Movie Review: Never So Few (1959)

Genre: World War Two Adventure Romance

Director: John Sturges

Starring: Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lawford, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Paul Henreid

Running Time: 124 minutes

Synopsis: The setting is 1943, and in Burma's jungles, cocky American Captain Tom Reynolds (Frank Sinatra) and British Captain Danny De Mortimer (Richard Johnson) help a small group of native Kachin fighters engage Japanese forces. While in Calcutta to secure medical supplies, Tom sets eyes on the beautiful Carla (Gina Lollobrigida), the companion of wealthy businessman Nikko Regas (Paul Henreid). Tom nevertheless romantically pursues Carla between stints of warfare.

What Works Well: The adaptation of Tom T. Chamales' novel combines military skirmishes with lavish far-from-the-front-lines British Empire locales, and occasionally threatens to become interesting. In early roles, Charles Bronson as a Navajo soldier and Steve McQueen as an enterprising corporal trained on New York's streets are robust and charismatic respectively. Gina Lollobrigida adds sultry allure in a succession of stunning outfits (when she's not seductively naked in the bathtub).

What Does Not Work As Well: The narrative lacks focus, the tone is uneven, and Sturges never finds the right balance between the stiff combat scenes and a deeply unconvincing romance. Tom bluntly tells the sophisticated and worldly Carla he wants her perpetually pregnant and in the kitchen, and she melts into his arms. One seemingly relevant character just conveniently disappears, while the third act introduces a complex geopolitical conspiracy out of nowhere. A disengaged Frank Sinatra goes through the motions, but at least he loses his hideously conceived facial hair early.

Conclusion: The promise of sizzling action and torrid love is lost in the jungle.



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Movie Review: Night Train To Munich (1940)

A spy adventure, Night Train To Munich creates the fundamentals of a good thriller but mixes in an excess of unfortunate frivolity.

It's 1939, and the Nazis invade Czechoslovakia. Unwilling to work for the Germans, Czech armour-plating scientist Axel Bomasch (James Harcourt) escapes to England, but his daughter Anna (Margaret Lockwood) is caught and imprisoned in a concentration camp. The Nazis believe she will lead them to Axel's whereabouts, and Gestapo Captain Karl Marsen (Paul Henreid) dupes her into a staged escape and lands with Anna in Britain.

With the help of British Intelligence Officer Dickie Randall (Rex Harrison) Anna indeed locates her dad in the small seaside community of Brightbourne. Karl pounces and captures both Axel and Anna, returning them to Germany via U-Boat. Randall has a narrow window of opportunity to extract the scientist and his daughter before they are transferred to Munich. He pretends to be Major Ulrich Herzog of the Corps of Engineers and infiltrates the Nazi bureaucracy to attempt a dangerous rescue.

Approximately half of a very good film, Night Train To Munich is Hitchcock light. The spy versus spy adventure includes a lukewarm romance, some humour and plenty of subterfuge, but the story becomes more absurd with every passing scene, straining credibility even by jovial genre standards.

Director Carol Reed keeps the action moving briskly, leading to the reasonably engaging set-piece journey on an overnight train between Berlin and Munich. England declares war on Germany that night, and Randall's mission is suddenly much more dangerous, with his ruse of pretending to be a German officer already fraying at the edges.

But here Reed stumbles. The marginal characters of English travelers Charters and Caldicott crash the story quite late into the film and suddenly start to burn many minutes of screen time with their lighthearted but irritable Englishmen abroad banter. Their side-character intervention deflates all the built-up tension and momentum, and Night Train To Munich never recovers.

Reed makes an attempt at amends with a final 15 minutes featuring an almost literal cliffhanger, placing the doofus sidekicks back into a box and delivering a well-executed climax straight out of the Hitchcockian playbook.

The performances are adequate, with Paul Henreid (billed as Paul von Hernried to amplify his German credentials) overshadowing Rex Harrison. Lockwood is more prominent than Harcourt, but both are primarily victims of swirling events around them and barely leave an impression.

Clever, improbable and uneven, Night Train To Munich offers mixed scenery.

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The Movies Of Paul Henreid

All movies starring Paul Henreid and reviewed on the Ace Black Movie Blog are linked below:

Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)

Night Train To Munich (1940)

Now, Voyager (1942)

Casablanca (1942)

Never So Few (1959)

The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse (1962)

Operation Crossbow (1965)

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The Movie Star Index is here.

