A review of Scarlet Street, a film that all sugar daddies need to watch!

A quick review of Scarlet Street: a film that all sugar daddies need to watch

Director Fritz Lang's 1945 film noir Scarlet Street is based on the French novel La Chienne or the B word in translation and once you see this film you’ll know who this term applies to. Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennet, and Dan Duryea round out the film’s cast.

The film's main plot follows a shy middle aged man named Chris Cross (Edward G. Robinson)  who, late one night, rescues a beautiful woman named Kitty (Joan Bennet) from a male attacker (Dan Duryea) who we find out later in the film is actually her manipulative and abusive boyfriend. Being married to an unsupportive wife, Chris becomes Kitty's sugar-daddy and sets her up in a nice cozy apartment where he can paint his pictures and feel appreciated. But little does Chris realize “what” Kitty is when he is not around. 

This is one of Fritz Lang's best noir films with the other being his 1953 film The Big Heat starring Glenn Ford. In classic film noir tradition, Scarlet Street has a deceptive dame and a fool hence Edward G. Robinson’s appropriately named character, Chris Cross. The story itself shines a cynical light on human nature and love by suggesting that there are women in the world such as Kitty who prefer abusive men to nice guys.  Other themes in this film are that you can't buy love and the importance of knowing your own worth. The film also has a homoerotic element that’s indirectly expressed between Chris Cross and an art collector who falls in love with Kitty believing she's the artist responsible  for Chris’s paintings.

This is a terrific film but make sure you get the Kino version. I have the pre Kino disc and let me tell you the picture and sound are crummy but not crummy enough to keep the greatness of this film from shining through.

A quick review of A Clockwork Orange

A quick review of 'A Clockwork Orange'

Director Stanley Kubrick's 1971 British film A Clockwork Orange is based on Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel of the same name. Stars Malcolm McDowell and Patrick Magee spearhead the film’s all British cast in a story set in a futuristic dystopia overrun by street gangs. 


Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell) is the id of the film and leader of a quartet of hooligans--or, as he refers to them, droogs--who spend their days in search of victims to rob, rape, and beat up. When they are not terrorizing society or brawling with other gangs, they can be found sipping drug-laced milk from the tit-like taps at the Korova milk bar. Alex's leadership is unquestioned by everybody except Dim who fails--even with the assistance of Georgie and Pete--in an attempt to unseat Alex as the gang’s leader. Later, though, Dim, Pete, and Georgie frame Alex for murder. Desperate to get out of prison, Alex agrees to participate in an aversion therapy experiment that takes away his violent tendencies by short-circuiting his ability to defend himself. He is then set free and rejoins society where those he once terrorized, including Dim, are waiting.


A Clockwork Orange is Stanley Kubrick's follow up to his 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey and, like that film, A Clockwork Orange speculates on where we may be heading in the not so distant future. Among the film's themes are free will and human nature. Other themes in the film are violence, sex, and art and how each of these are interpreted according to class.


A Clockwork Orange only took Kubrick 8 months to shoot. The film's star Malcolm McDowell said that if Kubrick wasn't a director he could have been a Chief of Staff with the US Armed Forces. I have the film on DVD which is full-screen but I’ve read that the new versions are letterboxed. Don’t let the age of this film scare you out of making the best 5 or 10 dollar investment you’ll ever make.

The Fourth Man: a review of the sexy thriller from Paul Verhoeven

A review of 'The Fourth Man,' the sexy noir thriller by director Paul Verhoeven!

Dutch director Paul Verhoeven has been among my favorite directors for years. His 1978 film Robocop and his 1990 film Total Recall are among my favorites. When I 1st began watching foreign films, I was surprised to discover that not only was Paul Verhoeven already an established director in his native country, the Netherlands, before coming to the US, but that most of his old Dutch films are--in my opinion--better than his American films. Among his Dutch films, his 1983 suspense thriller The Fourth Man is a standout. The film stars Jeroen Krabbé as a bisexual writer who becomes romantically involved with a photographer and business owner played by Renée Soutendijk who turns out to be the wrong woman. The film served as the basis for Verhoeven's 1992 film Basic Instinct which he made after coming to the US. 

