The Movies Of Jack Lemmon

All Jack Lemmon movies reviewed on the Ace Black Blog are linked below:

Phffft (1954)

The Apartment (1960)

Good Neighbor Sam (1964)

The Fortune Cookie (1966)

The China Syndrome (1979)

JFK (1991)

All Ace Black Blog Movie Reviews are here.
The Index of Movie Stars is here.

Movie Review: Phffft (1954)

A divorce comedy, Phffft boasts smooth chemistry between Judy Holliday and Jack Lemmon, but otherwise offers little in the way of crisp content.

Robert and Nina Tracey (Lemmon and Holliday) have been married for eight years, and have just about had enough of each other. He's a tax lawyer, she's a television writer, but their relationship has deteriorated to the point of constant bickering. They quickly agree to get divorced.  Through flashbacks, Robert remembers the origins of their relationship: his best friend Charlie Nelson (Jack Carson) introduced Robert to Tracey just after the war, the attraction was mutual, and he offered tax filing advice to get closer to her.

Now both single again, Robert crashes at Charlie's apartment, and Charlie is quick to set up dates for his friend with younger women, including a night out with Janice (Kim Novak), a first class airhead. Meanwhile, Nina dates conceited television actor Rick Vidal (Donald Curtis) and gets advice from her mother Edith (Luella Gear), the woman blamed by Robert at least partially for the breakup of the marriage. But for Robert and Nina, finding happiness with new partners will prove to be surprisingly difficult.

Phffft, which represents the deflating sound of a relationship coming to an end according to a newspaper gossip columnist, enjoys one terrific scene on the dance floor. Robert and Nina both try to reinvent themselves by taking dance lessons after their break-up, and they subsequently have a chance encounter at a club which turns into an energetic and prolonged dance duel. Comedy mixes with determined sassiness as Lemmon and Holliday let loose, attempting to both impress and out-do each other. It's an original, well-executed moment in a film that otherwise struggles to overcome a relatively predictable George Axelrod script.

In only his third film role, Lemmon is already establishing his screen persona as an unimposing typical man facing life's challenges with humour and false bravado. Lemmon has sympathetic presence, and easily portrays his problems as representative of society, his clumsy attempts at solutions only slightly more pronounced than real. Holliday is all about comic timing, and she nails her role as Janice with perfect pauses, expressions and reactions. Janice is written as a slightly less realistic character than Robert, but this allows Holliday to shine bright without descending into farce.

Together, Lemmon and Holliday are by far the best thing about Phffft. The film only threatens to sparkle when they are on screen together, and otherwise drifts into predictability. Carson is his usual strong presence but is undermined when his character takes a ridiculous detour towards the end of the movie. Kim Novak, in only her second credited role, attempts to purr herself into busty brainless blonde breathlessness, but her character is thinly written and surprisingly quickly freefalls into repeating the same jokes to poor effect.

Filmed in rather bland black and white, director Mark Robson is unable to inject too much interest beyond his two leads. Lemmon and Holliday ensure that Phffft doesn't deflate on the screen, but rather settles into relatively harmless and somewhat routine fun.

All Ace Black Blog Movie Reviews are here.

CD Review: Time Is Up, by Havok (2011)

Havok's second album after the excellent 2009 debut provides more of the same. Time Is Up is filled with good quality new thrash, characterized by a hard edged mixing of controlled Megadeth and evolved Anthrax to produce a robust, modern sound.

The pace is fast and faster, the delivery laser-accurate, and the attention span short: the durations are typically under 4:30 per track. Havok do throw in a couple of selections that add limited value to the album, and possibly detract from the package, but these can be attributed to trying for something new that doesn't quite work, rather than padding. On that flop side, No Amnesty steps over the line of sheer speed and becomes more frantic than useful, while The Cleric searches for a purpose and finds none.

In contrast, the highlights are stunning. D.O.A demonstrates immense maturity by combining a controlled but break-neck pace with a sophisticated structure, a busy riff layered on top and glistening like rich icing. It does not seem possible, but D.O.A. climaxes by adding even more speed, and Havok somehow hold the steering wheel even as the needles goes past insane.

