This is a Sidney Lumet film starring Paul Newman, Charlotte Rampling and James Mason among others. In other words - quality. Newman plays an alcoholic ambulance chaser lawyer. A friend hands him a case about a woman who's been in a coma for four years after an operation at a hospital owned by the Catholic church. Was it negligence by the doctors and the hospital? This movie made me nostalgic. This is a movie with a top director, a top script from an original idea by the director and the cast and so on are all of the highest quality. And it's a movie about characters and a court trail that got a wide cinema release, lots of people saw it and it got awards. Maybe this can happen today, but it's far less likely than it was only a few decades ago. At least we can see it in our homes, something I recomend.
I haven't seen The Verdict for years. I remember it being rather good. Very pleased my review of Psycho got a Hitchcockian vibe going. Back to more mundane offerings:
THE LOST CONTINENT (1968)
A bizarre and brutal horror fantasy from Hammer Studios. Production head Michael Carreras overreaches himself writing, directing and producing this slice of bloody hokum which is more violent and virulent than some of the ‘classic-style’ horror movies for which Hammer was famous. Unfortunately, while there is certainly some nastiness, the whole episode has a cheap and ineffective look to it. This comes as a surprise as it was Hammer’s most expensive film at the time. The main problems are the special effects, which are dismal, and the obvious studio sets – the whole movie is filmed in the studio, even the ‘exteriors’. If you are spending £2million on a film you ought to do better than this.
The Lost Continent was the second Dennis Wheatley adaptation the studio made in 1968 and came hot on the heels of The Devil Rides Out. Devil… benefitted from a fine show of villainy by Charles Gray. Continent benefits from Eric Porter’s stern turn as Captain Lansen. He’s picked up a disparate group of passengers for his tramp steamer, each one of them hiding a personal secret. There’s a political dissident, a lawyer, a whore, a drunk, you know the kind of thing. It’s Stagecoach on a boat basically, and has the same soap opera cliches. Then the Corita gets struck by a hurricane and is blown off course, eventually becoming marooned in an uncharted sargasso sea off the coast of South America. Here the crew and passengers are confronted by huge man-eating crustaceans, man-eating seaweed and bloodthirsty pirates, the descendants of conquistadors whose own ship has been trapped on the ‘continent’ for centuries. They’ve taken to an extreme form of Catholicism and are hell-bent on plundering the Corita for food and women. The giant seaweed gets there first and tries to take a bite out of Suzanna Leigh.
A few ideas are quite fruitful, such as the ballons and ski-shoes which keep people afloat and safe from the deadly weed, the cultish pirates, the graveyard of ships. Others not-so-much: it seems daft to update the story to the modern day, the characters are see-through dull, the strange cocktail jazz soundtrack, the terrible creature effects. The film is remarkably adult in violent and sexual content, but ultimately I felt as if I was watching an adventure of Dr Who c.1967 – 68, something like Fury from the Deep or The Macra Terror. It has that kind of cheerful, childish feel to it, despite the adult goings-on.
Generally though, this is simply a shoddy production and looks it.
Unfortunately this the version of the heavy water sabotage mission in Vemork most people in the world knows. I wonder why all the names are changed? Possibly because the main characters are built on several people? Kirk Douglas' character is a mix of professor Tronstad, Joakim Rønneberg and at least two other people. For example the way he and Richard Harries' character escaped from Norway is based on Einar Skinnarland's (one of the saboteurs) experiences. How he gets back to Norway is clearly based on the experiences of one of the saboteurs' contacts in the factory. The escape from the bus is based on yet another saboteur's experiences. Some aspects of the character is pure fiction. For example Tronstad was a dedicated family man, not playboy as he come across in the film. The plot seems to have been written in the same way. We see a lot of the "that bit sounds exciting, let's put that in the script!" syndrome. To be fair the main story beats is there, although losely based on what happened. Some parts of the plot is jarring to me. There is no mention of any SOE training in Britain and the sabotage itself is launched on a whim the night after Operation Freshman fails. In fact Freshman happened long before the famous sabotage and it was carefully planned, and not based on Freshman. No shots were fired during the mission.
At the same time small details like the captain of the ferry playing himself, the only one to do so in this movie. Ending the movie with civilians drowning to trimphant music seems a but off when you know the full story.
There are other positives too. Some real locations are used and some effort was made to get a feel of the places. In the church we clearly have locals singing the Norwegian translation of "Silent night". The interiors of the old church actually burned down during filming, probably because of the production's lighting equipment. Some of the sets are clearly built with an eye to Norwegian culture and traditions, so are the costumes. I think my father still has a windbreaker like the one Kirk Douglas wears stored somewhere. The type of sweater the completely made up female lead is wearing is still ccommon. Douglas's mittens on the ferry are spot on. The signs shown are in correct Norwegian and German. (I'm going into some detail now ...)
I've read interviews with several of the saboteurs and none of then has anything good to say about "Heroes of Telemark". What do I think? As a documantary it would fail miserably. But it's a Hollywood action/ drama and as such it's pretty good. If you want to see versions closer to the facts you'll do much better watching "Kampen om tungtvannet" (1948) where many of the people play themselves. The TV mini-series "The heavy water war" (2015) is also very good.
