My Favorite Movies

Extremely wordy and literate script from the opening voiceover from George Sander's as Addison de Witt. Deals wth a young hopeful ingenue who claws her way to the top using everyone she encounters. Baxter puts in a remarkable performance as Eve but it is essentially Bette Davis' film. Her Margo Channing is that rare film heroine in that she is incredibly flawed, difficult, annoying, amusing very multi faceted. It is the sort of film that just wuld not get made today, its just way too sophisticated.

Whenever I feel down I snuggle up in bed with some chocalate and pop this in my dvd player. It is the ultimate comedy with a cast of outstanding performances from Marilyn to Jack to Tony to Joan Shawlee as "Sweet Sue". Its totally brilliant.

My first ever Monroe film, bought on vhs twenty years ago...She glows from the moment she steps onscreen singing "Two Little Girls from Little Rock" with Jane Russell. The pair of them really rock the "Ille de France" as they travel to Europe. The plot is almost non-existent Marilyn is engaged to a geeky millionaire played by Tommy Noonan. His father is very concerned that Marilyn is only after their money. Along the way we get an array of songs including the legendary camp classic "Aint there anyone Here for Love?" set in a Gym with Jane singing to a bevy of almost naked athletes and the legendary "Diamonds are a Girls Best friend" which totally stops the movie. Extremely entertaining and richly coloured.

The songs save this one, Monroe in a little bit of an unsympathetic role. An 1880's western, gorgeously gowned she is not really an outdoors girl. The script gives neither Monroe nor Mitchum very much to build on which is sad. There is very little chemistry between them. As I said the songs are good and include "River of No Return" which Marilyn sings in mournful style at the end, "One Silver Dollar" and the raucous "Im gonna File my Claim"

The very first cinemascope comedy, so what happens is there are often 3 or four people side by side to fill the widescreen. Grable, Monroe and Bacall join forces and rent an elegant apartment in order to attract the right kind of males. Monroe steals the film as the nearly blind model who reads book upside down and gets on the wrong plane because of her refusal to where her glasses. Its light its airey it sags a little when Monroe is offscreen but the lush colour and fabulou costumes by Travilla keep it afloat.

Its an extremely affecting yet sad film, the final films of both Gable and Monroe. Based on a short story by her then husband Arthur Miller who fleshed out a small part and gave it to Marilyn as a sort of a "tribute" to her. By the time the film was shot their marriage was effectively over. Monroe plays Roslyn a divorcee who is extremely sensitive who falls in with Gaye an ageing cowboy played by Gable. They both give superb performances. Gable died before he could see the film or his newborn son. Its beautifully shot in Black and White giving Monroe an almost ghostlike quality. You will either love it or hate it as it veers toward pretension, but I love it because it gives us a clue to just how good Monroe might have become had she conquered her addictions and demons.

A fabulous adaptation of William Inge's hit play by Joshua Logan who also directed "Picnic" the previous year. Monroe's first real attempt since "Dont Bother to Knock" (1952) at a serious role. Having studied at the actors studio Monroe took on Cherie (played onstage by Kim Stanley) a shopworn Chanteuse who hustles men for drinks at the Blue Dragon. Her only real friend is Vera a waitress at the club played beautifully by Eileen Heckart, who had just been nominated for her work on "The Bad Seed" Rounding out the cast are Betty Field as the owner of the Diner the Bus stops off at, Arthur O'Connell, and newcomer Don Murray as Bo Decker a cowboy who determines that Cherie is "his angel" Its a gorgeous charcter piece with good work all round and utterly unmissable for fans of Monroe.

Matthau and Jackson have a lot of fun in this Spy-comedy in which Matthau as a maverick CIA agent goes into deep cover and begins sending his overbearing boss Ned Beatty, chapters from his proposed memoir-expose of his life in the secret service. Glenda Jackson plays a former flame who he recruits to help him foil the CIA who are tracking him. A gently comic gem with some enjoyable pranks along the way.

Extremely strong and memorable drama in which Peter Finch and Glenda Jackson share bisexual artist Murray Head and the complications this arrngement throw up for all concerned. My abiding memory is of Glenda making a cup of coffee from the hot water tap in her dingy flat taking a gulp yelling "argh!" in disgust before dumping the cup in a dirty sink full of pots. Brilliant.

It owes much of its success to th chemistry between Segal and Jackson who are a riot as a couple of thirty somethings who meet and plan a nice little weekend affair in Majorca. It has much in common with the screwball comedies of the 1930's and won Glenda Jackson her second Best Actress oscar. This is the film she was cast in after being spotted playing Cleopatra in a Morecambe and Wise sketch. The title says it all....very very classy.

A searing, amazing film, a real product of the sixties. The Marquis de Sade directs patients in a mental asylum in a play about the assassination of Jean Paul Marat. A patient suffering from narcolepsy plays Charlotte Corday, Marat's killer whilst various other patients including a Sex mad male patient play other principals in the drama before a select group of aristocrats who watch from inside the caged ward. Others watch from behind the bars. I watched this on you-tube and was uttely captivated by its originality.

When Susannah York and Glenda Jackson let rip as two maids, engaged by a wealthy woman in a luxurious Parisien appartment, boy do they let rip. Based on a play by Genet, the sisters act out their sadistic fantasies, each taking it in turn to be the "Madam" whilst the other plays her "maid". Produced by The American Film Theatre it reproduced the stage version that starred both York and Jackson, except in the film they didnt have to walk on a floor of stretched bouncy canvas. If you are fine of Jackson or York you will love it. If you are a fan of Jean Genet its a must.

