Change Your Image
BW Riviera
Reviews
A Thousand Clowns (1965)
there's nonconformity, then there's this nut
I was curious about this film for quite awhile. What a disappointment. Jason Robards was a great actor, but there's only so much sympathy even he could create for such an irresponsible bum. The idea that such a soul is above working, and encourages others not to work, is one of those "don't know whether to laugh or cry" concepts. I guess I like my movies to have a touch more realism. In a more realistic film, losing the kid would be the least of this guy's worries. He would be physically assaulted on a daily basis and probably institutionalized. So why did I give it a 6/10? When you have probably the wordiest script in film history for a 2 hour film, there have to be SOME good lines. And I'm such a lover of old New York that I kept watching for the scenery.
A special mention must be made of Gene Saks as the TV clown. Even allowing for the nature of the character, this is one of the most abrasive, scenery-chewing performances I have ever seen.
The Time of Your Life (1948)
time-wasting schmaltz
spoiler warning: This film contained a couple of the most grating performances I have ever seen, namely the lovelorn Dudley and the "natural born dancer." Nearly every character (with the exception of Bendix) is cloying and painfully "cute." There's also an edgy character who seems to have wandered in from some other (better) movie. Each time Dudley started running around or that fool started dancing I should have given up, but for some reason I perservered. There's also a totally inexplicable scene in which Cagney annoyingly tries to guess a woman's name from the initials on her handbag. She plays along, and then out of the blue it turns out she's a lost love of his! (at least I think she was). There's also a shameless bit of typecasting in which barfly Cagney suddenly becomes a fierce brawler. The only reasonably interesting story line, namely Cagney's background and how he seems to have plenty of money despite doing no work, is never explored. I cherish many films from the 1940's. The Time of Your Life, however, is one of the worst films I have seen.