The old gang are back together again and the first thing you noticed is how old they all look, but not surprising as the original is 40 years old! Somewhat unlikely due to his age, we see Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley smashing up vehicles galore in a Detroit street chase lifted from the first movie. His old buddy Jeffrey is now deputy chief and decides to retire and advises Axel to try and connect with his estranged daughter in Beverly Hills. Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) now a PI warns Axel that her life is in danger and he returns to solve the problem. We get to see John Ashton as Taggart, who is now the police chief and looking incredibly ancient (don’t cops retire any more?). Serge (Bronson Pinchot) turns up again and Kevin Bacon stars as the very obvious police detective turned rogue. The climax is similar to the first movie.
It’s a thousand times better than the lamentable Coming To America rehash of a couple of years back. Sure, it’s a retread of past glories but it is nice to see them once again and at least the production values are good. An amiable way to pass a couple of hours.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Judith Farrow (Julie Andrews), a British Home Office secretary develops a budding romance with Colonel Feodor Sverdlov (Omar Sharif), a Soviet attache while vacationing in Barbados. Amidst their authentic romance lie complicated webs of international espionage and subterfuge.
A captivating romantic drama, beautifully picturised and leisurely paced with riveting performances by its lead and supporting actors.
I am not going to disclose the complete plot of the film, as this film has to be seen to be enjoyed.
What I will disclose is...that...
A very nice 1080p version of this film is available to watch on YouTube.
Thank you, Sonero. I'd like to add that John Barry's score was hard to get for many years but is now easily available (I saw it at £8 on ebay yesterday) and hearing his title theme while watching Maurice Binder's title sequence is very Bondian.
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,378Chief of Staff
@Number24The Heavy Water War was a great mini-series, I really enjoyed that.
@CoolHandBond I watched Axel F a month or so ago…it’s not bad at all and has some genuine fun…certainly washes away the horrible taste of Beverly Hills Cop III 😝
We just watched this too (it's now streaming on The Criterion Channel). Quite excellent, a true actor's showcase. Newman is obviously doing the heavy lifting but everyone else, from supporting actor to extra, is giving it their all.
When it was over, I was like 'how did Newman not win Best Actor for this?' Turns out it was because GANDHI came out that year and Ben Kingsley won Best Actor...and yeah. Any other year and Newman would have won. The fact that he won years later for THE COLOR OF MONEY feels like an apology.
Not strictly a film but it is in that category on the Amazon Video. 'Becoming Bond', a light-hearted look at the life of George Lazenby as told by the man himself. I suspect many of you have already seen it but, for those who haven't, I thoroughly recommend it.
Author of 'An Ungentlemanly Act' and 'Execution of Duty'. The WW2 espionage series starring Harry Flynn.
A film noir I'd never heard of, this is a murder mystery involving recently demobbed GIs. The atmosphere is terrific, all dingy bars and dismal rooms. The actual mystery itself isn't too difficult to figure out, and what puzzles us and the investigator is more the why than the who.
The stars are 3 Roberts - Young, Mitchum, Ryan - and the underrated Gloria Grahame in a smaller part. Director Edward Dmytryk handles the confusion crisply.
The motive in the book was hatred of homosexuals, but that wouldn't have been filmable at the time (though a few hints remain) so it became antisemitism which apparently was okay with the censors.
A roaring gold rush western set in the Alaskan town of Nomo in 1900 and adapted from Rex Beach’s famous novel. John Wayne vies with Randolph Scott for the attentions of Marlene Dietrich, all the while attempting to thwart the shady claim-jumper from stealing his gold mine. Fast paced and frequently furious but never troubling the intellect, the film progresses solidly to its eventual famous fist-fight bar-fight conclusion. Marlene Dietrich’s Cherry Malotte looks suitably worried as the two bruisers fight it out, but you do wonder if it’s only because they are destroying her lovely saloon in the process. Dietrich is rather good, although the role does hint at her famous turn in Destry Rides Again. Universal paired her with Wayne three times in three years [Seven Sinners & Pittsburgh are the other movies] but the two never seemed to have much chemistry. For this one, the script doesn’t help, nor the obvious direction from Ray Enright. Best thing about the movie is the set they built for the township and the subsequent interiors which are alternately opulent and squalid. The mud strewn main street looks a genuine quagmire at the movie’s beginning, although by the climax it has ‘dried out’ into neatly combed sand. There’s a fine comic turn from Marietta Canty as Dietrich’s black housemaid Idabelle. The movie passes by aimlessly enough. This was already the fourth cinematic version of The Spoilers and it was remade again, very badly, in 1955.
I haven’t seen any of the Wayne/Dietrich movies but I’m surprised at there not being much chemistry between them as they were rampant lovers for a few years according to biographies I’ve read about Wayne.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Opposites attract? Maybe Marlene, being Marlene, simply never gives anything away, retaining her enigmatic persona to the very end. Honestly, I didn't see any genuine flirtations between them. Maybe I am going blind. For such an All-American Wayne certainly had tastes for the exotic, what with South American and Mexican wives and a well documented fling with Merle Oberon. I guess he wasn't discriminant so long as the women played chess.