Covering Fire is from the same mold, Pete Webber going nuts on the drum set while Sanchez and Scruggs trade deadly volleys of aggressive riffs and manic strumming. Opener Prepare For Attack is an incessant machine gun assault with a riff inspired by the best of Megadeth at full speed. The album ends with Time Is Up, the most Anthrax of the set, and also the most melodically playful selection. The toothy skullhead on the cover seems eager to knock out the clock, but before time is up, Havok delivers.


Band:

David Sanchez - Guitar, Vocals
Jesse De Los Santos - Bass
Reece Scruggs - Guitar
Pete Webber - Drums


Songlist (ratings out of 10):

1. Prepare For Attack - 9
2. Fatal Intervention - 7
3. No Amnesty - 6
4. D.O.A. - 10
5. Covering Fire - 10
6. Killing Tendencies - 7
7. Scumbag In Disguise - 7
8. The Cleric - 6
9. Out Of My Way - 7
10. Time Is Up - 8

Average: 7.70

Produced, Recorded and Engineered by David Sanchez.
Mixed by Peter Rutcho. Mastered by James Murphy.

All Ace Black Blog Heavy Metal CD Reviews are here.

The Movies Of Lee Marvin

All Lee Marvin movies reviewed on the Ace Black Blog are linked below:

The Big Heat (1953)

The Wild One (1953)

The Caine Mutiny (1954)

Bad Day At Black Rock (1955)

The Dirty Dozen (1967)

The Delta Force (1986)

All Ace Black Blog Movie Reviews are here.
The Index of Movie Stars is here.

Movie Review: The Big Heat (1953)

A gritty and brutal revenge noire thriller, The Big Heat is one of the finest examples of the genre. The story of a cop dead set on taking on a large criminal syndicate sizzles with clear-eyed intensity, thanks to sharp writing, edgy directing and fine performances.

Lowly cop Tom Duncan shoots himself in an apparently straightforward case of suicide. According to his widow Bertha (Jeanette Nolan), Tom was depressed due to ill health. But then the homicide detective in charge of the case, Dave Bannion (Glenn Ford), receives a call from a Lucy Chapman (Dorothy Green). She claims to have been Tom's mistress, and insists that his health was fine and that he demonstrated wealth well beyond a cop's salary. Lucy quickly turns up dead. Sensing that there is more to the suicide than meets the eye, Bannion attempts to continue the investigation, but is waved off by his commander, Lieutenant Ted Wilks (Willis Bouchey).

Bannion: Lucy Chapman used to be Duncan's girlfriend.
Wilks: And the army's and navy's.

Bannion ignores the order to let the matter drop, confronting powerful mob boss Mike Lagana (Alexander Scourby) about Lucy's death. Lagana quickly retaliates, and Bannion's family pays the price. Bannion declares war on the criminals, including Lagana, his main partner in crime Vince Stone (Lee Marvin), Stone's henchman Larry Gordon (Adam Williams), and the powerful politicians on Lagana's payroll. When Bannion gets close to Stone's girlfriend Debby Marsh (Gloria Grahame), events cascade into uncontrolled violence.

The Big Heat is an uncompromising thrill ride. Director Fritz Lang constructs a hard-hitting police drama, inundated with violence, propelled by the ferocity of one man deciding to fight back against much larger forces, consequences be damned. Dave Bannion designates himself as a catalyst to upset the status quo, not necessarily knowing who will be victimized nor what the new order will look like, but certain that the existing corrupt arrangements need to be reset.

Debby (to Bannion): When Vince talks business, I go out and get my legs waxed or something.

Lang and his cinematographer and namesake Charles Lang give The Big Heat sharp black and white edges, the movie mostly taking place indoors, at night, and at clubs and hotel rooms filled with blinds, shadows, harsh lights, thick smoke, hard liquor, and crawling with unsavoury characters. In contrast, Bannion's tiny apartment where he lives with his wife (Jocelyn Brando) and young daughter is bathed in the comfort of bright light and white furnishings.

Vince: Hey, that's nice perfume.
Debby: Something new. It attracts mosquitoes and repels men.

The violence of The Big Heat is eye-popping. With cigarettes as torture devices and scalding hot coffee as a weapon, pretty faces get hideously burned and disfigured. The shootings are numerous and the death count is high, particularly among the women. The dialogue is just as sharp, courtesy of a Sydney Boehm screenplay, with crime boss Lagana getting some of the best lines imparting his wisdom to the low lifes in his empire.

