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NBR AWARDS: This year’s awards gala took place Tuesday evening January 9th in New York City. There was a new sponsor (Bvlgari), a new venue (Cipriani 42nd Street) and a new producer (me). It was a swellegant affair, and it appeared that a good time was had by all. I was fortunate to collaborate with some really hard-working folks in putting the evening together: NBR President Annie Schulhof, Keri and Tony at Cipriani (a spectacular landmark building formerly home to the Bowery Savings Bank, boasting 35-foot ceilings), Susie Arons, Germaine Frebles and Robert Lawson from the stellar public relations firm Rubinstein Associates, Clifford and Stargroup Productions, responsible for audio/visuals, Mike Zimet and his security team, Francesca, Hilary and Rory from Bvlgari, the NBR’s Carol Rapaport and James R. Janowsky, and my production team Gregory Segal (my partner in Angel Baby Entertainment), Heidi Kristoffer, and Sylvia Caminer (Heidi also did a lovely job as our “awards girl” on stage).
Jesse L. Martin was by consensus one of the most outstanding in a long line of outstanding NBR awards hosts (Robert Preston, Tony Randall, Jerry Orbach, Rita Moreno, Paul Reiser, Peter Reigert, Chazz Palminteri et al) and he kept the event celebratory.
Lots of amazing guests: Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, Oliver Stone, Pedro Almodovar, Jason Reitman, Bette Midler, Catherine O’Hara, Parker Posey, John Patrick Shanley, Penelope Cruz, Helen Mirren, James Cromwell, Forest Whitaker, Irwin Winkler, Kevin Kline, Eli Wallach, Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, Rinko Kikuchi, Jennifer Hudson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Mark Wahlberg, Vera Formiga, Terrence Howard, Tipper Gore, Lawrence Bender, Davis Guggenheim, Annabella Sciorra, Elisabeth Shue, Ryan Gosling, Djimon Hounsou, David Wain, Jon Kilik and studio heads Alan Horn (Warners), Ron Meyer (Universal), John Lesher (Paramount Vantage), Daniel Battsek (Miramax), Peter Rice (Fox Searchlight) and Tom Bernard and Michael Barker (Sony Classics).
Our gala journal was once again in the hands of our printer, Lois Berl of Abigal Press; thanks to Samuel Goldwyn Jr. for allowing us to capture the last image from the 1936 Goldwyn classic DODSWORTH: an ocean liner sails off into the sunset with the words THE END and PASSED BY THE NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW emblazoned on the screen.
Next month I’ll be running some of the night’s most memorable speeches, including John Patrick Shanley’s mad monologue on writing, Jeanine Basinger’s incredible presentation of the William K. Everson Film History Award to Kino’s Donald Krim, and Irwin Winkler’s short but sweet tribute to Billy Wilder. I spent some time before the event interviewing Eli Wallach, and I’ll be printing portions of that piece as well.
LEGEND FILMS (distributed by Genius) is the company that has developed an excellent colorization process (never thought I’d say that!) which was evident in last month’s release of Laurel and Hardy’s 1934 MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS aka BABES IN TOYLAND. The nice thing about Legend is that they give you not only the tastefully colorized version but a pristine black-and-white original. That’s the case with SHE (1935), the Merian C. Cooper RKO production of H. Rider Haggard’s classic adventure novel, with Randolph discovering an ancient civilization ruled by She (Helen Gahagan Douglas, better known for her political vocation than her acting career). Cooper’s typically impeccable devotion to thrills and suspense with quality production design and special effects is evident in the film, and this title is a must for vintage adventure fans. This is the 95 minute version; in 1949, when RKO re-released Cooper’s LAST DAYS OF POMPEII (1935) with SHE, the studio trimmed five minutes, included here in a deleted scenes section, though it would have been nice to have it all in one version. The great Ray Harryhausen supervised this Legend release and among the bonus features are an interview and audio commentary with the great animator.
Legend and Harryhausen also present the seminal sci-fi film THINGS TO COME (1936), the British Alexander Korda based on the H. G. Wells novel, directed by William Cameron Menzies, later the outstanding production designer of GONE WITH THE WIND (1939) and OUR TOWN (1940), and director of INVADERS FROM MARS (1953). This futuristic thriller stars Raymond Massey, Ralph Richardson and Sir Cedric Hardwicke, adding a quality cast to a literate screenplay and lavish production. THINGS TO COME has been available for years in lousy public domain copies; the Legend DVD is by far the best version I’ve seen.