Many regulars feature in this, the 26th Carry On production, but none of them can raise much of a chuckle. Carry On Dick takes as its inspiration the murderous antics of highwayman Dick Turpin. Talbot Rothwell’s script [his 20th and last for the series] turns the vicious bandit into a chummy, cackling, sex-obsessed rector, the Reverend Flasher. So, you can tell where this one is heading…
The whole episode is a tired and tiresome exercise. The cast just look weary of it all and when they do try – Bernard Bresslaw’s chief of the Bow Street Runners, Sid James’s ever so polished Rector, Hattie Jacques’s housekeeper – the effect is to highlight everything that is so bad, by which I mean everything else. Simply having your hero nicknamed “Big Dick because of the size of his weapon” explains everything we need to know about the smutty unsophistication of this one. Naturally, there is something important about Dick’s dick which the script tries to make fun of, but the point is laboured to the nth and ceases to be funny well after the one-note joke has been spelt out for us. A couple of lines did make me laugh, but they were few and far between and mostly I was slumped on my sofa in stupefied silence.
Until the failed reboot of Colombus, this was the last Carry On genre costume drama. Even the humour shared more with the modern day than the mores of 1750. Carry On Dick also saw the last appearance of regular contributors Sid James, Hattie Jacques and Barbara Windsor, not counting the knock-off compilation movie That’s Carry On. James really shows both his worth and deficiency as an actor: his turn as the quietly confident, courteous and conniving Reverend Flasher is brilliant when compared to his leery, smirking, cackling Dick Turpin. It is a pity James is working with such poor comic dialogue as you sense he could do even better with more astute material. Writer Talbot Rothwell’s and director Gerald Thomas’s aim is low, very low, and it shows, oh boy does it show.
Based on the 1971 science fiction novel written by Ms. Ursula K. Le Guin, this made for TV sci-fi film has achieved a cult status over the years.
George Orr (Bruce Davison), a young man living in Portland, Oregon has been medicating himself with prescription pills to stop himself from dreaming. The reason, as he explains to dream specialist Dr. William Haber (Kevin Conway) is that whatever he dreams, becomes manifest reality. Initially skeptical, Dr. Haber hypnotizes George Orr and connects him to a brainwave augmentor machine, to lock him into REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. Through post-hypnotic suggestions, Dr. Haber now induces effective dreaming in George Orr and realizes that Orr can change reality through his dreams.
Dr. Haber forces a series of dream suggestions on George Orr, by virtue of which he aims to make the world a better place. Each naive intervention creates an even more absurd outcome.
Orr finds some help in the form of lawyer Heather LeLache (Margaret Avery), who becomes a trusted friend, but Dr. Haber's ambition and positivism knows no end, resulting in an absolutely bizarre and nightmarish world.
This a very unique science fiction film.
If you have the patience to sit through 1 hour and 43 minutes...you will find a deeply thought provoking film.
I wasn’t questioning your observational skills, I was just surprised there was no onscreen chemistry between them, maybe they were hiding the passion from the present Mrs Wayne of the time 😂
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
I think Merle put it about a bit didn't she, though she is one of those women from that era whose good looks hold up very well today, esp in The Scarlet Pimpernel. She and David Niven had a romance he alluded to in his memoirs though she remained nameless, I think while it went on he was winding up his studio producer by going AWOL on a steam cruise or something. Niven was an odd combo of deference to the right people such as fellow actors and outrageous insubordination to studio bosses. He was quite young and relatively unknown to be having a fling with such a famous star at that time. Richard Harris told a story about how he got to sleep with her and asked her to have the light on, saying 'Otherwise I may as well be back in my bed in Limerick playing with myself...' I admit two shags with two stars over two decades does not make Miss Oberan a nymphomaniac exactly.
I watched a bit of Confessions of a Driving Instructor on Talking Pictures TV last night, after a particularly depressing episode of the 1970s series set in the Twenties, Love For Lydia, sort of sublime to ridiculous.
It's amiable stuff and quite nice to see some old names crop up - Liz Fraser still looking foxy nearly 20 years after I'm Alright Jack, also Irene Handle and Confessions regular Tony Booth given more to do than in his sitcom Til Death Us Do Part where he is simply a foil for Alf Garnett, who got all the best lines anyway. The main problem is, it doesn't actually do jokes exactly. The main interest is in the sex escapades of Robin Askwith, who rarely ever initiates them - so I suppose that makes it more acceptable though I don't know, maybe it conditioned young men to get resentful if attractive women weren't throwing themselves at them?
So it's a sex comedy that isn't particularly sexy nor funny - but it put a spoke in the Carry On series from which it never recovered, especially as they didn't have a young Jim Dale type any more to make the films relevant.
One oddity of course - our own Christopher Wood did the screenplay, and while opinions have been voiced on what leverage Wade and Purvis have on the producers to keep getting the Bond gig, the mind boggles at the Masonic-Mafia connections Wood must have pulled to go from the amiably dim-witted Confessions series to two massive James Bond films, albeit at one point every writer in the UK seemed linked to The Spy Who Loved Me. I mean, tbf, Moonraker has some witty sexy lines in it but there are none that I could see in this film, it's like they're not even trying. Very odd.
A lavish adventure based closely on Alexander Dumas’s classic French novel that injects plenty of humour into the familiar story and succeeds by being clever with its cast and excellently realised.
