1950's adventure spiked with drama and humanity

 WHITE WITCH DOCTOR (1953)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

1950's adventure movies set in foreign lands almost always end with the man searching for gold ending up having a heart of gold. Gold treasure is what lifelong Africa resident and animal hunter “Lonni” Douglas (Robert Mitchum) is reluctantly after, yet his greedy partner (Walter Slezak) wants to be anything but poor. Hunting big game and selling wild animals to the zoo doesn't exactly bring a lifetime of riches. "White Witch Doctor" has the advantage of three plotlines, one involving the search for gold within the territory of an allegedly deadly African tribe, the other having an inexperienced nurse, Ellen Burton (Susan Hayward), trying to make amends and further her late husband's doctoral work in the jungles, and the tribes themselves and their daily rituals.

"White Witch Doctor" is probably the only movie where you will hear Mitchum speaking the Congo's language, the Bakuba, one of 2,400 different dialects of which Ellen knows only one. A lot of the film is studio-bound Congo with some rear-screen vistas, and a fake gorilla! I did expect a fake gorilla, I suppose, but the lion was very real so maybe Frank Buck was keeping the lion tame for some wild scenes where it attacks a Bakuba boy. Meanwhile, that boy suffers a near-fatal injury from the lion's attack and so unless Ellen can heal the boy, and if Lonni can dissuade his greedy partners from entering the territory and steal the gold, all will be well. 

"White Witch Doctor" is quite absorbing despite its near-artificiality in its depiction of its wild environment. Mitchum stands tall and shows some level of heroism. Susan Hayward shows strength, possesses selfless determination in her Ellen character, and I could imagine these two characters trying to make it work in the Congo. The film may not be director Henry Hathaway's greatest hour but as drama with spades of adventure, a quietly stirring music score by Bernard Herrmann, not to mention a more civilized and humane way of presenting African tribes and their rituals than say a Tarzan movie, it is worthwhile and you will not lose interest.  

Astonishingly existential nightmare

 THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Hardened criminals and robbers. Money hard to come by, even for allegedly wealthy lawyers. Dames looking for work after their place of business is robbed. A master thief with a master plan who needs financial backing to rob a swanky jewelry store. Some corrupt cops exist who are on a bookie's payroll to keep quiet. This is the hard, spiritless world of John Huston's "The Asphalt Jungle," a realistic, hardcore, exceedingly tough picture that is less about a heist than it is a profound character study. This may easily be the most hard-boiled noir picture of the 1950's. 

Huston's crime picture begins with a tall man hiding himself from the cops in daylight hours. Dix is a hooligan (Sterling Hayden) who does small-time robberies and spends every nickel on the horses - considering he was born in Kentucky on a farm, it is no surprise. He can't wait to wipe away "the city dirt" and live on the farm. Eventually, we meet a rogue gallery of colorful characters that includes criminals and cops such as Cobby (Marc Lawrence), the gambling bookie who has a cop on his payroll; Lt. Ditrich (Guy Kelly) is the cop on the payroll who faces a dilemma when a master thief is released from prison, and at the same he is facing pressure from the commissioner; "Doc" Erwin Riedenschneider, the master thief himself (fantastic chameleonic character actor Sam Jaffe) who wants a crooked and broke lawyer, Emmerich (a cool, restrained Louis Calhern) to finance a high-scale robbery; James Whitmore as a hunchback owner of a luncheonette who knows when the heat is on, and we can't leave out "Doll" (Jean Hagen) who is in love with Dix though he doesn't reciprocate.

Lastly, I should not leave out Marilyn Monroe in one of her early roles, before she became a splashy star, in the role of the lawyer's breathy-voiced girlfriend who doesn't quite fit in this world - she is naive yet she also sticks out like a sore thumb in this movie. Compared to Jean Hagen's Doll, who knows how to stand up to Dix, and Emmerich's sickly wife (Dorothy Tree), a mature woman who only wants her husband around to play cards, Monroe feels like a perverse distraction.