Mike Lagana: Prisons are bulging with dummies who wonder how they got there.

Glenn Ford bulldozes his way through the film, The Big Heat perfectly suited to his uncompromising screen persona. Lee Marvin and Alexander Scourby make formidable foes, Scourby more intellectual as Lagana and Marvin dangerously prone to brutality as Stone, a most memorable oily villain.

Gloria Grahame, Jeanette Nolan, Jocelyn Brando and, briefly, Dorothy Green play the quartet of women characters embroiled willingly or otherwise in the world that Bannion is about to disrupt, and all four contribute to the drama. Grahame's Debby Marsh is the most complex character in the movie, a mobster's moll aware of her place and aware that it's not a good one.

Debby: The main thing is to have the money. I've been rich and I've been poor. Believe me, rich is better.

By the time the bullets stop flying, every character in The Big Heat has been changed. Once the heat is turned up high enough, the pot explodes, and the spill is ever so messy.

All Ace Black Blog Movie Reviews are here.

Movie Review: From Here To Eternity (1953)

The lives and loves of soldiers stationed at Pear Harbour in the months leading up to the Japanese attack, From Here To Eternity is a rather turgid examination of sordid behaviour, rescued by memorable characters and copious emotions.

With World War Two rumbling in the headlines, Captain Dana Holmes (Philip Ober) is nominally in charge of Schofield Barracks in Hawaii. Holmes is an ineffective leader much more interested in recruiting members to his unit's boxing team rather than ensuring good morale and readiness. He is also a rampant womaniser, altogether neglecting his wife Karen (Deborah Kerr). Sergeant Milton Warden (Burt Lancaster) is Holmes' second in command, and in the leadership vacuum does his best to keep the affairs of the barracks in order. Finally disgusted with Holmes, Warden starts a dangerously illicit affair with Karen.

Meanwhile, Private Robert E. Lee Prewitt (Montgomery Clift), a single-minded and determined bugler, transfers into the unit, and is immediately pressured by Holmes to join the boxing team. Prewitt refuses, having once badly hurt a man in a bout. With Holmes' tacit approval, Prewitt becomes a target for daily wretched treatment. One of the few men to befriend Prewitt is Private Angelo Maggio (Frank Sinatra), a scrappy and resourceful Italian-American who runs afoul of the burly James "Fatso" Judson (Ernest Borgnine), a boorish Sergeant of the Guard at the stockade.

Prewitt takes his undeserved punishment without complaint and manages to start a steamy relationship with Lorene Burke (Donna Reed), a "hostess" at the local entertainment club. With discipline disintegrating among the men as personal vendettas and affairs of the heart dominate their lives, the Japanese attack arrives as a monumental surprise.

Based on the James Jones novel inspired by his actual experiences, From Here To Eternity is a prototype of the hormone-drenched television soaps that would take over the world of entertainment in another few years. Viewed in the most crass terms, the film is about rather dim-witted characters behaving badly, soldiers of every rank with little to do except find useless trouble with women, trouble with the bottle, and trouble with each other.

But in spite of itself, From Here To Eternity registers an impact thanks to three sharply drawn characters. Sergeant Warden, Private Prewitt and Private Maggio are likable because they are real, flawed, stubborn, and frustratingly unable to avoid life's pitfalls. These men would not be peace time soldiers if they were really good at anything else, and the film mercifully avoids turning them into unrealistic principled heroes.

Instead, Warden succumbs to his lust and embarks on an affair that has "career-ending move" written all over it, Prewitt ignore the clear wishes of Holmes and subjects himself to a life of humiliation, adding to his agony by getting entangled with Lorene (a prostitute in the novel converted to a hostess to satisfy the movie sensibilities of the day), and Maggio has the courage to take on Fatso but not the brains to realize that the outcome is unlikely to be in his favour. All three are dim, yes, but also refreshingly authentic, unsophisticated men proving why they ended up in the army.

Using sparkling black and white, director Fred Zinnemann conjures up some high-impact scenes, most famous being Warden and Karen cavorting on the beach with the foamy surf washing away any sense of guilt. More emotionally intense are Warden and Prewitt having a drunken conversation in the middle of a dirt road, both of their lives reduced to pathetic lamentations, and Prewitt tearfully playing taps to honour a fallen colleague.