Micheal York is D’Artagnan, the fledgling Musketeer who falls in with Athos [Oliver Reed], Porthos [Frank Finlay] and Aramis [Richard Chamberlian] three lazy and unscrupulous swordsmen. He also falls in love with Raquel Welch’s Constance – well, you would, wouldn’t you? – who is one of the Queen’s Ladies-in-Waiting, and thus becomes embroiled in courtly intrigue which might unseat the Queen and secure Cardinal Richelieu’s hold on power. Jean Pierre Cassel is the effete Louis XIII. Charlton Heston’s Richelieu is suitably slimy. Christopher Lee and Faye Dunaway crop up as his stooges. Roy Kinnear and Spike Milligan shine as oddball comic relief among the humorous swordplay and fancy flirtations.
Richard Lester directs with tongue firmly in cheek thanks mainly to George MacDonald Fraser’s bumptious script, which knows it is good from the off and likes to tell us, as do the cast with throw away gestures. Dumas’s novel has been filmed many times, but they always seem so serious. This version of The Three Musketeers plays the whole pantomime for laughs, from over-the-top action sequences to over-the-top performances, all held just about in check. The sword fights win us over mostly through imaginative staging: a Carmelite monastery, a laundry house, a waterwheel, a firework display. The comedy works through sheer gusto and cheekiness. Yvonne Blake’s costumes, among many excellent production values, are outstanding.
Too many viewings has probably dulled this film a little for me, but I still enjoy the sense of fun and frivolity among the sabres and epees. It was one of the best films of its year, but generally overlooked for more serious, darker fayre when they came to hand out awards. Pity that.
Very good indeed.
Note:
There was a sequel The Four Musketeers which was filmed concurrently, but the cast all thought they were making only one film. In fact, this was originally mooted as a three hour epic telling, but the producers sliced it in half. The actors objected as their contracts only stipulated one film, hence their grievance was they should have been paid for two jobs or informed they were being paid to make two movies. Subsequently to legal action, this kind of behaviour by producers was outlawed. This is known as the Salkind Clause, ironically named after the film's producer.
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,822MI6 Agent
The reason Christopher Wood got the writing gig on the two James Bond films he did had more to do with the fact that he'd written a previous film Lewis Gilbert had directed called Seven Nights in Japan (1976) than it did with his Confessions work. I think Gilbert brought him on board as the scriptwriter once he was selected as the director. Directors often try to bring their own writers on board with them if they can or at least suggest them as a potential scriptwriter.
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
Far and away the best and most entertaining version (versions) of the tale. Big fan of THE FOUR MUSKETEERS as well even though it is, by necessity, the darker half of the story.
That said, the recent French versions (TTM: PART 1: D'ARTAGNAN and PART 2: MILADY) are also excellent and feature Vesper Lynd herself as Milady.
Now I've seen The Three Musketeers, the 1973 version thanks to this thread. I too think it's the best version of the story I've seen. The movie is fun, opulent and entertaining. The locations are grand, interesting and fun and they’ve made a point of making the fights different from each other. It may surprise some that I think the fights are sometimes the weak link. The fencing is done with BIG movements, leaving the fighters open like barn doors to attack. More than once our heroes throws (!) their swords at their opponent for no reason at all! On the positive side we see some inventive fighting with or without their swords in fun locations, but one doesn't exclude the other. I'd like to see quick, agile sword fights like in The Princess Bride instead of the slow and wide movements we see here. Still, this movie is lots of fun!
PS: According to IMDB Timothy Dalton was considered as one of the musketeers. I think he would've been good in it.
Professor Andrew Patterson (Glenn Ford), a member of the secret fraternity, the Brotherhood of the Bell of the College of St. George in San Francisco, is given a special assignment.
He has been tasked to persuade Dr. Konstantin Hovarthy, a close friend and refugee, from accepting a deanship at an institute of linguistics, a position that the brotherhood want for a fellow brother of the bell. He is provided with information on people, who aided Hovarthy in defecting to the West and is told to use this material as blackmail, if Hovarthy refuses to decline the position.
Hovarthy under tremendous duress commits suicide.
Unable to cope with this sudden loss, Professor Andrew decides to reveal the secret workings of the brotherhood.
This sets off a series of unfortunate events, which push Professor Andrew into a dark abyss of paranoia and fear, as the brothers of the bell use all their power and influence to destroy his professional and personal life.
Directed by Paul Wendkos (The Mephisto Waltz), this 1hr 37 minute made for TV film, is a powerful suspense drama.
Glad to be of service. That's a good point about the sword fighting - I also wondered if a swordsman would so readily surrender his weapon during a duel! Best, I think, to overlook this or one can nitpick a film like TTM to pieces.
Didn't Raquel Welch win a Golden Globe [no pun intended] as best comic actress for this? There is a cinematic urban myth that she couldn't act. That's nonsense. She is good or better than good in many films. Plus she is exceptionally easy on the eye 😁😁😁
Comments
Interesting. Never heard of this.
The verdict (1982)
This is a Sidney Lumet film starring Paul Newman, Charlotte Rampling and James Mason among others. In other words - quality. Newman plays an alcoholic ambulance chaser lawyer. A friend hands him a case about a woman who's been in a coma for four years after an operation at a hospital owned by the Catholic church. Was it negligence by the doctors and the hospital? This movie made me nostalgic. This is a movie with a top director, a top script from an original idea by the director and the cast and so on are all of the highest quality. And it's a movie about characters and a court trail that got a wide cinema release, lots of people saw it and it got awards. Maybe this can happen today, but it's far less likely than it was only a few decades ago. At least we can see it in our homes, something I recomend.