Movie Review: The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse (1962)

A melodrama set mostly in Paris under Nazi occupation, The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse enjoys some juicy character dilemmas but otherwise falls foul of a turgid romance that never sparkles.

Madariaga (Lee J. Cobb) is the patriarch of a proud Argentinian clan. One of his daughters is married to Frenchman Marcelo Desnoyers (Charles Boyer), while the other daughter is married to German Karl von Hartrott (Paul Lukas). Julio (Glenn Ford) and Heinrich (Karl Boehm) are the now adult offspring of Marcelo and Karl respectively. With the clouds of war gathering over Europe, Madariaga is horrified to learn that Karl and Heinrich have joined the Nazi Party. Madariaga dies during a raucous family dinner, haunted by images of the biblical four horsemen of the apocalypse: Conquest, War, Pestilence, and Death.

Marcelo and Julio relocate to Paris along with Julio's sister Chi-Chi (Yvette Mimieux). Julio enjoys the playboy life, and wants no involvement in the world of politics and conflict. War does indeed erupt, but not before Julio meets and falls in love with Marguerite (Ingrid Thulin), although she is married to harried newspaper publisher Etienne (Paul Henreid). With the Germans threatening Paris, Etienne is shipped to the front lines, creating space for the romance between Julio and Marguerite to blossom. Paris falls and soon Karl and Heinrich make their presence felt as part of the occupation force, Karl as a local German military administrator and Heinrich as an influential member of the feared SS.

With high level contacts among the German occupiers, Julio finds himself in a position of unwanted privilege. He has to fend off the brutish advances of General von Kleig (George Dolenz) towards Marguerite, but then events turn serious when Etienne is released from a prisoner of war camp, Chi-Chi starts to demonstrate sympathies with the French resistance, and Julio realizes that despite his natural inclination to remain uninvolved, the war will demand he chooses a side.

MGM's 1921 adaptation of the Vicente Blasco Ibáñez novel is fondly remembered as a star-making vehicle for the young and virile Rudolph Valentino. By the late 1950s the studio was scrounging around for properties to help revive its fading fortunes, and settled on this epic remake, resetting the story to World War Two and bringing in director Vincente Minnelli to infuse the project with prestige. It didn't quite work as intended. The 1962 version does enjoy some moments of cinematic grandeur, but it is also relatively slow, bloated, and lacking in charisma.

A large part of the problem resides in the casting of the two central characters. Glenn Ford is most unconvincing as a Latin playboy. He instead comes across as Rick Blaine's boring cousin, an American in Paris passively observing events passing him by. Julio's romance with Marguerite enjoys an initial 10 minutes of glamour, then collapses into tiresome domesticity, bickering, and passive aggressive tension, a very poor foundation on which to build a 150 minute movie. Even when Julio swings into action in the final third, both the missions and the execution are unconvincing.

Ingrid Thulin is just as cold in the role of Marguerite, not the fault of the actress, but again a poor casting choice that shifted the romance to an older age where rationality trumps devotion. For most of the film there is hardly any genuine chemistry between Ford and Thulin, undermining Julio's reasons to hang around Paris and deal with the mess of the occupation.

As the feisty Madariaga, Lee J. Cobb expires spectacularly within the first half hour. Cobb takes his role to the extreme end of theatricality, submitting his resume to join the ranks of the horsemen as the harbinger of dramaturgy.

It's not all a loss, and despite the film's stodginess, there is plenty to admire. The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse looks good, with Minnelli recreating a wartime Paris where opulence persists behind closed doors while tensions rise on the street corners. The special effects to create the galloping horsemen in the clouds are impressive, but undoubtedly overwrought. At least Minnelli shows restraint by using them in small doses. The other cast members are more reserved and often more than adequate, with veterans Henreid, Boyer and Lukas showing that good things happen when actors are properly fitted to roles.

And eventually, the film does build some epic weight in the story of individuals caught up in the whirlpool of history, with Julio facing a triangular moral dilemma: his partial French heritage demands that he act, his beliefs require him to remain on the sidelines, and his German uncle and cousin offer him the prestige of high-level connections at a time when knowing the right people is the difference between life and death.

The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse ride into the bloodiest conflict in world history. After stumbling around in somewhat questionable manner, they emerge still holding the flag, albeit a rather tattered one.