Montgomery Clift does emerge with the most fervent performance, creating in Private Prewitt an intractable man who does not mind being externally kicked around as long as he is comfortable with his internal code of conduct. Clift conveys a dark brew of seething anger kept in check by remarkable conviction. Frank Sinatra is also excellent in a role he lobbied heavily for, Maggio dominating every scene he is in with an attitude of battling good humour, intent on making the best out of life's limited opportunities. In contrast with both Clift and Sinatra, the sturdy Lancaster plays the sturdy Lancaster, exactly what is expected of him.

Deborah Kerr steps way outside of her zone of comfort to play a woman leaving a trail of broken toyboy soldiers in her wake, while Donna Reed as the warmer, more intimate Lorene is also memorable as the unexpected soul mate for the brooding Prewitt.

From Here To Eternity dominated the Academy Awards, receiving 13 nominations and winning 8, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and both Supporting Actor awards for Sinatra and Reed. Warden, Prewitt and Maggio may not represent exemplary behaviour, but sometimes glory can be found in celebrating the foibles of normal men.

All Ace Black Blog Movie Reviews are here.

The Movies Of Gregory Peck

All Gregory Peck movies reviewed on the Ace Black Blog are linked below:

Spellbound (1945)

Twelve O'Clock High (1949)

The Snows Of Kilimanjaro (1952)

The Guns Of Navarone (1961)

How The West Was Won (1962)

To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)

All Ace Black Blog Movie Reviews are here.
The Index of Movie Stars is here.

Movie Review: The Snows Of Kilimanjaro (1952)

The reminiscences of an acerbic writer reflecting on his life and loves while awaiting either medical aid or death in Africa, The Snows Of Kilimanjaro is an introspective journey that gradually but surely gathers inner strength.

Writer and amateur big game hunter Harry Street (Gregory Peck) has a badly infected leg at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa. Helpless on his back and almost delirious with pain, Harry is nevertheless self-obsessed and churlish. He verbally spars with his companion and caregiver Helen (Susan Hayward), before slipping into remembrances of his life's key moments.

Aspiring to be a writer since he was a young man, and always attracted to a life of travel and adventure, Harry meets Cynthia Green (Ava Gardner) in Paris. She becomes the love of his life, and joins him on a game hunting expedition in Africa. But when Cynthia finds out that she is pregnant, she longs for a stable life of domesticity, but realizes that Harry only ever wants to travel and pursue new experiences as inspiration for his writing. They part ways under difficult circumstances in Spain. Harry has further romances with a domineering Countess (Hildegard Knef) and then meets Helen, but Cynthia never fully leaves his heart, and they are fated to meet again.

The Casey Robinson script keeps the spirit of Ernest Hemingway's semi-autobiographical short story, but changes many essential elements, including introducing the crucial character of Cynthia Green and altering the ending. The film becomes primarily an ode to essential love lost as seen through Hemingway's caustic lens on life.

The Snows Of Kilimanjaro does have to struggle against an unsympathetic central character. Harry Street is not exactly easy to like, almost outright mean to Helen, who happens to be the only friend he has as the buzzards circle over his immobile body and rotting leg. And as the memories reveal more about Harry, he proves to be deaf to Cynthia's needs, narcissistic in pursuing his own agenda, oblivious to the feelings of others, and quick to mock those closest to him.

But gradually, a sympathetic man emerges, finally coming to terms with what matters in life and pursuing  more noble pursuits, including a war against creeping oppression and a final, desperate attempt to revive the core relationship of his life. The surprising power of the movie comes from the gathering strength of Street's character, as he evolves into a man slow to recognize the signposts of life, but ultimately following them, albeit possibly too late.

Henry King directs in lush colour, The Snows Of Kilimanjaro enjoying grand visual depth and plenty of stock footage of the African wilds, as well as European scenes in Paris and Madrid that are alternately impressive and melancholy. Harry's first meeting with Cynthia in Paris is a magical encounter of mood, music, movement and mirth, brought together by the magnetism of a love meant to spark over a common cigarette lighter. In other scenes King mixes the authenticity of a writer's free spirit with the competing demands of compromise to thrive in life, a contest in which Street often performed poorly.