I haven't seen The Verdict for years. I remember it being rather good. Very pleased my review of Psycho got a Hitchcockian vibe going. Back to more mundane offerings:
THE LOST CONTINENT (1968)
A bizarre and brutal horror fantasy from Hammer Studios. Production head Michael Carreras overreaches himself writing, directing and producing this slice of bloody hokum which is more violent and virulent than some of the ‘classic-style’ horror movies for which Hammer was famous. Unfortunately, while there is certainly some nastiness, the whole episode has a cheap and ineffective look to it. This comes as a surprise as it was Hammer’s most expensive film at the time. The main problems are the special effects, which are dismal, and the obvious studio sets – the whole movie is filmed in the studio, even the ‘exteriors’. If you are spending £2million on a film you ought to do better than this.
The Lost Continent was the second Dennis Wheatley adaptation the studio made in 1968 and came hot on the heels of The Devil Rides Out. Devil… benefitted from a fine show of villainy by Charles Gray. Continent benefits from Eric Porter’s stern turn as Captain Lansen. He’s picked up a disparate group of passengers for his tramp steamer, each one of them hiding a personal secret. There’s a political dissident, a lawyer, a whore, a drunk, you know the kind of thing. It’s Stagecoach on a boat basically, and has the same soap opera cliches. Then the Corita gets struck by a hurricane and is blown off course, eventually becoming marooned in an uncharted sargasso sea off the coast of South America. Here the crew and passengers are confronted by huge man-eating crustaceans, man-eating seaweed and bloodthirsty pirates, the descendants of conquistadors whose own ship has been trapped on the ‘continent’ for centuries. They’ve taken to an extreme form of Catholicism and are hell-bent on plundering the Corita for food and women. The giant seaweed gets there first and tries to take a bite out of Suzanna Leigh.
A few ideas are quite fruitful, such as the ballons and ski-shoes which keep people afloat and safe from the deadly weed, the cultish pirates, the graveyard of ships. Others not-so-much: it seems daft to update the story to the modern day, the characters are see-through dull, the strange cocktail jazz soundtrack, the terrible creature effects. The film is remarkably adult in violent and sexual content, but ultimately I felt as if I was watching an adventure of Dr Who c.1967 – 68, something like Fury from the Deep or The Macra Terror. It has that kind of cheerful, childish feel to it, despite the adult goings-on.
Generally though, this is simply a shoddy production and looks it.
If you want to read more about The Lost Continent, let me direct you to this excellent website, The Dennis Wheatley Project: The Dennis Wheatley Project: Wheatley on film: The Lost Continent (1968)
There you can also read about Wheatley’s original book, Uncharted Seas: The Dennis Wheatley Project: Uncharted Seas (1938)
That's a good site, lots of interesting reading there. Thanks!
Heroes of Telemark (1965)
Unfortunately this the version of the heavy water sabotage mission in Vemork most people in the world knows. I wonder why all the names are changed? Possibly because the main characters are built on several people? Kirk Douglas' character is a mix of professor Tronstad, Joakim Rønneberg and at least two other people. For example the way he and Richard Harries' character escaped from Norway is based on Einar Skinnarland's (one of the saboteurs) experiences. How he gets back to Norway is clearly based on the experiences of one of the saboteurs' contacts in the factory. The escape from the bus is based on yet another saboteur's experiences. Some aspects of the character is pure fiction. For example Tronstad was a dedicated family man, not playboy as he come across in the film. The plot seems to have been written in the same way. We see a lot of the "that bit sounds exciting, let's put that in the script!" syndrome. To be fair the main story beats is there, although losely based on what happened. Some parts of the plot is jarring to me. There is no mention of any SOE training in Britain and the sabotage itself is launched on a whim the night after Operation Freshman fails. In fact Freshman happened long before the famous sabotage and it was carefully planned, and not based on Freshman. No shots were fired during the mission.
At the same time small details like the captain of the ferry playing himself, the only one to do so in this movie. Ending the movie with civilians drowning to trimphant music seems a but off when you know the full story.
There are other positives too. Some real locations are used and some effort was made to get a feel of the places. In the church we clearly have locals singing the Norwegian translation of "Silent night". The interiors of the old church actually burned down during filming, probably because of the production's lighting equipment. Some of the sets are clearly built with an eye to Norwegian culture and traditions, so are the costumes. I think my father still has a windbreaker like the one Kirk Douglas wears stored somewhere. The type of sweater the completely made up female lead is wearing is still ccommon. Douglas's mittens on the ferry are spot on. The signs shown are in correct Norwegian and German. (I'm going into some detail now ...)
I've read interviews with several of the saboteurs and none of then has anything good to say about "Heroes of Telemark". What do I think? As a documantary it would fail miserably. But it's a Hollywood action/ drama and as such it's pretty good. If you want to see versions closer to the facts you'll do much better watching "Kampen om tungtvannet" (1948) where many of the people play themselves. The TV mini-series "The heavy water war" (2015) is also very good.
