Our anti-hero Shubunka tells us he runs the seafront and has nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to fear. That’ll change! He has a fancy apartment and a big scar on his face - no worries though, as in close ups you can see it’s clearly stuck on. The nature of his rackets isn’t clear but it looks like protection although it’s probably drugs and hookers, but they aren’t allowed to say.

He works one soda fountain with Jammey, who is scared that toughs are moving in on some of their locations. Eye watering damage estimated at $120 has been caused and Jammey is worried that Shabs has taken his eye off the ball as he has nice things and a showgirl girlfriend. He certainly has a point, as we see the dead eyed Shabs throw furs and jewellery at the mostly disinterested but wonderfully named Nancy Starr.

Shabs doesn’t trust Nancy and after she tells a tall tale about a sick baby he tails her to a meeting with an agent. She’s clearly scared of our man but likes the stuff, thank you very much.

Elsewhere in the soda fountain, which must double as a soap opera, one chap plans to woo an older lady called Olga whilst another is in danger of losing his shirt to the bookies. The cashier has contempt for Shabs and some toughs are at the door looking to smash the place up!

Temperatures start to rise when Shabs agrees to an ill advised trip to the beach. It’s so hot he has to unbutton his suit jacket and he gets shaken down by a couple of great caricature gangsters. He again suspects Nancy has given their location away and has to try and bargain with the toughs. He ends up in front of the winnable kingpin, Cornell who tells him he’s taking over. Shabs plans to flee town with Nancy and come back to reclaim what’s his with some hired muscle. But who can he trust? Nancy? Jammey? Anyone?

This was quality entertainment that has plenty of unintentional laughs and a good take on issues like morality and honour. Shabs was clearly a shit, but he was our shit and Barry Sullivan did well to make us care a wee bit about such a horrible character. To be fair you never saw Shabs beating anyone up, with all his violence implied in his steely gaze and hand clenching. Clearly he wasn’t shy about letting folk have it, but at the end he was moaning that he wasn’t nasty enough to stay on top.

The ‘B’ and ‘C’ plots were similar in that the characters struggled with their own vices, be they women or gambling. Neither turned out well so the moral of the story was don’t do anything that could remotely be considered as fun.

I liked Belita as the femme fatale Nancy who got to sing a song but appeared to forget half of the words. She was a right cow throughout and it was funny when her betrayal was rewarded with hee-haw.

There were a lot of good character actors on show, and although everyone was smart and wore a tie and hat, there was a nice air of malevolence around a lot of them.

Things panned out as you’d probably guess but it was a fun visit to the seamy side of town, where life is cheap and the dames don’t put out, even when you’ve spent $7.80 on them.

THE Tag Line : Crime Doesn’t Pay - For Long  : 75%

No.186 : The Frogmen (1951)

The Frogmen at the IMDb

* This entry was originally written for a planned new blog called ‘The Creature Feature’ in which every film title reviewed would contain  the name of an animal. The project was shelved when it was realised that two unread blogs was plenty, thanks very much. Fortunately this review also fitted into the criteria for this blog and could therefore be repurposed. Sadly ‘The Mosquito Squadron’ may never see the light of day.

Richard Widmark stars in this 1951 effort that could, and probably did, serve as a recruitment film for the navy.

The film open with a bunch of soldier bickering. The navy regulars don’t like the supposed preferential treatment given to the operatives of the underwater demolition team or frogmen. We learn the frogmen are mourning the loss of their popular commanding officer who bought it at Iwo Jima. After a low rent scuffle their new CO arrives in the shape of Widmark. His first job is to tell them all off and this sets the tone of their fractious relationship.

The war in the Pacific is going well and it’s the frogmens’ job to lay explosives to clear underwater hazards prior to the invasion of the islands around Japan. The first mission goes OK until one of the support ships carrying some of the team is blown up by a shell. Widmark, resplendent in his trunks, refuses to turn back for survivors in favour of completing the mission and this increases the ire against him. We the viewer know he’s a stand up guy however, as he got scratched on some coral and didn’t moan about it.

Widmark knows he’s losing the team and three put in for transfers. He can’t go on the next mission due to his gamey leg, but when a frogman gets shot in the ass after a prank goes wrong he has to lay down the law again, demoting a popular but frankly stupid member of the team. Soon it’s more like Skidmark than Widmark as the rest of the team put in for transfers. Don’t they know there’s a war on?

As you’d expect Widmark’s chance of redemption comes along soon, when unexploded torpedo finds it’s way into sick bay where the ass shot man is recovering. I hate it when that happens. Widmark saves the day with his trusty screwdriver and things may be starting to thaw as he gains a sliver of respect from his hard to please crew.

Before the transfers take place they have one last  mission - to blow up the Jap submarine pens - can Widmark save the day and win over his so not worth it crew?

This was a pretty enjoyable slice of navy life. The characters were all painted with broad strokes and the three acts were signalled prominently with nothing in the way of surprises on offer. From the start when we see the frogmen eulogising about their fallen Commander Cassidy we knew that Widmark would have a tough task on his hands and one he’d eventually succeed at.