Peck does well in a role against type, Harry on the opposite side of the street from the upstanding heroes often embodied by Peck. Gardner gives an assured performance as a vulnerable Cynthia, a woman a couple of steps ahead of her man in understanding life but not willing to ruin his rush to boyish adventurism. By comparison, Hayward has relatively little to do, as Helen is consigned to fending off Harry's pessimistic jabs, unwilling to fight back against an already stricken man. Leo G. Carroll has a typically small but important role as Harry's uncle.

The Snows Of Kilimanjaro is a thoughtfully slow exploration of an error-filled life. As in big game hunting, knowing when to take a shot and when to back away comes naturally for some, but is a lifelong pursuit for others.

 

All Ace Black Blog Movie Reviews are here.

Movie Review: The Big Trees (1952)

Loggers against conservationists in the redwood forests of California, The Big Trees is as ordinary as its title.

Jim Fallon (Kirk Douglas) is a smooth talking entrepreneur lumber baron looking to make a large profit from the release of government land for logging. Teaming up with gruff but resourceful former prospector Yukon Burns (Edgar Buchanan), he makes his way to northern California, where the large redwoods could yield handsome returns.

But a local religious community lives in the forest and treats the soaring trees as divine. Elder Bixby (Charles Meredith) is their spiritual leader, and his feisty daughter Alicia (Eve Miller) leads the charge to make life difficult for Fallon and his men. However, a romance nevertheless ignites between Alicia and Fallon, as a rival team of evil timber harvesters spark a violent war in the forest.

Douglas agreed to star in The Big Trees for free in exchange for being released from his long-term contract with Warner Bros. And a general sense of ennui pervades the project. The film feels rushed, underdeveloped, and in many instances plain silly.

Douglas lends undeniable star power and no shortage of charisma, but the supporting cast is strictly C-list. The plot is initially halfway passable, but gets lost in plenty of incomprehensible talk about land deeds and property tights. The narrative then starts to creak in worrisomely wrong directions when the tree worshippers show up, quickly followed by a contrived romance and then faceless nasty bad guys whose sole intent is to make Fallon appear less heartless in comparison.

In quick succession, The Big Trees ends with a rail bridge disintegrating, a dam exploding, and a damsel in distress being saved in the nick of time, and all three events come across as randomly placed action highlights thrown in by director Felix E. Feist in a desperate attempt to enliven a fairly fustian affair. The Big Trees survive, but some reputations do get cut down to size.

All Ace Black Blog Movie Reviews are here.

Book Review: The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey (1989)

Stephen Covey's advice for personal and professional success has withstood the test of time. The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People is an essential and accessible guide to the fundamental principles required to thrive.

Covey constructs his habits to first target personal discipline, the first three habits instilling the ideas of self-determination and the individual ability to shape the future by breaking old habits and presupposed dispositions, being proactive, genuinely imagining desired outcomes, and focusing efforts in the areas that matter towards achieving these outcomes. The first three habits are the building blocks for independence and what Covey calls personal victory.

The next three habits focus on strengthening relationships with others, Covey emphasizing that positive collaboration yields results much stronger than the sum of the parts. The keys to interdependence and public victory are seeking win/win solutions, ensuring that the perspective of others is genuinely understood and internalized, and harmonizing team strength to create a much greater whole that any one individual can conjure. The seventh habit is continuous self-improvement through physical, mental, spiritual and emotional nourishment.

The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People is written in an earnest yet highly attainable style, Covey mixing theories with plenty of examples, often from his personal life, to demonstrate the habits in action (or the undesirable outcome of ignoring them). His voice is that of the sage and calm uncle, positive, encouraging and wise and yet uncompromising in knowing what works and what does not. As a minor quibble, the book does on a few occasions descend into too many lists within lists, Covey sometimes delving a bit too deep into some areas best left for the individual or to focused seminars.

The habits are presented as life-long avenues of learning rather than quick wins or short cuts to success. Indeed, Covey repeatedly makes the distinction between principle-centred change and personality make-overs, the former being dramatically more fundamental, more lasting, and ultimately much more essential for true success.

The 7 Habit Of Highly Effective People is a timeless classic, one of the few genuinely fundamental books to understand the essence of personal leadership.

Subtitled: Personal Lessons In Personal Change. 
Published in paperback by Fireside - Simon and Schuster.
318 pages plus Appendices and Index.

All Ace Black Blog Book Reviews are here.