BEVERLY HILLS COP: AXEL F (2024)
The old gang are back together again and the first thing you noticed is how old they all look, but not surprising as the original is 40 years old! Somewhat unlikely due to his age, we see Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley smashing up vehicles galore in a Detroit street chase lifted from the first movie. His old buddy Jeffrey is now deputy chief and decides to retire and advises Axel to try and connect with his estranged daughter in Beverly Hills. Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) now a PI warns Axel that her life is in danger and he returns to solve the problem. We get to see John Ashton as Taggart, who is now the police chief and looking incredibly ancient (don’t cops retire any more?). Serge (Bronson Pinchot) turns up again and Kevin Bacon stars as the very obvious police detective turned rogue. The climax is similar to the first movie.
It’s a thousand times better than the lamentable Coming To America rehash of a couple of years back. Sure, it’s a retread of past glories but it is nice to see them once again and at least the production values are good. An amiable way to pass a couple of hours.
THE TAMARIND SEED (1974)
Judith Farrow (Julie Andrews), a British Home Office secretary develops a budding romance with Colonel Feodor Sverdlov (Omar Sharif), a Soviet attache while vacationing in Barbados. Amidst their authentic romance lie complicated webs of international espionage and subterfuge.
A captivating romantic drama, beautifully picturised and leisurely paced with riveting performances by its lead and supporting actors.
I am not going to disclose the complete plot of the film, as this film has to be seen to be enjoyed.
What I will disclose is...that...
A very nice 1080p version of this film is available to watch on YouTube.
A beautiful film.
Thank you, Sonero. I'd like to add that John Barry's score was hard to get for many years but is now easily available (I saw it at £8 on ebay yesterday) and hearing his title theme while watching Maurice Binder's title sequence is very Bondian.
@Number24 The Heavy Water War was a great mini-series, I really enjoyed that.
@CoolHandBond I watched Axel F a month or so ago…it’s not bad at all and has some genuine fun…certainly washes away the horrible taste of Beverly Hills Cop III 😝
We just watched this too (it's now streaming on The Criterion Channel). Quite excellent, a true actor's showcase. Newman is obviously doing the heavy lifting but everyone else, from supporting actor to extra, is giving it their all.
When it was over, I was like 'how did Newman not win Best Actor for this?' Turns out it was because GANDHI came out that year and Ben Kingsley won Best Actor...and yeah. Any other year and Newman would have won. The fact that he won years later for THE COLOR OF MONEY feels like an apology.
Not strictly a film but it is in that category on the Amazon Video. 'Becoming Bond', a light-hearted look at the life of George Lazenby as told by the man himself. I suspect many of you have already seen it but, for those who haven't, I thoroughly recommend it.
Author of 'An Ungentlemanly Act' and 'Execution of Duty'. The WW2 espionage series starring Harry Flynn.
Yes, it's very entertaining and I second that recommendation.
Crossfire (1947)
A film noir I'd never heard of, this is a murder mystery involving recently demobbed GIs. The atmosphere is terrific, all dingy bars and dismal rooms. The actual mystery itself isn't too difficult to figure out, and what puzzles us and the investigator is more the why than the who.
The stars are 3 Roberts - Young, Mitchum, Ryan - and the underrated Gloria Grahame in a smaller part. Director Edward Dmytryk handles the confusion crisply.
The motive in the book was hatred of homosexuals, but that wouldn't have been filmable at the time (though a few hints remain) so it became antisemitism which apparently was okay with the censors.
We watched CROSSFIRE last year. It pairs nicely with GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT.
Very well acted in general.
THE SPOILERS (1942)
A roaring gold rush western set in the Alaskan town of Nomo in 1900 and adapted from Rex Beach’s famous novel. John Wayne vies with Randolph Scott for the attentions of Marlene Dietrich, all the while attempting to thwart the shady claim-jumper from stealing his gold mine. Fast paced and frequently furious but never troubling the intellect, the film progresses solidly to its eventual famous fist-fight bar-fight conclusion. Marlene Dietrich’s Cherry Malotte looks suitably worried as the two bruisers fight it out, but you do wonder if it’s only because they are destroying her lovely saloon in the process. Dietrich is rather good, although the role does hint at her famous turn in Destry Rides Again. Universal paired her with Wayne three times in three years [Seven Sinners & Pittsburgh are the other movies] but the two never seemed to have much chemistry. For this one, the script doesn’t help, nor the obvious direction from Ray Enright. Best thing about the movie is the set they built for the township and the subsequent interiors which are alternately opulent and squalid. The mud strewn main street looks a genuine quagmire at the movie’s beginning, although by the climax it has ‘dried out’ into neatly combed sand. There’s a fine comic turn from Marietta Canty as Dietrich’s black housemaid Idabelle. The movie passes by aimlessly enough. This was already the fourth cinematic version of The Spoilers and it was remade again, very badly, in 1955.
I haven’t seen any of the Wayne/Dietrich movies but I’m surprised at there not being much chemistry between them as they were rampant lovers for a few years according to biographies I’ve read about Wayne.
Opposites attract? Maybe Marlene, being Marlene, simply never gives anything away, retaining her enigmatic persona to the very end. Honestly, I didn't see any genuine flirtations between them. Maybe I am going blind. For such an All-American Wayne certainly had tastes for the exotic, what with South American and Mexican wives and a well documented fling with Merle Oberon. I guess he wasn't discriminant so long as the women played chess.