The crew, who included ‘Number 2’ Robert Wagner and the Brooklyn one off ‘Sergeant Bilko’ were an unlikable lot and it was surprising that Widmark was so keen on winning their admiration. You’d have expected in a time of war that he’d be a bit more no-nonsense rather than whimpering like a schoolgirl about his lack of popularity.

The action scenes were good, especially the bombardments, and the under water stuff was well handled. The exploding ship however looked like some one had painted a big flash on the film and the underwater knife fights were a bit tame. The climatic raid was quite good but not a patch on the British derring do of ‘We Dive at Dawn’.

You did get the sense they were on a real ship with real navy men doing the stunts and it was quite a change from the normal WW2 clichés and settings. The word ‘frogmen’ is never used and it was only towards the end they actually put on the gas tanks.

It was undemanding stuff with a totally predictable narrative, but overall it was good fun apart from the bit where one guy’s left nut appears as he clambers off the boat - thanks a lot HD TV!

THE Tag Line - Please love me 70%

No.113 : The Hill (1965)

The Hill at the IMDb

Sean Connery made this 1965, black and white drama immediately after he finished ‘Goldfinger’ presumably to show that there was more to him than Martinis and one liners. Well it worked - he can do shouting too!

Connery is one of five men who arrive in a British  North African army penal camp during World War 2. The four others are privates convicted for petty crimes whereas Connery is an officer charged with disobeying orders.

The camp is run by a team of sadistic guards who glory in running their charges into the ground. Their favourite torture device is the titular hill which, although quite small, breaks all who are set up and down it. Connery as a seemingly cowardly officer gets singled out for special treatment and this doesn’t sit well with his cellmates who are roped in too. These include Sandy out of ‘The Wild Geese’ Roy Kinnear and a spirited black chap who gets all kinds of racial abuse that seems outrageous by today’s standards.

The men are passed fit by an ineffectual medical officer and put in the grim hands of the evil Sgt Stevens. He reports to the blinkered RSM Wilson who in turn reports to the oblivious commandant. The brutal drills soon cause the men to faint and despite Connery’s knowledge of the regulations they get no respite. Only slightly fey officer Ian Bannen offers some support but the bullying climate keeps him in check.

After one brutal drill on the hill one of the cellmates collapse and dies. Can the men find justice or will the metaphorical hill of threats and lies be too much for them to surmount?

Two hours of sweaty men shouting at each other may not be everyone’s cup of tea but this is an excellent film with a lot to say about discipline, the law and class. The injustices are plain to see but these are guilty men and there’s a war on. Where should our sympathies lie? Director Sidney Lumet answers this from the off with the guards onto a hiding as soon as Sean shows up with his book of rules. His character was well drawn with the truth of his imprisonment slowly drawn out of him.

When the man dies a near mutiny ensues but this is swiftly quelled with some selective punishment and the lure of some cheese. Sean isn’t so easily bought and gets a strong kicking for his troubles. Can he convince the weak medical officer and the simpering Bannen to stand up for what is just? To convince them we get a near half hour scene of the men yelling at each other as battle lines are drawn and alliances are forged and quickly recanted when the tide turns.

The cast is uniformly (!) excellent and the drama is well realised against a massive set with dozens of extras. It would work well as a theatre production and the director wisely chooses to use a lot of close ups and jerky camera movements to give an unsettling sense of isolation and disconnection.

There are some uncomfortable scenes especially when the black actor, Ossie Davis, has to endure abuse and spend much of the film in his oversized pants, but I’m sure what was portrayed was mild compared to the real life environment.

Overall this was a fast paced two hours with the focus on character and dialogue. Top notch acting and directing saved it from being a cheap melodrama and it’s certainly one that’ll live long in the memory.

THE Tag Line : Climb this Hill!   76%

No.101 : The Haunting (1963)

The Haunting at the IMDb

 Another haunted house yarn now with modern era Japan giving way to the black and white America of 1963. Many of the ingredients are the same as our previous offering ‘The Grudge’ and so are the uneven and lukewarm results.

The film opens with a potted history of Hill House, a sprawling gothic mansion. Its original owner’s wife died when her carriage crashed and lots of subsequent occupants have met their own grisly fates. The present owner has stayed away, but as she’s getting on she wishes to know the truth. She agrees to loan the place to the Doctor out of ‘Zombie Flesh Eaters’ so that he can conduct experiments to prove or disprove its haunted house status.

After extensive profiling he chooses six volunteers to stay for a few days. Sadly his time is wasted as he ends up with only three - Eleanor who has an irritating inner monologue, Theo, a psychic lady who likes Eleanor and Luke, a gadabout who stands to inherit the house and who is keen to keep an eye on his property.

The three move in and pretty soon the haunted house staples of closing doors and cold rooms take over. The two ladies don their long nighties and experiences all sorts of bumps in the night. Sadly the budget doesn’t stretch to much so the haunting stays as the loud noises and bulging door level throughout. Eleanor is quickly unhinged and soon starts to fixate on the dashing Doc who has more than a little of the Clark Gables about him.