UNIVERSAL: Few directors have such passionate devotees (and detractors) as does Brian DePalma. This critical polarization goes back to his breakthrough “Hitchcock period” as the director of SISTERS, OBSESSION, and DRESSED TO KILL, and has continued with films like BODY DOUBLE, RAISING CAIN, SNAKE EYES and FEMME FATALE. He has made undeniably outstanding films (CARRIE, THE UNTOUCHABLES), one of the most ludicrous bombs in history (BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES), two of the greatest crime pictures ever (SCARFACE, CARLITO’S WAY, both starring Alan Pacino), a couple of interesting if flawed sci-fi flicks (THE FURY, MISSION TO MARS), a big budget blockbuster (MISSION IMPOSSIBLE), three seminal New York indies (GREETINGS, THE WEDDING PARTY, HI, MOM!, the first Robert DeNiro films), and two auterist masterpieces – BLOW-OUT (1981), a murder mystery with John Travolta as a movie sound man, and CASUALTIES OF WAR (1989), the Vietnam drama based on the David Rabe play. My respect for DePalma’s mastery of genre and directorial craftsmanship grows every year, so I really looked forward to the mating of director with the infamous 1946 Black Dahlia murder case in Los Angeles. The result, THE BLACK DAHLIA (2006) doesn’t live up to its promise, but is still essential for DePalma fans while somewhat frustrating for others. The source material, a novel by James Ellroy (L.A. CONFIDENTIAL), is really more about two detectives investigating the crime, and the woman they clash over, and while Aaron Eckhardt wears the role like a glove, Josh Hartnett and Scarlet Johansson are just miscast, or misdirected, or something – I thought he was excellent in THE VIRGIN SUICIDES and “O”, with MATCHPOINT and LOST IN TRANSLATION representing her finest work. Still, a flawed DePalma picture is better than most movies out there, and the film does boast Vilmos Zsigmond cinematography, an excellent Mark Isham score, and a solid supporting role for Mike Starr, one of my favorite character actors (MAD DOG AND GLORY, “Frenchy” in GOODFELLAS, the hitman in “DUMB AND DUMBER … and of course he’s the star of THE DELI, directed by yours truly; shameless plug: the DVD Special Edition is available from Synapse/Warners Ryko).
PARAMOUNT: Speaking of MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, Paramount has released MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE COMPLETE FIRST TV SEASON (1966-67), a seven-disc set with 28 episodes featuring the original team (Steven Hill, Greg Morris, Peter Luus, Martin Landau, Barbara Bain; Hill stayed for just the first season, Peter Graves came on for season two). Bruce Geller’s adult pulp, a result of the mid-60s Bond craze, plays more somberly in this first season than it later would but is still great fun for baby boomers. First season guest stars include Wally Cox, Beatrice Straight, Eartha Kitt, Ricardo Montalban, Carroll O’Connor, Lloyd Bridges, and, in one of his last roles before his bizarre sexual role-play death, Albert Dekker (BEAU GESTE, SEVEN SINNERS, DR. CYCLOPS, WAKE ISLAND).
WARNER BROTHERS: Warners has been consistently putting out terrific DVD box sets in its Signature Collection (Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, Errol Flynn, Bette Davis, James Stewart, Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, Doris Day, Ronald Reagan, James Dean, to name a few) with four-to-six titles per set, and lots of extras in the way of commentaries and short subjects. A James Cagney collection and a second Flynn are coming, and hopefully Spencer Tracy, Jean Harlow, Norma Shearer and more Gable. The latest collection -- ROBERT MITCHUM: THE SIGNATURE COLLECTION -- is book-ended with two of Mitchum’s neglected best, and includes a pairing with Jane Russell in a kooky potboiler from the Howard Hughes RKO era, an epic melodrama by Vincente Minnelli, a wonderful family adventure, and a fun late Sixties Western.