"The Asphalt Jungle" has Huston fashioning a corrupt world with only a handful of good people with strong morals. This world is hardly a nihilistic nightmare but it is an astonishingly existential one where criminals are suffocating from the city and as the safecracker (Anthony Caruso) says it, "my wife wants fresh air." There is no sense of joy, reprieve or relaxation in this midwestern city - everybody is always on the run or on the take. An alcohol drink and a smoke is not enough to overcome suffocation, nor is a robbery. Dix is the only one to get close to that rugged farmland of freedom. I suppose he always knew he would die with the horses.  

Adventure and peril on a muted scale

 MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (1961)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

An alleged grand adventure based on Jules Verne's novel, a sequel to his own justly famous "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," "Mysterious Island" the movie may justify one reading the book than suffering through a slipshod narrative that feels slightly schizophrenic.

An unmemorable group of imprisoned Union officers during the Civil War break out of a Virginia jail and take off on a balloon that is worthy of Jules Verne. The nighttime escape is shot day for night and so you may be hard-pressed in distinguishing who is who. Michael Craig is the bearded Captain followed by two more Union soldiers (Michael Callan, Doug Jackson); an ecstatic Northern newspaperman named Gideon Spillett (Gary Merrill) who uses flowery language, and a Rebel Sgt. Pencroft (Percy Herbert) with a very Southern twang. The balloon barely makes it through a horrific storm near a Pacific island. It is some unnamed tropical island frequented by pirates that also holds a few prehistoric creatures such as a giant bird, a huge bee with an even larger honeycomb and a giant crab. When the bird and crab are killed, it is feeding time for the castaways. When a shipwreck is seen in the ocean, two English women land on the beach. Yes, you can bet one of the Union soldiers, the young handsome one, falls in love so quickly that marriage plans are already discussed (plus the need for a minister). Although most of this occurs in the book, the movie feels like it is trying to be too many things at once.  

"Mysterious Island" picks up steam with the introduction of Herbert Lom as the spirited Captain Nemo whose Nautilus submarine is no longer in operation. This movie's sense of adventure and peril is so muted though that even when a volcano starts to erupt, it barely holds much excitement (especially with the use of stock footage). The Ray Harryhausen stop-motion effects are quite good yet I'll say "Jason and the Argonauts" was far more impressive. Good movie to watch on a Sunday afternoon if you need a sleep aid. 

Pure Bullet Noir

 BULLITT (1968)

An Appreciation by Jerry Saravia

"Bullitt" is definitively bullet noir. There were a few notable existential action films in the late 1960's ("Point Blank" comes to mind) but there is something more immediate, more dangerous, more alluring about "Bullitt." There is one amazing car chase scene and one fantastic foot chase yet the movie also has Steve McQueen, a true antihero who has no inner life and not much interest in anything other than his work. He's always driving from one location to another in pursuit of a clue or an informant or a suspect. He never stops moving because there is nothing else to latch onto, except the alluring beauty of his architect girlfriend (Jacqueline Bisset). The world is a sewer, as his girlfriend says, and Bullitt himself is wallowing in it. Bullet noir.

The plot is relatively simple and spare. A mobster named Johnny Ross is on the run. Lieutenant Frank Bullitt (McQueen), along with his partners, Delgetti (Don Gordon) and Stanton (Carl Reindel), have the unenviable task of guarding Ross at a cheap hotel. The task is requested by U.S. Senator Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn) - the goal being to guard Ross until the Senate has their subcommittee hearing on organized crime. Of course, something goes wrong when Ross is killed and one of Bullitt's men is injured - Chalmers doesn't know Ross was killed and won't until Bullitt persists with uncovering why this bloody mess occurred. 

The story may be nothing new yet the movie is a breeze, a coolly atmospheric and smoothly directed action picture where the thrills are derived from the investigation, from the clues that Bullitt gathers. It is also about Bullitt looking cool, calm and collected and driving his green Ford Mustang yet never expressing much emotion. McQueen has one smile that he passes to Bisset in a restaurant scene but that is the nature of Bullitt. He is aloof, never one to emote or to even show anger (he does convey concern for his injured partner). One particularly riveting scene has Bullitt in a copy room with his boss while Chalmers waits for him to sign the writ of habeas corpus - you feel a heated intensity from Bullitt but he never gives in. Anger is not in his arsenal, only his gun and his fast green Ford Mustang.