The Fourth Man follows an alcoholic writer named Gerard Reve (Jeroen Krabbé) who sees signs and visions in almost everything. While giving a speech, he meets a beautiful woman named Christine (Renée Soutendijk), they become lovers and he moves in with her. While there, he finds a picture of Christine’s lover and agrees to delay his departure to give her advice on helping her lover overcome his shyness. Gerard persuades her to invite her lover over for dinner and when she does, Gerard can’t believe his luck, that he was finally going to meet the man of his dreams. Everything changes when Gerard stumbles upon Christine’s home movie collection of her and her 3 husbands who all died in freak accidents.

Because of the sex, character arc, and element of deception, The Fourth Man falls into the film noir category. Of the themes expressed in this film, the Biblical story of Samson and Delilah takes center stage in characterizing Gerard and Christine’s relationship. This film contains sexual situations and male frontal nudity which is the normal order of business with foreign films. As he is in Verhoeven's other Dutch films such as 1977s Soldier of Orange and Spetters from 1980, Jeroen Krabbé is excellent as the guy who follows his lusts and gets in over his head. Renée Soutendijk is also great in this film playing her part as Delilah-- both figuratively and literally--and it is no coincidence that she owns a hair-cutting business. 

Paul Verhoeven did a great job on this film. He's 1 of the few directors versatile enough to go from making a period drama like 2006s Black Book to 1997s Starship Troopers. What I like about all of his films is his ability to inject humor without making light of the subject matter. For example, his 1973 film, Turkish Delight, deals with cancer but there is a random gesture that adds nothing to the storyline in which the director opens a scene with a poodle doing his business on the sidewalk. If you like foreign films like Run Lola Run and you are curious to see the Dutch version of Basic Instinct, you should check out The Fourth Man. I don’t know if it’s out on blu ray but I have it on DVD and the picture and sound quality are terrific.

A review of 'Giant:' George Stevens's and Texas's 'Gone With The Wind!'

A review of 'Giant'--Texas's 'Gone With The Wind'

Giant is a 1956 epic Western drama directed by George Stevens based on Edna Ferber’s 1952 novel. The film stars Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean, Dennis Hopper, Earl Holliman, Sal Mineo, and Mercedes McCambridge.


Giant is about 2 men, a 6 foot 5 inch Texas rancher named Jordan Benedict (Rock Hudson) and a 5 foot 7 inch ranch hand named Jett Rink (James Dean). One man owns a half-a-milion acres and livestock in the tens of thousands; the other man, nothing. One man is already a giant, the other is just one notch up from the Mexican house and field workers who maintain the ranch and the mansion on Jordan's property. Jordan's outlook is rooted in tradition and on his ranch everybody stays in their place; everyone, that is, except Jett Rink! It makes Jordan mad when Jett speaks to Mrs. Benedict (played by Elizabeth Taylor) when she greets him. But America is changing and Rialto Ranch is changing too, whether Jordan likes it or not. When his sister dies and leaves Jett a tiny plot of land, that tiny piece of nothing becomes an oil gusher. Jett rink, once the low man on the totem pole, becomes a giant and Benedict, once the top man on the totem pole, is forced to adjust to a changing world.


Giant encompasses more than the characters and statures of its 2 main stars or the scale of the Rialto Ranch. Giant is a reflection of the things that make this country small such as racism, sexism, and class discrimination. Giant is a fitting title for a film featuring Rock Hudson, James Dean, and Elizabeth Taylor--3 Hollywood icons. Seeing James Dean in this film, it's hard to deny that he was--and still is--1 of the great Hollywood actors and the poster-boy of all promising actors and actresses whose lives end prematurely. He only made 3 films and all of them are ranked among the best ever, 2 directed by one of my favorite directors, Elia Kazan back-to-back.