There could possibly be no crazier film released in Studio System Hollywood than ANGEL FACE (1952), directed by Otto Preminger, starring Mitchum at his laconic best and Jean Simmons in a highly atypical role. She gives a superlative performance despite legendary tales of war between director and star. ANGEL FACE is one of the last (and key) film noirs, and we’re lucky on this disc to have noir expert Eddie Muller on hand for one of his typically terrific commentaries (he does most of the Fox Noir DVDs). If you haven’t seen ANGEL FACE, you are in for a treat; I love turning people on to this one. The ending is something that has to be seen to be believed. ANGEL FACE and MACAO (1952), also included in the collection, were both products of RKO’s Last Stand, with Howard Hughes as a crazy Custer, producing against-the-grain fare before being massacred by (and selling the company to) television interests. He resuscitated Josef Von Sternberg to give Russell and Mitchum the Dietrich/Cooper MOROCCO treatment in MACAO; Hughes re-shot the picture with another director (Nicholas Ray). The hybrid melodrama is great fun simply because of the cast; in addition to the stars there’s William Bendix, Gloria Grahame and Thomas Gomez. Screenwriter Stanley Rubin joins Eddie Muller on the commentary track for some great anecdotes, and Jane Russell contributes commentary as well.
1960 was a very good year for Robert Mitchum. He did Vincente Minnelli’s HOME FROM THE HILL (1960), a powerful, wonderfully overwrought melodrama, almost as deliciusly over the top as a Douglas Sirk film, with Mitchum in one of his best performances as a Texan “Big Daddy” clashing with sons George Peppard and George Hamilton. Mitchum gets to do some intense acting, something he rarely got to do (NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, CAPE FEAR) rather than his usual lethargic style. The National Board of Review named Peppard Best Supporting Actor for HOME, and named Mitchum Best Actor of the year for HOME and Fred Zinnemann’s THE SUNDOWNERS (1960). It’s a pleasure to have THE SUNDOWNERS included here, since it has been somewhat forgotten, and still plays beautifully. Mitchum and Deborah Kerr (reunited from HEAVEN KNOWS, MR. ALLISON) are “sundowners” – nomadic shepherds in the Australian outback circa 1920, traveling with their son from one episode to another, never able to settle down. The picture has a tone that recalls William Wyler’s FRIENDLY PERSUASION, the kind of movie that probably get made today only for TV. Zinnemann used the widescreen format eloquently and directs with his usual excellent taste (HIGH NOON, FROM HERE TO ETERNITY, THE NUN’S STORY, A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, JULIA).
Mitchum did a lot of fine Westerns -- for Raoul Walsh (PURSUED), Robert Wise (BLOOD ON THE MOON), Nicholas Ray (THE LUSTY MEN), Wellman (TRACK OF THE CAT), Preminger (RIVER OF NO RETURN), Hawks (EL DORADO). In the late Sixties he made some sorta weird Westerns as the genre achieved an out-of-the-box freedom of expression with Europeans like Leone and Corbucci. That free spirit found its way here in the Mitchum Westerns VILLA RIDES (scripted by Sam Peckinpah), McLaglen (THE WAY WEST), Hathaway (FIVE CARD STUD), and two for Burt Kennedy, both co-starring a young David Carradine, YOUNG BILLY YOUNG and THE GOOD GUYS AND THE BAD GUYS (1969), included in the WHV Mitchum collection. In March 1969, Kennedy had a huge hit with the Western comedy SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF, then paired Mitchum with George Kennedy as two veteran adversaries who join forces to stop the wild young Waco (Carradine). Kennedy was the master of this serio-comic sub-genre in the Sixties, directing THE ROUNDERS, DIRTY DINGUS MAGEE and the Mitchum films as well as some of the better late John Wayne vehicles (THE WAR WAGON, THE TRAIN ROBBERS). THE GOOD GUYS AND THE BAD GUYS is one of his lesser efforts, slight but entertaining, held together by beautiful locations and star power.