Sadly for Eleanor the Doc’s wife shows up in the shape of Miss Moneypenny but she disappears just as fast. Soon even the cynical Luke is a believer but can the cast survive the night? and will the twist be that really obvious one signalled from the off. Oh it is!

This seems to be a well regarded horror film but there wasn’t enough meat on its bones for me. They went for that cheap slow and psychological terror build up that just gets tiresome after a while. We the viewer knew the house had issues from the off but it took the characters so long to get there I had lost interest by the time they did. There were loads of really invasive musical cues with blaring ominous portents rounded off by some plinky plonk piano keys - really annoying the second time never mind the tenth.

The actors were all good apart from Julie Harris in the lead who was really needy and unlikable. Of course it was part of her character to be unhinged and random but she just came across as unsympathetic and annoying. Her arc where she went from inquisitive to needy to plain out mental was misjudged with the haunted house seemingly turning her dial from zero to max overnight. The lesbian sub plot wasn’t really explored, but it was no surprise that the predatory psychic wore black while our chaste and chased heroine was in white.

The only special effects were a wobbly staircase and a bulging door and although some will tell you the biggest scares are those you imagine they are clearly wrong. The film would probably play better as a small stage production because as a feature film it came across as cheap and underwhelming. The overlong build-up was a poor investment as the ending was flagged from the off and you just wish the idea that “the place should be burned to the ground” had come to Luke five minutes from the start rather than at the end.

THE Tag Line - Haunted House More Shite Than Fright -52%

No.3 : The Twonky (1953)

The Twonky at the IMDb

The many followers of ‘The Definite Article’ have been clamouring to have their favourites rated and we are certainly amenable to suggestions. First up is 2000ad boarder ‘Satchmo’ who, when he is not Louis Armstrong, creates a scrawly web comic that is contemporary yet features dead writers such as Edgar Allen Poe - that don‘t make a lick o sense! It looks like a five year old has got the crayons but it is insanely funny and can be found at http://renegadeartsentertainment.com/spinechillers/comic/ Anyway enough of the unread blogs circle jerk, let’s have a look at Satchmo’s suggestion ‘The Twonky’ which better not be as shit as it sounds.

I’d never heard of this low budget, 1953 comedy drama which was described by none other than Garageman as "The Twonky" (1953), obscure sci fi about an alien brainwashing/fascist telly. Unmissable and prescient.”

Strangely this film is quite easy to find on the web, but that’s possibly due to it’s cult status. Yes that’s cult I said. The film stars someone you’ve never heard of as a man getting a new TV. Remember this was possibly a big event in 1953 but it still seems a lot of hoopla over nothing at all. His new set is installed and his wife heads off to her mother’s leaving him to a night on ‘Men and Motors’.

After finding the manual he takes out a cigarette only for it to be instantly lit by a beam from the TV or ‘Twonky’. Obviously this is a bit of a surprise but not so much when he does it about 20 times throughout the film. Well if you invest in a crappy special effect you might as well use it. As the day progresses the Twonky starts to take over all aspects of the man’s life - shaving him, doing the dishes and creating money to pay the TV shop with - sound pretty good ,and he even disappeared behind the curtain for five minutes with it too!

As you would expect however all is not well. The TV soon starts to dominate and in a scene that was either racist or emancipating it chases off the black house keeper and does the vacuuming - bloody Twonkys taking our jobs and women! It also manages to brainwash people using a beam in a metaphor so obvious it should’ve had a ‘metaphor‘ brand sash on.

The thin plot thickens slightly when guests start to arrive all of whom marvel at the TV set’s great talents. It even gets a debt collecting woman’s bra off. Where do I sign up? As our man realises the Twonky’s unholy influence he tries to get rid of it but this is one smart TV who manages to half strangle the TV repair man with its aerial and even gets reinforcements in the shape of it’s less talented cousin. As things get to a mental climax the TV is soon driving the car and running around the street - can the terrible English actress maybe save the day?

I didn’t much care for ’The Twonky’. In fact it’s the biggest pile of crap I’ve seen in a long time and I’ve seen ‘Knowing’! You could argue it’s an important social document foretelling the influence the then fledgling TV service would eventually have over our lives. Or more accurately you could say it’s a sissy looking TV prancing around with some dismal stop motion special effects.

The production values are very poor with some of the actors looking like they’d wandered on set to fetch a lost hat. The doctor was visibly straining to read his lines off a board - and he was Laurence Olivier compared to some. The origins of the TV are not revealed although I’m sure the cinema owners didn’t mind a bit of bad publicity for their new rival. Sadly the ploy must have backfired as anyone who went to the cinema to see ‘The Twonky’ wouldn’t be back in a hurry.

I’m sure the better read definite article film fans will lambaste me for overlooking the communist paranoia subtext and the disintegration to the family unit by television but I was more inclined to notice a TV doing the dishes being passed off as entertainment. It also has a really annoying and invasive score which is the only score this pile o’ pish deserves!

THE Tag Line : Wonky Twonky is a Donkey 22%