munson-2 Reviews

The Mark of Zorro (1940)

Rousing, romantic, and witty, ... a real treat.

[9 November 1998]

Tyrone Power at his best, with all the resources of 20th Century Fox behind him. This 1940 production of The MARK OF ZORRO is the most handsomely turned-out version of this tale of old California. Like the SCARLET PIMPERNEL, it is a tale of hidden identity, and of good over evil.

Tyrone Power plays Don Diego de la Vega, the scion of well-to-do California family. Away in Madrid at some Academy of war-fare, he is summoned home by his worried father to aid the good people of the region against an oppressive regime that has seized political power. As the ruthless and dangerous Basil Rathbone silkily informs Don Diego when he first returns, "Your father has resigned, Don Diego,.......age you know. Since then the peons have become more industrious. As for the caballeros, they are encouraged to think of their own affairs....WE TAKE CARE OF THE GOVERNMENT!"

Sizing up the situation and not wanting to tip his hand, Don Diego retreats into the persona of a fop and dandy. This device contributes to much of the film's witty and extremely humorous fun. The beauty here is that we are the only ones let-in on this charade. Don Diego begins on a campaign to frighten the puppet governor, Don Luis Quintero into fleeing to Madrid and appointing the older Vega (his father)to the post. He does this by staging little terrorist attacks on soldiers and caravans. But the biggest obstacle to his plans is the real power behind the throne ---- Capitan Estaban Pasquale, wonderfully portrayed by Basil Rathbone. This is real conflict in this movie.

On one side we have Don Diego; cuffs of lace, snuff box in hand, and eternally fatigued. He enters a room, "Sorry I'm late, but they heated the water for my bath too early. It was postively tepid! By the time more was carried and properly scented (sigh)..... Life can be trying....don't you think?" He postures and prances, forever exhibiting, to anyone who'll watch, some slight of hand. "It's all the rage at Court, ... oh how I'll miss the scented breezes of Spain!" But the piercing presence of Capitan Estaban Pasquale is never far off. Here is Basil Rathbone; his knife-life figure and his compelling voice steal the show. As Don Luis observes, "My dear Estaban is forever thrusting at this or that, he was a fencing master in Madrid." Aside from his skill with a sword, he is smart. He grills Don Luis (after one fo Zorro's nocturnal visits); "Well, what did he look like, what did he say?" When he finds out that Zorro wants Don Luis to retire and to name Vega in his place, Estaban draws his eppe and begins making wicked thrusts and swipes with it as he says, "Ah Ha! Now we've got something! This Zorro is a Caballero! No ordinary brigand would concern himself with Vega!" This guy's quick.

The final Dueling scene between Don Diego and Estaban is the very best in movies..... compelling and breathtaking. Estaban, grabbing a blubbering Don Luis, on the verge of quitting, by the collar, "So you tried to get gold out of the country, did you? If you ever again take so much as one peso of mine I'll cut or throat from ear-to-ear!!" He turns on Don Diego, "Quiet you poppenjay, I have very little reason for letting you live either! Soon the duel begins. As graceful as a ballet, quick and razor-like.

Of course good triumphs. There is much to like about this movie. Linda Darnell is exquisite, if a little too sheltered, and Gale Sondergaard is always good as the bad, evil woman. The music is terrific, and direction is fast.

Shane (1953)

A sweeping and memorable movie

[7 November 1998]

So much has been written over the years about SHANE; it's beautiful composition, its precise, if mechanical direction by George Stevens, and its good against evil theme, that there seems to be little left to say in the way of superlatives, but I will give it a try.

There are so many scenes in SHANE that standout as epic. They are like the jagged mountainscapes that dominate the picture: A young boy, slogging around in a marsh, aims his toy gun on a deer grazing on some grass stems, the deer lifts it's antlers and perfectly frames a lone rider approaching in the distance, a struggling family homestead held together by hard work, the father splitting wood, the mother baking in the kitchen, and always the mountains jutting upwards away off in the distance.

We have a stranger, lean and handsome, dressed in fringed buckskin. His dress and gun belt suggest something other than a farmer or rancher, yet we never really know, or ever know, of his past. He is kind and modest, and takes time to address the boy as though someone worth talking to, "You were watching me down the trail quite a spell, weren't you. I like a man who watches things going around.....He can make his mark someday." the boy smiles up at him, and an instant bond is formed, an idol worship in the making.