CARRY ON DICK (1974)
Many regulars feature in this, the 26th Carry On production, but none of them can raise much of a chuckle. Carry On Dick takes as its inspiration the murderous antics of highwayman Dick Turpin. Talbot Rothwell’s script [his 20th and last for the series] turns the vicious bandit into a chummy, cackling, sex-obsessed rector, the Reverend Flasher. So, you can tell where this one is heading…
The whole episode is a tired and tiresome exercise. The cast just look weary of it all and when they do try – Bernard Bresslaw’s chief of the Bow Street Runners, Sid James’s ever so polished Rector, Hattie Jacques’s housekeeper – the effect is to highlight everything that is so bad, by which I mean everything else. Simply having your hero nicknamed “Big Dick because of the size of his weapon” explains everything we need to know about the smutty unsophistication of this one. Naturally, there is something important about Dick’s dick which the script tries to make fun of, but the point is laboured to the nth and ceases to be funny well after the one-note joke has been spelt out for us. A couple of lines did make me laugh, but they were few and far between and mostly I was slumped on my sofa in stupefied silence.
Until the failed reboot of Colombus, this was the last Carry On genre costume drama. Even the humour shared more with the modern day than the mores of 1750. Carry On Dick also saw the last appearance of regular contributors Sid James, Hattie Jacques and Barbara Windsor, not counting the knock-off compilation movie That’s Carry On. James really shows both his worth and deficiency as an actor: his turn as the quietly confident, courteous and conniving Reverend Flasher is brilliant when compared to his leery, smirking, cackling Dick Turpin. It is a pity James is working with such poor comic dialogue as you sense he could do even better with more astute material. Writer Talbot Rothwell’s and director Gerald Thomas’s aim is low, very low, and it shows, oh boy does it show.
Not good.
THE LATHE OF HEAVEN (1980)
Based on the 1971 science fiction novel written by Ms. Ursula K. Le Guin, this made for TV sci-fi film has achieved a cult status over the years.
George Orr (Bruce Davison), a young man living in Portland, Oregon has been medicating himself with prescription pills to stop himself from dreaming. The reason, as he explains to dream specialist Dr. William Haber (Kevin Conway) is that whatever he dreams, becomes manifest reality. Initially skeptical, Dr. Haber hypnotizes George Orr and connects him to a brainwave augmentor machine, to lock him into REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. Through post-hypnotic suggestions, Dr. Haber now induces effective dreaming in George Orr and realizes that Orr can change reality through his dreams.
Dr. Haber forces a series of dream suggestions on George Orr, by virtue of which he aims to make the world a better place. Each naive intervention creates an even more absurd outcome.
Orr finds some help in the form of lawyer Heather LeLache (Margaret Avery), who becomes a trusted friend, but Dr. Haber's ambition and positivism knows no end, resulting in an absolutely bizarre and nightmarish world.
This a very unique science fiction film.
If you have the patience to sit through 1 hour and 43 minutes...you will find a deeply thought provoking film.
Antwerp.
I wasn’t questioning your observational skills, I was just surprised there was no onscreen chemistry between them, maybe they were hiding the passion from the present Mrs Wayne of the time 😂
I think Merle put it about a bit didn't she, though she is one of those women from that era whose good looks hold up very well today, esp in The Scarlet Pimpernel. She and David Niven had a romance he alluded to in his memoirs though she remained nameless, I think while it went on he was winding up his studio producer by going AWOL on a steam cruise or something. Niven was an odd combo of deference to the right people such as fellow actors and outrageous insubordination to studio bosses. He was quite young and relatively unknown to be having a fling with such a famous star at that time. Richard Harris told a story about how he got to sleep with her and asked her to have the light on, saying 'Otherwise I may as well be back in my bed in Limerick playing with myself...' I admit two shags with two stars over two decades does not make Miss Oberan a nymphomaniac exactly.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I watched a bit of Confessions of a Driving Instructor on Talking Pictures TV last night, after a particularly depressing episode of the 1970s series set in the Twenties, Love For Lydia, sort of sublime to ridiculous.
It's amiable stuff and quite nice to see some old names crop up - Liz Fraser still looking foxy nearly 20 years after I'm Alright Jack, also Irene Handle and Confessions regular Tony Booth given more to do than in his sitcom Til Death Us Do Part where he is simply a foil for Alf Garnett, who got all the best lines anyway. The main problem is, it doesn't actually do jokes exactly. The main interest is in the sex escapades of Robin Askwith, who rarely ever initiates them - so I suppose that makes it more acceptable though I don't know, maybe it conditioned young men to get resentful if attractive women weren't throwing themselves at them?
So it's a sex comedy that isn't particularly sexy nor funny - but it put a spoke in the Carry On series from which it never recovered, especially as they didn't have a young Jim Dale type any more to make the films relevant.
One oddity of course - our own Christopher Wood did the screenplay, and while opinions have been voiced on what leverage Wade and Purvis have on the producers to keep getting the Bond gig, the mind boggles at the Masonic-Mafia connections Wood must have pulled to go from the amiably dim-witted Confessions series to two massive James Bond films, albeit at one point every writer in the UK seemed linked to The Spy Who Loved Me. I mean, tbf, Moonraker has some witty sexy lines in it but there are none that I could see in this film, it's like they're not even trying. Very odd.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1973)
A lavish adventure based closely on Alexander Dumas’s classic French novel that injects plenty of humour into the familiar story and succeeds by being clever with its cast and excellently realised.