Giant is a great film and well worth its 3 hour and 21 minute running time. The acting, cinematography and direction in this film are perfect. Probably Rock Hudson's best film. I have Giant on DVD and the picture and sound quality are perfect and I see no need to upgrade any time soon. But you can also get this great film on blu ray.

Anatomy of a Murder: a review of Jimmy Stewart's best film

A review of 'Anatomy of a Murder' starring Jimmy Stewart

Otto Preminger's 1959 courtroom drama Anatomy of a Murder has been called one of the most accurate films ever made on courtroom procedure. The film is based on a novel of the same name by Robert Traver who not only served on the Michigan Supreme Court but also based the story on an actual murder case in which he served as district attorney. The film stars Jimmy Stewart, George C. Scott, Lee Remick and Ben Gazzara and is one of the 1st films to deal with the subject of sex and rape explicitly. 

Jimmy Stewart plays Paul Biegler, a former lawyer who has settled into retirement after losing his reelection for District Attorney but is coaxed back out of retirement by his alcoholic friend--played by Arthur McConnell--to defend an Army lieutenant (played by Ben Gazzara) accused of shooting and murdering an innkeeper accused of raping his very beautiful and freaky wife (played by Lee Remick). The only defense for the Army lieutenant is temporary insanity which Paul has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt and against the Attorney General's star prosecutor Joe Dancer. The courtroom battle is the centerpiece of the film and takes up most of its 2 hour and 40 minute running time!

But if you think to yourself "This is just a boring courtroom movie," you'll be sadly mistaken. This is Jake LaMotta vs Sugar Ray Robinson, Rocky vs Apollo Creed, the cab scene in On The Waterfront with Charlie the Gent and Terry Malloy! James Stewart and "The Dancer" George C. Scott are both at the peak of their powers and bring out the best in each other in this film. When you think of James Stewart's other films like Vertigo and Rear Window the last thing that comes to mind is fire, maybe a slow-burn. But in this film and his chess-match in the courtroom scenes with George C. Scott, James Stewart is a tiger. As handsome, sharp-dressing prosecutor Joe Dancer, George C. Scott reprises the sleazy role he played as Bert Gordon in The Hustler and plays this part with equal relish. 

Anatomy of a Murder is one of my favorite films with great music--and also a cameo--by the great Duke Ellington. The film's title sequence was designed by Saul Bass who also worked on films such as John Frankenheimer's Gran Prix and Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Amazingly, the film was nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Picture but went home empty handed. Even though James Stewart and George C. Scott dominate this film, the supporting cast played their parts perfectly. I have this film on blu ray and the picture is great. Criterion did a great job with this one and it is a must-have if you are a fan of either Stewart or Scott.

My review of Paradise Alley: Sly Stallone's forgotten classic

My Review of 'Paradise Alley:' Sylvester Stallone's forgotten classic!

Paradise Alley may not rank among Sylvester Stallone’s most successful movies such as Rocky but like Rocky this forgotten film has a lot of soul. And Stallone probably won't be ranked as one of Hollywood's quote/unquote greatest actors but when it comes to speaking honestly from the heart about taking life head-on there’s hardly ever been an actress or actor who does it as effectively as he does when he is in his element as he is in this film.


Paradise alley is a 1978 period film set in New York's Hell's Kitchen in the 1940s about 3 losers (who are also brothers) whose hopes of escaping dead-end lives are pinned on the youngest sibling's "God given gimmick,” (meaning his physical size) as a professional wrestler in a leaky nightclub called Paradise Alley. At the outset, Cosmo Carboni (played by Sylvester Stallone) is all in until he sees the plight of a washed up wrestler named Big Glory and gets cold feet. This about-face pits him against his older brother Lennie (played by Armand Assante) who sees the blood and sweat of their little brother Victor (played by Lee Canalito) as an opportunity to leave his job at the morgue. As if this isn’t spicy enough, Cosmo and Lenny fall in love with a beautiful redhead (played by Anne Archer) who works at a local dime-a-dance hall.