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Movie Review: Now, Voyager (1942)

An impossible romance set against the psychological drama of a convoluted mother-daughter relationship, Now, Voyager is an opus of grand emotions, elevated by a perfect Bette Davis performance.

In Boston, the wealthy and widowed Mrs. Windle Vale (Gladys Cooper) rules her household with an icy grip, and torments her youngest daughter Charlotte (Davis) into emotional oblivion. Mrs. Vale treats Charlotte like a lowly servant, dictating every detail of her life and preventing her from blossoming into an adult. On the verge of a nervous breakdown, Charlotte is rescued by psychologist Dr. Jaquith (Claude Rains), who admits her into his mental treatment facility. After many weeks of therapy Jaquith instills in Charlotte the self-confidence to become her own person.

On a South American cruise to explore her new-found independence, she meets Jeremiah (Jerry) Duvaux Durrance (Paul Henreid), an unhappily married father of two. Jerry and Charlotte spend many days getting to know each other, and endure a memorable taxi mishap on a remote mountain rode in Brazil. They fall deeply in love, but he has to return to his wife and daughters, while the now empowered Charlotte has to return to Boston and establish new rules for the relationship with her mother.

The well-meaning but bland Elliot Livingston (John Loder) soon emerges as a serious suitor for Charlotte's heart, but it will not be easy for her to forget Jerry, who has family troubles of his own, with his young daughter Tina (Janis Wilson) suffering from extremely low self-esteem.

Now, Voyager does go on, the final 30 minutes of the two hour running time stretching into what starts to feel like a serialized, crisis-of-the-week drama, while the ending gropes for a resolution to the doomed but eternal love. By introducing Tina late in the third act, the Casey Robinson script (adapting the book by Olive Higgins Prouty) is keen to show that Charlotte now has the wisdom and confidence to know how a mother is supposed to love, breaking the generational chain of emotional abuse. But in striving for a bittersweet ending, Dr. Jaquith, earlier established as a man of wisdom, is dumbed down and allowed to make some bewildering decisions, releasing Charlotte to secure part, but not all, of what she yearns for.

While imperfect, the ending cannot diminish the overall quality of the film. Director Irving Rapper assembles an engrossing examination of a woman in transition, Charlotte progressing from bullied daughter to hesitant adult and then confident society hostess, guided by Dr. Jaquith's sage advice and the healing power of love. From the lowly status of a blatantly unloved daughter, Charlotte earns her small victories as her emotional health is gradually reconstructed, and the film thrives on the challenges of the long emotional journey to recovery.

Robinson finds the best moments in Charlotte's return to her mother's house, the daughter having to walk the finest possible line between respecting her frail mother and asserting her own independence. Using Dr. Jaquith's techniques, Charlotte avoids the route of angry confrontation and instead explores the area where assertiveness and civilized refinement intersect.

Davis finds all the junctures of inflection in Charlotte's transformation, delivering a flawless performance where emotion is conveyed by fleeting but poignant expressions that pass across her face. Cooper, as Charlotte's crusty mother, is perfectly despicable. A selfish mother feeding her miserly needs by degrading her daughter's mental health, Cooper drips delicious self-absorption and expert manipulation.

Henreid is capable if slightly bland as Jeremiah, but his overall acting is overshadowed by the lighting-two-cigarettes-in-the-mouth trick, a signature move that Jerry develops (and repeats often) to light his and Charlotte's cigarette simultaneously. Henreid's silky execution of the sexy hand-off is all that needs to be remembered about his performance. Rains is reliably good as the well-meaning Dr. Jaquith.

Now, Voyager crosses the oceans in search of the ingredients that can transform Charlotte into a complete human being. Some ports naturally remain just out of reach, but the expedition is a deeply enriching experience.

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Movie Review: Casablanca (1942)

Casablanca may or may not be the best movie ever made, but it probably is the most perfect. Filled with memorable characters, rich scenes, an elaborate central locale, and sharp dialogue, and centred on a doomed love story set amidst a world war, Casablanca effortlessly delivers the pure magic of the movies.

With World War Two raging, Casablanca is a hot transit point for anyone traveling in or out of the conflict zone, and nominally ruled by the Vichy French government as represented by Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains). Nazi officials keep a close eye on everything and everyone, and exit visas to a safe haven are the most coveted prize.