Micheal York is D’Artagnan, the fledgling Musketeer who falls in with Athos [Oliver Reed], Porthos [Frank Finlay] and Aramis [Richard Chamberlian] three lazy and unscrupulous swordsmen. He also falls in love with Raquel Welch’s Constance – well, you would, wouldn’t you? – who is one of the Queen’s Ladies-in-Waiting, and thus becomes embroiled in courtly intrigue which might unseat the Queen and secure Cardinal Richelieu’s hold on power. Jean Pierre Cassel is the effete Louis XIII. Charlton Heston’s Richelieu is suitably slimy. Christopher Lee and Faye Dunaway crop up as his stooges. Roy Kinnear and Spike Milligan shine as oddball comic relief among the humorous swordplay and fancy flirtations.
Richard Lester directs with tongue firmly in cheek thanks mainly to George MacDonald Fraser’s bumptious script, which knows it is good from the off and likes to tell us, as do the cast with throw away gestures. Dumas’s novel has been filmed many times, but they always seem so serious. This version of The Three Musketeers plays the whole pantomime for laughs, from over-the-top action sequences to over-the-top performances, all held just about in check. The sword fights win us over mostly through imaginative staging: a Carmelite monastery, a laundry house, a waterwheel, a firework display. The comedy works through sheer gusto and cheekiness. Yvonne Blake’s costumes, among many excellent production values, are outstanding.
Too many viewings has probably dulled this film a little for me, but I still enjoy the sense of fun and frivolity among the sabres and epees. It was one of the best films of its year, but generally overlooked for more serious, darker fayre when they came to hand out awards. Pity that.
Very good indeed.
Note:
There was a sequel The Four Musketeers which was filmed concurrently, but the cast all thought they were making only one film. In fact, this was originally mooted as a three hour epic telling, but the producers sliced it in half. The actors objected as their contracts only stipulated one film, hence their grievance was they should have been paid for two jobs or informed they were being paid to make two movies. Subsequently to legal action, this kind of behaviour by producers was outlawed. This is known as the Salkind Clause, ironically named after the film's producer.
The reason Christopher Wood got the writing gig on the two James Bond films he did had more to do with the fact that he'd written a previous film Lewis Gilbert had directed called Seven Nights in Japan (1976) than it did with his Confessions work. I think Gilbert brought him on board as the scriptwriter once he was selected as the director. Directors often try to bring their own writers on board with them if they can or at least suggest them as a potential scriptwriter.
Far and away the best and most entertaining version (versions) of the tale. Big fan of THE FOUR MUSKETEERS as well even though it is, by necessity, the darker half of the story.
That said, the recent French versions (TTM: PART 1: D'ARTAGNAN and PART 2: MILADY) are also excellent and feature Vesper Lynd herself as Milady.
Now I've seen The Three Musketeers, the 1973 version thanks to this thread. I too think it's the best version of the story I've seen. The movie is fun, opulent and entertaining. The locations are grand, interesting and fun and they’ve made a point of making the fights different from each other. It may surprise some that I think the fights are sometimes the weak link. The fencing is done with BIG movements, leaving the fighters open like barn doors to attack. More than once our heroes throws (!) their swords at their opponent for no reason at all! On the positive side we see some inventive fighting with or without their swords in fun locations, but one doesn't exclude the other. I'd like to see quick, agile sword fights like in The Princess Bride instead of the slow and wide movements we see here. Still, this movie is lots of fun!
PS: According to IMDB Timothy Dalton was considered as one of the musketeers. I think he would've been good in it.
THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE BELL (1970)
Professor Andrew Patterson (Glenn Ford), a member of the secret fraternity, the Brotherhood of the Bell of the College of St. George in San Francisco, is given a special assignment.
He has been tasked to persuade Dr. Konstantin Hovarthy, a close friend and refugee, from accepting a deanship at an institute of linguistics, a position that the brotherhood want for a fellow brother of the bell. He is provided with information on people, who aided Hovarthy in defecting to the West and is told to use this material as blackmail, if Hovarthy refuses to decline the position.
Hovarthy under tremendous duress commits suicide.
Unable to cope with this sudden loss, Professor Andrew decides to reveal the secret workings of the brotherhood.
This sets off a series of unfortunate events, which push Professor Andrew into a dark abyss of paranoia and fear, as the brothers of the bell use all their power and influence to destroy his professional and personal life.
Directed by Paul Wendkos (The Mephisto Waltz), this 1hr 37 minute made for TV film, is a powerful suspense drama.
Be sure to watch THE FOUR MUSKETEERS as well.
Also, gotta say: Raquel Welch in the T3/4M is rather easy on the eyes.
And that's a tame shot.
My eyes are ready for a life of ease. 😄
Glad to be of service. That's a good point about the sword fighting - I also wondered if a swordsman would so readily surrender his weapon during a duel! Best, I think, to overlook this or one can nitpick a film like TTM to pieces.
Didn't Raquel Welch win a Golden Globe [no pun intended] as best comic actress for this? There is a cinematic urban myth that she couldn't act. That's nonsense. She is good or better than good in many films. Plus she is exceptionally easy on the eye 😁😁😁