Speaking of the fast green Ford Mustang, the scene where he turns the tables on the hit men following him is insanely entertaining to watch and keeps you on the edge of your seat - you might almost fall off of it. There is a significantly explosive crash and yet Bullitt drives away, onto the next stage of the investigation. He is unstoppable and is aware that the world can be a sewer with not much light coming in from the darkness. His last scene is a beaut - Bullitt just stares at the mirror and knows more danger in his line of work is headed his way. Pure bullet noir. 

Death, snakes, convicts, halos

 WE'RE NO ANGELS (1955)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Talk about rigid staginess, "We're No Angels" is a crime comedy but it is so darn flat that it almost evaporates from the screen once it is over. That is saying a lot for a movie starring Humphrey Bogart.

It is Christmas time and three convicts have escaped from Devil's Island and they are about as charming a group as you can imagine. There is Joseph, the charming thief (Humphrey Bogart); Albert, a killer who has a predilection for getting any woman he can (Aldo Ray), and Jules, a clever thief who can break into any safe just by caressing it (he had also killed his wife and is played by Peter Ustinov). These three enter a shop that sells clothing and various other items and knick-knacks and volunteer to help Felix Ducotel (Leo G. Carroll), who runs the store, fix a leaking roof. Meanwhile, some shenanigans develop between the owner's wife (a thankless role by Joan Bennett) and their pretty young daughter (Gloria Talbott) who faints about three times before she's even properly introduced to these men. The convicts were planning all along to rob the store blind but they start to change their ways because, you know, it is Christmas and they fix the meal and clean the dishes. 

"We're No Angels" takes an eternity before the pace picks up and it does briefly with the introduction of the colorful, mean-spirited store owner (Basil Rathbone), an incorrigible prick who thinks money is the only value in life. Rathbone elevates the proceedings yet the movie never veers from its stage origins. I did like the running gag that everybody in Cayenne, a French colonial town, knows that the escaped convicts are at this store and nobody flinches at the sight of them or calls the police (until the end of the film). There is also an unseen poisonous snake belonging to Albert that results in a couple of unseen deaths. I could have lived without the halos. 

All hope is lost

 IN A LONELY PLACE (1950)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

None of Nicholas Ray's films could be considered average genre pictures that fulfill the needs of the specific genre. "Rebel Without a Cause" could've been a juvenile delinquent picture yet it rises above the surface of teens in trouble with its firm handling of disillusioned teenagers who are trying to figure out their place in the world. "In A Lonely Place" is one of Ray's best films, a sordid picture of Hollywood in the 1950's where making a buck and staying relevant matter more than anything. When it comes to struggling screenwriter Dix Steele (Humphrey Bogart), his displeasure with B "popcorn" pictures is due to having recent flops on his record and not because he doesn't want to make them. He is not interested in high art, just doing his diligent job of writing a sentimental, average movie. His own life is anything but sentimental. 

Dix Steele frequents nightly at Paul's restaurant, a regular hangout for all screenwriters, actors and Hollywood execs where getting noticed is the deal. Dix needs a comeback but his outbursts of violence and aggression can get the best of him. He has temperamental issues but they are not enough to deter anyone from working with him - his long-suffering agent, Mel (Art Smith), always makes excuses for Dix. One night, Dix invites a very perky hatcheck girl, Mildred (Martha Stewart), to his apartment to work out the details of the book he's adapting - she has already read it and dictates the plot to him. Dix couldn't be less interested and probably even less interested in Mildred, whom he sends home with 20 dollars to take a cab. The next day, Mildred is found murdered. Did Dix do it? He is a likely suspect, though his new alluring neighbor, Laurel (Gloria Grahame), did not see him leave with Mildred. She supposedly observes his every move since their apartments face each other in the courtyard.

"In a Lonely Place" finds Dix and Laurel getting romantically involved. She cooks for him and provides solace while he works on the script - she types the pages he writes. This relationship is doomed because as much as Laurel loves Dix, she catches his frequent temper fits. One night, he nearly kills another motorist by almost crushing his head with a rock! Dishonesty can set Dix off - he strikes his agent in the face at Paul's, and he takes off like a bat out of hell after it is discovered that Laurel met with one of the police detectives. He is rash and far too impulsive in his rage without being able to control it - he unsurprisingly has a history of violent episodes. Who can doubt that he killed Mildred especially when he reenacts it ("artistic temperament" he calls it) in front of his buddy, Brub (Frank Lovejoy), a police detective who is working on the case, and Brub's frightened wife, Sylvia (Jeff Donnell).