The song in the opening titles, "too close to Paradise," is sung by Stallone and pretty much sums up the film. This is also the 1st film Stallone directed following his 1977 film Rocky which was directed by John G. Avildsen. To add realism, Stallone reached out to real professional wrestlers Terry Funk, Ted DiBiase, "Dirty" Dick Murdoch, Gene Kiniski, Ray Stevens, and others. Stallone told Ebert in an interview that he wrote Paradise Alley before Rocky but he was tied to "a cretin" who optioned the film and wouldn't let him shop it to interested producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff who left the door open for him to come up with something else. Stallone rushed home, wrote Rocky, the script, in 3 days, and the rest--as they say--is history. Anyway, this is 1 of my favorite Stallone films and if you are a fan of his you owe it to yourself to see it.

My review of and comparison between Titanic and 'A Night To Remember'

My review of and comparison between Titanic and 'A Night To Remember'

A Night To Remember is a 1958 British film based on the RMS Titanic and its maiden voyage from Southhampton to New York City in 1912. At the time, Titanic was the largest machine ever built and regarded by its designers  as "unsinkable" until the morning hours of April 12th 1912 when, plowing ahead at full-speed and ignoring ice-pack warnings from nearby steamers, the Titanic--all 882ft long, 175ft high, and 52,310 tons of her--struck an iceberg on its starboard side, flooded, and sank to the bottom of the Atlantic ocean. The film is directed by Roy Ward Baker based on American author John Walter Lord Jr.'s 1955 book of the same name and is produced by William MacQuitty who, as a 6 year old, saw the ship at Belfast. 

If you have not seen this film you should do so to appreciate how well made it is and how it measures up to James Cameron's version made almost 40 years later with the help of CGI and other technologies that weren't available then. The 1958 version of the film also had the advantage of people who'd survived the actual sinking like Sylvia Lightoller who was the widow of Second Officer Charles Lightoller played by Kenneth More. Then there's the ship itself which consisted of a derelict ocean liner, stock footage of the actual Titanic berthed at Southhampton prior to launch, and stock clips from a Nazi propaganda film also called Titanic showing the ship at sea--all of these elements are improvised together seamlessly. The only visual difference between the actual ship and Cameron's is the cinematography with Cameron's being shot in color. The interiors of both ships are virtually identical and equally extravagant, even the engine and boiler rooms are identical with the only difference here being the giant pistons in Cameron's film. It's as if Cameron took this older version, colorized it, wrote in the Jack and Rose storyline and released it--they are that similar. The dialogue is almost word for word as you'd expect of a historical event but you wouldn't expect the level of craftsmanship in the ships themselves to also be identical, but they are!

Among the film's differences are the perspectives of the disaster. James Cameron's film shows the disaster from Rose's perspective; this film shows the disaster from multiple perspectives including Second Officer Charles Lightoller and those of other ships that failed to acknowledge the doomed ocean liner’s distress rockets. The advantage of Cameron choosing 1 person's perspective is that we get to appreciate the disaster on a more visceral level through Roses’s feelings for Jack; the disadvantage of this singular perspective is in how it takes away from the scale of the disaster. Our focus is more on her losing Jack than the other 1,500 people who died in the ship's sinking. In Roy Ward Baker's version we have the inverse with the advantage of seeing the whole tragedy without bias towards 1 or 2 characters we are able to appreciate the full scale of the disaster; however, this increased perspective diminishes somewhat the emotional effect of the tragedy and we are only able to see the wholesale value of the lives that were lost. Even so, in other ways this version of Titanic is more intense than Cameron's because of its detachment. You get to see the passengers degenerate from civility to violence, from refined speech to squealing like rats with no musical score getting in the way!

If you haven't seen this film before, you'll be pleasantly surprised--as I am--at how well-made it is. A Night To Remember may seem like the same story but, like me, once you see it, you'll realize that it isn't. I have the Criterion version of this film and the picture is outstanding as is the sound. The only complaint I have with the film is that there are no subtitles to help with the English accents. But, overall, this is a minor issue.