We have snickering, troublesome ranchhands who spend any free hours swilling whiskey at Graftons General Merchantile. "I thought I smelled pig. Which one of those tatter-pickers are you working for? Or are you just squattin' on the range?" this is the kind of menace that dogsany farmer who dares to come into town.

We have Shane, although trying to lead the simple life of farming, goaded into a fight by a sweaty-faced cowpoke (Ben Johnson). His bloodying of the cowpoke is like a violent ballet, graceful and cutting.

There is a meeting of the homesteaders, huddled together by lamplight, trying to solve there problems by resolving to go into town all together so that they would have strength in numbers. This is a rather sad scene since WE know that will be in vain.

There is touching elegance to the 4th of July celebration where there is fiddle music and dancing. Shane and Marion (the boy's mother) take a few turns to a reel..... dancing with others in the corral. Van Heflin (the Boy's father) is symbolically shut out beyond the fence. "Marion, they fenced me out" he grins. Yet we know that there is a growing affection between the two dancers.

There is tension in the late evening when the head of the ranchers pays visit to the homestead. "Look Starrett. When I come to this country you weren't much older than your boy there........ How would you like to go partners with me." It's sad because this is a real if clumsy attempt to "be reasonable" But as Shane would say on more than one occasion, "it's no use".

I could go on; the murder of the Stonewall at the hands of an especially evil hired gun from Cheyenne has great impact. And, the final confrontation at Graftons one fateful night, is one of the best in Westerns.

The characters are well developed and the story, while exiting, is a little melancholy.

The best Western ever made.

Gilda (1946)

Notorious in it's time, ... and it still grabs.

[5 November 1998]

A very strange film noir, with all of the characteristics of that genre; rain slicked alleys, perpetual nightime, and shadows. Gilda is played by Rita Hayworth, and she is beautiful, nasty, and dangerous. As a matter of fact much of this movie has a nasty edge to it that made it a little notorious when it was released.

Glenn Ford is an American in Buenos Aires near the end of World War II. Why he is not in uniform, and why he is in Buenos Aires is never addressed. Suffice it to say, he is down on his luck and in the opening sequence we see him gambling at night in a waterfront alley. He scoops up his winnings and is shortly accosted on the wharf by a robber. Mysteriously, George Macready appears, and saves the day with a wicked little walking stick that has a hidden blade that juts out of the end when prompted.

This begins a rather strange relationship between Ford and Macready, who happens to own a casino outside of town. Ford goes to work for him and learns the gambling business from the ground up. All is well with the world until Macready shows up after a business trip with the naughty Rita Hayworth as his wife. One soon grasps that she and Ford had a prior, torrid relationship. This now becomes a sort of 3-way relationship and struggle.

There is a famous scene when Hayworth belts out "Put the Blame on Mame". She is clad in a clingy, slinky black dress, with black gloves that go up to her elbows. She does a psuedo striptease and it's VERY effective. In actuality all that is removed is one glove..... but wow. "I've never been any good at zippers! but if I had some help!"

Glenn Ford spends most of the film sulking. His job is to "look after Gilda" for his boss. In one scene Gilda is dancing with some latin Romeo. At a table sit Macready and Ford..... Macready to Ford: "Go get her" Ford: She's not my w.... she's your wife! Macready: "That's exactly the point. A man always looks a bit ridiculous, don't you think, grabbing his wife from another man's arms" Ford: "Alright".

The real treat in this movie is the portrayal by George Macready as the aloof, aristocratic, and mysterious Ballin Mundson. He is very much a shadow, a poised, elegant, and sinister shadow. To Hayworth in a particularly sultry scene as she sprawls across the end of bed, "Hate is a very exciting emotion. I felt it, didn't you? It warmed me.......hate is the only thing that has ever warmed me."

This movie is absorbing and rewarding.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941)

Sophisticated and breezy, what fun!

[5 November 1998]

This is an early U.S. directorial effort by Alfred Hitchcock, but don't look for spine chilling suspense here. Instead, look for a surprisingly deft comedy, a sophisticated comedy of the same genre as THE PHILADELPHIA STORY, released about the same year.