This all leads to a frighteningly intense ending where Dix confronts Laurel. First, she doesn't have her engagement ring on and he starts to get angry. Then she tries to shield his eyes from her bedroom where she has packed some belongings and has left an envelope for him (she's ready to take off to New York). It is so suspenseful and so tension-filled that you may find yourself trying to cover your eyes (Bogart gives a scary, tantalizing performance). Where can all this lead and did Dix kill Mildred? The beauty of "In a Lonely Place" is that its noir elements are not as significant as Dix's impending rage that can be set off at any time, anywhere. Laurel sees the beast in Dix and when the final truth is revealed, it doesn't matter whether he committed the crime or not - all hope is lost.   

We have all the time in the world

 ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (1969)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Watching George Lazenby take on tough superspy James Bond can run a bit hot and cold. Lazenby (in his film debut) is suave, has the right physical build for a spy and ample presence - the guy knows how to throw a punch and how to fire a gun. I still do not buy him as James Bond because there is no danger to him and I do not sense that killer instinct. Sean Connery is the obvious comparison and Lazenby doesn't carry much in the way of adult charm either - he has boyish charm and remains resolutely calm around the ladies but that is it. In one scene, under disguise, he looks like Sherlock Holmes and I could see him as Holmes without question.

The story that matters most in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" is Bond's search for Ernst Stavro Blofeld, his main arch-nemesis (this is Operation Bedlam). After Bond rescues a Countess from committing suicide in the Portugal sea, there is an elongated fight scene on the beach that is fairly witty in its payoff. The Countess is Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo (the luscious Avenger herself Diana Rigg, who only figures in the action during the opening and closing passages). She is the sole daughter of Marc-Ange Draco (Gabriele Ferzetti), the head of a powerful Corsican crime family, who wants Bond to marry her hoping she will be dominated and obey a husband (this would not go well in 2025). Bond declines the offer but he hopes that Draco will help locate Blofeld. It turns out that Blofeld (a very engaging Telly Savalas) is living in the Swiss Alps and is claiming the title of Count Balthazar de Bleuchamp through the London College of Arms! This is, of course, an attempt by Blofeld to disguise himself from being killed by Bond yet the archvillain also has a dastardly plan. Blofeld, or Count Balthazar, runs a clinic concerned with allergies and has a bunch of women used as test subjects. The truth is that the women are guinea pigs who are being brainwashed into spreading biological warfare agents to Britain and Ireland. The supervillains always had harebrained world domination and destruction plans, but wouldn't it have been easier to distribute such agents through gas exhaust or some other technological means?

"On Her Majesty's Secret Service" has some well-oiled action scenes and a breezy one or two ski chases which is something early Connery films did not have until Moore's "Spy Who Loved Me" (though Blofeld skiing through the Alps merits a few chuckles). Lazenby's Bond also has some great physical fistfights that are truly mind-boggling and keep you on the edge of your seat (when he knocks out a bunch of Draco's men and you hear ricocheting sound effects, it really does startle your senses). I also enjoyed Bond's attempts to escape a maintenance room with the monstrous gears controlling the cable cars - my hands got sweaty so I know it works. And we also get a marriage sequence that is followed by a tragedy - very unusual for a James Bond flick. Speaking of unusual, we are treated to a rare visit to M's house!

Lazenby is not quite the James Bond I love to see - he just doesn't have that edge but his romantic scenes are wonderful and he's acceptable playing cards at a casino. He isn't bad so I have to grade him against latter-day Bonds - he's miles ahead of Timothy Dalton but he's no Connery or Roger Moore. The movie is still fun and engineered with maximum skill by debuting director Peter Hunt. Still, in light of what Connery could get away with or even Moore, neither would pass muster disguised as a Holmes type or a genealogist wearing a Scottish kilt!