Jaded Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) runs Rick's Café Américain, the place to mingle, illegally gamble and swing deals. He competes with the Blue Parrot cafe, run by his rival Signor Ferrari (Sydney Greenstreet). Two visas fortuitously fall into Rick's hands, just as his former love Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) enters his joint with husband Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), who is an essential leader of the underground movement fighting the Nazis. Passion reignites between Rick and Ilsa, but she is torn between helping her husband escape to fight another day, or pursuing the true love of her life.

A small movie made in a hurry with limited sets and a cast of Warner Bros regulars, Casablanca catches lightning in a bottle. A mix of wartime intrigue, soulful romance and thriller stocked with desperation and no shortage of danger, the film oozes eloquent magic in every scene. Against a backdrop of a global conflict blanketing the city with a thick fog of mistrust, director Michael Curtiz cleverly exploits the ambience and uses an economy of scenes to package the film into a breezy 102 minutes, all the important threads tied up, but many others left to the rich imagination of another day.

One of the most perfect casts ever assembled brings the unforgettable characters to life. Bogart excels as Rick, the owner of the busiest cafe in Casablanca, emotionally hiding out and pretending not to care for the duration of the war, but inexorably drawn into it when the lost love of his life suddenly re-emerges.

Yvonne (Rick's casual floozy): Where were you last night?
Rick: That's so long ago, I don't remember.
Yvonne: Will I see you tonight?
Rick: I never make plans that far ahead.

Bergman is simply luminous as Ilsa, torn between her past and present lovers, having to decide between two men, and between her personal passion and her life's most important duty. And finally Rains as Captain Renault, charming his way through the tightrope of maintaining the peace and doling out favours in a nest of supposedly neutral chaos, and waiting to see which side will emerge victorious from the ruins of war. Rains also gets to participate in many of the best dialogue exchanges in the movie.

Renault: And what in Heaven's name brought you to Casablanca?
Rick: My health. I came to Casablanca for the waters.
Renault: The waters? What waters? We're in the desert.
Rick: I was misinformed.

Paul Henreid as Laszlo, Ilsa's husband and a leader of the French underground resistance, is billed along with Bogart and Bergman and ahead of Rains, but unfortunately, he is the weakest link in Casablanca. Whether due to the limitations of the role or the actor, Henreid almost comes across as more suitable for a silent movie. His wooden performance is not in the same league as the other three leading stars.

The depth of memorable secondary characters is part of Casablanca's enduring charm. Conrad Veidt as Major Strasser; Sydney Greenstreet as Signor Ferrari; Peter Lorre as Signor Ugarte; Dooley Wilson as Sam the pianist; and Joy Page as Annina, the Bulgaria refugee. None have too much screen time; nevertheless they all shine and make a deep and lasting impression in their few featured moments.

Renault (about Ugarte): I'm making out the report now. We haven't quite decided whether he committed suicide or died trying to escape.

Even further down the list, minor characters such as the waiters in Rick's Cafe, the pickpocket, and the assortment of desperate figures populating the corners of Casablanca linger in the memory.

In terms of locations, Rick's Cafe Americain is one of the most interesting places in movie history. Something is happening in every corner, and there is intrigue at every table, all the time. And if the main room of the cafe is not enough, the gambling den in the back is just as busy and even more entertaining. Adding depth to the exotic locations, Signor Ferrari's Blue Parrot cafe, Rick's main competition, is just as interesting, and much more ramshackle.

Renault: I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here.
Employee of Rick's: [hands Renault money] Your winnings, sir.

The script by Julius and Philip Epstein and Howard Koch is a masterpiece. Sharp, economical and funny, there is a classic line around every corner. The more famous lines are legendary. What is remarkable is that some of the less famous lines are just as good.

Michael Curtiz may have been the main Warner Bros. go-to guy to get the job done, and this proved to be a perfect fit for Casablanca. The flashback scenes with Rick and Ilsa in Paris are weak, but in the Casablanca locales, Curtiz adds clever and artistic touches without ever taking away from the urgency of the unfolding drama.

Renault (to the gathering police officers): Major Strasser has been shot.
[pause]
Renault: Round up the usual suspects.

A classic landmark in the history of movie-making, often imitated but rarely matched, Casablanca just gets better as time goes by.

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