The plot goes something like this; Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Robert Montgomery and Carol Lombard) are this evidently well to do couple (he's a lawyer who apparently can take days away from the office to resolve marital battles), who live on Park Avenue. They have no children, and I bring this up only to say that the presence of kids would wreck the feel of the movie. Well, all is well with the Smiths, who have always held that when a fight has erupted in the bedroom, neither can leave the bedroom until their dispute has been resolved and they are in each other's arms again. Trouble comes in the form of an agent from the state where they were married, someplace like Colorado, who has the unpleasant task of notify some folks, the Smith's among them, that their marriages are not legal due to some mish-mash about county and state lines, etc. The stage is now set, do either want to get married again?

The situations that face the Smith's are so funny and droll, that I find myself giggling at them, even after many viewings. For example, Robert Montgomery takes Carol Lombard to the old bistro that they used to go to when they were dating. She has all kinds of expectations that he'll take this opportunity to re-pop the question. She jams herself into the same chic suit she wore on her wedding day, only to find out that the few pounds she had put over the years causes her skirt to split at the seams, solved by carefully placed safety pins tucked from view. When they get to the old neighborhood, they find that the trendy bistro they used to frequent has fallen on evil days, the whole neighborhood has, in fact, turned into a sort of slum. They walk into the establishment...... a solitary man sitting at the counter with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth hails the cook by yelling "customers!" The place has a cat hanging around begging for food. They ask to move the table out to the sidewalk as in the old days, and they are accommodated but only to have homeless children stand by staring at them with hunger and want.

The match-up of Montgomery and Lombard works well. He is at his best as the sleek, well groomed, Park Avenue type. He had plenty of practice at these types of roles going back to PRIVATE LIVES. Carol Lombard is glamorous, high-strung, and hot tempered. A good supporting cast including Gene Raymond and a young Jack Carson are on hand.

This is a delightful movie, and I wonder when watching it how nice it would be to be free of any money cares, and be able to spend my time involved in madcap romantic schemes. There's a lot of fun to be had during this show.

The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)

A Stirring Movie, very fresh and cheeky.

[4 November 1998]

One might want to pre-judge this movie on the basis of its release date (1934), but it would be a mistake to consider this movie as creeky and old. On the contrary, it remains so brilliantly focused and sharply contrasted, that the viewer can get lost within the film-strip of this fine Korda film. The sets are realistic and evocative. Some, such as parlors and ballrooms glitter like the jewels of their occupants, while others, like public taverns and "clubs", can be grimy with pipe smoke, ale, and mutton.

The story is one of hidden identity, of unsung heroism, illusion, and danger......risk and reward, of good men doing what's necessary to save doomed people. It's also a moving love story.

Central in all of this is Sir Percy Blakeney (Leslie Howard in his finest screen role). He is a Fop in the extreme. He poses, he prances, and he eternally fusses with his attire. Are his cuffs properly ruffled, so that when he takes snuff, "it's a swallows flight"? Neckwear is another preoccupation of Sir Percy's.... he even uses this obsession in one of the film's wittiest lines, "A man who can't tie his own cravat isn't likely to put a noose around the Pimpernel's neck, is he?" But, the paradox of course is that Sir Percy, his wife not even knowing, is the bane of the French Revolutionists, the Scarlet Pimpernel. He and his followers make repeated and risky trips across the English Channel to rescue those they can from the fate of the guillotine. This charade of Sir Percy's is the core of much of the film's hilarious moments. But it's easy for this movie to take quick turns from humor to grim seriousness.

The love interest is the International beauty Merle Oberon, who is showcased exquisitly. She has developed a contempt for her foppish husband and his silliness, as she desperately tries to save her brother's life by trying to discover the true identity of the Pimpernel for villain Raymond Massey. She idealizes the Pimpernel who she often contrasts to her nit-wit husband, but as he tells her (and with some moment), "It's dangerous to fall in love with a phantom, m'dear. For all you know he's a married man who is deeply in love with his wife."

There is adventure and romance. A must see movie.

Lock Up Your Daughters! (1969)

Worth a look

[3 November 1998]

I reviewed this movie when it was released in 1969. At that time I thought it was absolutely rib-splitting. It deals mainly with the attempts of an English Fop (we're talking the 1700's here) to maintain the chastity of his daughters. It is ribald fare and the comedy a bit along the lines of TOM JONES, but it is worth the price of admission just to see this father, fake cheek mole plopped in place, his finery and lace cuffs set just so, rush from situtation to situation in little prig-ish strides.