Long unseen uncut in its proper format, THE YAKUZA (1975) one of this set’s gems, and a key film in the history of Hollywood’s “Movie Brats” decade. Leonard Schrader came up with the story of an American ex-private eye (Mitch) at odds with Japanese gangsters, his brother Paul wrote a script that prompted a famous bidding war; Robert Towne did rewrites. An atypical script for Pollack, he does an excellent job balancing the drama, suspense and action: Pollack had scored with another “Movie Brat” script with JEREMIAH JOHNSON by John Milius. In THE YAKUZA, Mitchum is teamed with Japanese superstar Takakura Ken, and the two pros are great to watch. Pollack does a fascinating audio commentary, and there’s a contemporary making-of featurette.
Warners’ DVD Decision 2006, in which the home entertainment label teams with Amazon to allow consumers to vote from among 30 titles nominated for DVD release, had its first wave of releases on December 19, and it certainly is an eclectic mix with something for everyone. Ray Bradbury’s THE ILLUSTRATED MAN (1969) is a fascinating tale from the sci-fi master with Rod Steiger as a man completely covered in tattoos – staring at each one brings us into a futuristic tale. There is a vintage featurette included. THERE WAS A CROOKED MAN (1970) pits Kirk Douglas against Henry Fonda in mind games in the Old West, perceptively scripted by Robert Benton and David Newman (BONNIE AND CLYDE), and directed by the masterful Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Fonda plays a prison warden and Douglas his inmate nemesis; Mankiewicz was one of the best directors for cat-and-mouse characters (ALL ABOUT EVE, THE HONEY POT, SLEUTH), and while this was his only Western as a director, he does a fine job here. There’s a great supporting cast (Warren Oates, Hume Cronyn, Burgess Meredith, Lee Grant) and the whole thing is highly recommended fun.
PRESENTING LILY MARS (1943) is a long awaited Judy Garland vehicle that straddles the WIZARD OF OZ/Mickey Rooney phase of her career with her more mature roles in MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS and THE CLOCK. It’s a traditional musical comedy-drama with all the MGM musical trimmings, with Judy a stage-struck small town girl who gets her shot at Broadway. Some interesting extras on this one: an audio only outtake of the deleted finale “Paging Mr. Greenback,” an audio only version of the “long, later re-edited finale” “Where There’s Music,” a final version of the film’s “Where There’s Music” finale as used in the movie, but with stereo audio, the 1943 MGM short subject HEAVENLY MUSIC, and the hilarious 1943 cartoon WHO KILLED WHO? by the great Tex Avery.
UP PERISCOPE! (1959) is strictly for James Garner fans. It’s a B-movie directed by amiable hack Gordon Douglas, in low budget imitation of the Gable-Lancaster WWII submarine picture RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP (1958) and the Robert Mitchum THE ENEMY BELOW (1957). Garner had starred in William Wellman’s DARBY’S RANGERS (1958) and by the time of UP PERISCOPE! he was a huge star from his MAVERICK TV series. He was never really well served in Warners features during this period and had to wait until 1963-64 to do some worthy movies (THE GREAT ESCAPE, 36 HOURS, THE AMERICANIZATION OF EMILY). Clearly, UP PERISCOPE! has its fans!
OPERATION CROSSBOW (1965), on the other hand, is an outstanding WWII drama, partly based on fact, about a mission to destroy Nazi Germany’s new super rockets capable of bombing London and New York. Michael Anderson (AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, LOGAN’S RUN) does a terrific job keeping the suspense crackling as he guides a strong cast – Sophia Loren, George Peppard, Trevor Howard, John Mills, Richard Johnson, Tom Courtenay, Jeremy Kemp, Anthony Quayle, Lilli Palmer, Paul Henreid and Helmut Dantine – in a much recommended movie. It’s a favorite on TCM, and the disc includes the vintage featurette that frequently accompanies it on that stellar cable network.
The second wave of the DVD Decision street dates on January 30 and it’s another interesting batch – Raoul Walsh’s Civil War drama BAND OF ANGELS with Clark Gable, Yvonne de Carlo, and Sidney Poitier; Elia Kazan’s Kirk Douglas-Faye Dunaway starrer THE ARRANGEMENT (1969), Mervyn LeRoy’s Garson-Pidgeon biopic MADAME CURIE (1943), Michael Crichton’s stylish sci-fi thriller LOOKER (1981), and the martial arts fave GYMKATA (1985) from director Robert Clouse (ENTER THE DRAGON). More on those titles next time …
John Gallagher
jgmovie@gmail.com
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