I would love to see it released on Video.

Northwest Passage (1940)

An exciting movie ..... holds up well.

[9/10 · 3 November 1998]

Northwest Passage was produced in one of the golden years of the golden era of Hollywood....1939-1940., and contains all of the best of what MGM had to offer. Based on the Kenneth Roberts novel of the same name, Northwest Passage covers "Part I - Roger's Rangers" of that epic work. Set in Colonial American during the French and Indian Wars, it recalls the true exploits of a group of Rangers sent up into the French-Canadian woods to wipe-out a village of enemy-aiding warriors..... and especially the agonizing hardships on the trip home as they are pursued by the French. The scope of this movie has always impressed me, from the coziness of the firelight of a Studley's Tavern, the richness of The Reverend Brown's palor, the solid construction of Crown Point, and the beauty of the forest.

The Cast is top-notch headed by Spencer Tracy as Major Rogers. Robert Young, Walter Brennen, Ruth Hussey, and others help to make this a real treat to watch. The technicolor is of the fine old process, and we see hues and tones that are not visible in today's movies. Also, the musical score is compelling. This movie is absorbing, and when watched without interruption, the viewer gets swept along as though part of the story.

San Francisco (1936)

Hold onto your seats!

[3 November 1998]

SAN FRANCISCO is a major Hollywood production from the 1930's, From the Boldness of the opening credits, along with a rousing rendition of the tune by the same name, the viewer suspects that they are going to witness a special movie event.

The plot is a rather forthright formula story of a tug-of-war romance between bad boy Clark Gable (Blackie Nortion, saloon owner) and mama's boy Jack Holt (Jack Burley, scion of a well-to -do family) for the affections of singer Jeanette MacDonald (Mary Blake, beautiful, virginal). It's also a story of good vs. evil, the good portrayed by Spencer Tracy as a Catholic Priest.

But it's the hard-hitting script and it's crisp dialogue, the recreation of a turn-of-the-Century San Francisco, the great acting, the music, and the fabulous Earthquake sequences that make this show the classic that it is.

SAN FRANCISCO is a tale of contrasts. On one hand the Barbary Coast with it's bars and bordellos, yet on the other hand we have a city of the fine arts, opera, and the Nob Hill elite. We have the rich, the spendthrifts, and also the poor who seek shelter in the Mission Houses.

The acting of Clark Gable cannot go unmentioned. His Blackie Norton is the most mockingly amoral character, proud of his lack of religious faith..... relying only on himself. Yet as Father Mullin (Tracy) says at one point in the movie, "Do you know who gave the chapel that organ we've been dedicating tonight? The most scoffing, unbelieving, and godless soul in all San Francisco, ..Blackie Norton. Cost him over $4,000......Don't tell him I told you. Blackie's like that, ashamed of his good deeds as most men are ashamed of their bad."

The famous 1906 Earthquake is a real show-stopper. Entire sets were hoisted on hydraulic lifts and rockers, and literally shaken down. VERY REALISTIC. I would have reservations about showing this picture to kids under 10 years of age. They may develop a neurotic fear of earthquakes following this one.

Enjoy and re-enjoy.

Laura (1944)

Crisp and Witty

[2 November 1998]

Laura is a masterpiece. From the first words heard, "I shall never forget the weekend Laura died", intoned by a somber Clifton Webb, the viewer embarks on a glossy and gripping story of murder among the elite. The cast; Dana Andrews, Vincent Price, Gene Tierney, Clifton Webb, are all very capable in this movie, but it is Clifton Webb who is over-the-top. His Snobbish, bitchy, and biting Waldo Lydecker is a shear delight..... "Laura considered me the wisest, wittiest, and most worldly man she had ever met.....I was in complete accord with her on that point. She also thought me the kindest and most sympathetic man in the world" A must see ..... disconnect the phone while viewing. You won't want to be disturbed.

Five Graves to Cairo (1943)

Top Notch film

[8/10 · 2 November 1998]

This movie is a tense, well written drama. Although it is a WWII movie, it is not the usual War type film. It is set mostly in a hotel in the desert, and this serves to focus the drama and develop the characters. A standout is Erich Von Stroheim as Field Marshall Rommel..... very quirky. I highly recommend this for serious adults. I think younger children wouldn't get much from it.