Don Baker is a young blind lad who has managed to move away from home and into his own place in San Francisco. He soon meets Jill a young girl who lives next door. At first Jill doesnt realise that Don is blind. They nevertheless fall in love but are rudely interrupted by arrival of Don's overprotective mother who breaks her agreement to leave him alone for a month. Mrs Baker dissaproves of Jill and tries to break them up and convince Don to return home with her. Based on a hugely succesful play from the New York stage, Eileen Heckart reprises her stage role as Don's mother and earned herself a best supporting actress oscar for her beautifully touching yet unsentimental playing. Goldie Hawn was brilliant in what was only her second or third film and Edward Albert Jr was just gorgeous as Don Baker.
Essential viewing.

A huge rarity, A Black comedy with moments of high drama in which George Segal as Jewish Detective Mo Brummel tracks a sadistic killer played by Steiger. Throw in an utterly gorgeous scene stealing Eileen Heckart as Mo's fabulous mother who just wishes he could be like his brother the Doctor and the stunning Lee Remick as his new girlfriend who turns up for their first date looking beautiful but admits that it took ages to get ready and you have a great film. If you love any of the principal actors it is a must and if you have a yen for a hilarious jewish mama then watch this its great.

George and Martha like a drink. Taylor is Martha and Burton is George. He is a professor at a University where George Segal and Sandy Dennis pitch up as a young new professor and his rather delicate wife. George and Martha are pretty tanked up and already taking bitesized lumps out of each other before Segal and Dennis arrive for drinks and all hell breaks loose. Elizabeth Taylor is magnificent as Martha eclipsing anything she had ever done before. This is no Movie star playing a carefully constructed facade of a character its a fantastic display of acting talent, Taylor lets rip but ultimately is the one left in the most pain. Based on an Edward Albee play this is screen acting at it's finest.

Taylors last real noteworthy film still feels a little like a Sunday afternoon TV movie. It has a glorious cast of fading Hollywood stars largely playing fading Hollywood stars, directors and producers who descend on St Mary Mead to film at the squires mansion. This being St Mary Mead Miss Marple, is on hand should a murder occur, it isnt long before there is a murder and Miss Marple proceeds to solve it. Along the way however there are gorgeous verbal catfights between Elizabeth Taylor and Kim Novak as warring movie stars.

Based on a novel by Edna Ferber who also wrote "Giant" This Family saga sprawls 30 years from the 1880s to the 1910's when lumberman Barney Glasgow gives up his real love Lotta Bostram a barroom tart with a heart to marry the plain daughter of a business associate. His friend Swan Bostrom marries Lotta and they have a daughter also called Lotta who may or may not be Barney's offspring. (Its the30s so we arent being very explicit) Years later when Barney meets Lotta junior he falls in love all over agan and begins to make a fool of himself. It is however Barney's young son who takes Lotta's fancy...Although Walter Brennan won a best supporting actor oscar, this is Frances Farmer's film.

Playing both mother and daughter she imbues both women with distinctly different characteristics. The elder Lotta is quite a bawdy girlwith a low singing voice who gives come hither looks and is quite worldly. Her daughter looks quite innocently at men and is much lighter and more direct in getting what she wants from them. Lotta junior sings her mothers trademark song "Aura Lee" quite differently to her mother. Rarely would Farmer again have the opprtunity to show just how good she could be.

Stunning images saturatred with colour, wearing masks, drinking lumpy liquids and hallucinating....Anger overlayssumptuous scenes of women in bright red lipstick and featherd hats with green demons with extra long talons. Its a bewitching film, with no narrative but it sucks the viewer into it world.

Good fun despite the obvious paralells with "Mary Poppins" Angela Lansbury plays an irrepressible witch in training who takes in two evacuees during the early days of the second world war. In order to complete her training she needs the star of Astoroth to be found in a cartoon kingdom which she journeys to with her two charges and David Tomlinson. Even though it looks cheaper, it has a few memorable songs including "Down at the Bottom of the beautiful Briny sea" and Angela Lansbury is great as Eglantine, fending off a German attack by finally getting the spell right!

In her last film (sadly) Crawford is still going for that oscar. Its a touching performance in an otherwise risible film. Joan believes though and through shear force of will she makes us believe. She really was an outstanding actress.

Grand Guignol of the highest order from William Castle a horror film-maker who used to wire the seats during screenings of his films in order to literally shock the audience. Joan Crawford is BACK in the community. After twenty years in an asylum for running amok with an axe he is re-united with her daughter. Before long strange things start happening....People start losing all manner of things like...arms and heads! and before you know it Joan is once again suspected.

Crawford herself was not very impressed with the box office receipts on this film, but she gives an exceptional performance as good time girl Sadie Thompson who likes Liquor, marines and gramophone records but finds herself stranded on a Hawaiian island with a fire a brimstone missionary. For Crawford fans it is an essential film, made the same year as Grand Hotel. This is perhaps the earliest film on dvd in which we see her burgeoning look, the big eyes and the overpainted mouth and the fabulous way she hurled herself into her characters.

A totally classy affair starring an all-star, all female cast. They talk a lot about men, but there isnt a single man in it. Norma Shearer has had her husband stolen by mantrap Joan Crawford and before you know it the manicurist knows, the hairdresser knows, then Rosalind Russell knows and then of course everybody knows! Its a great film supposedly made for all the women who wanted to play Scarlett O'Hara but didn't get a look in once Vivien Leigh had been spotted. In Black and white it has a lovely Fashion show with clothes by Gilbert Adrian about half an hour in which is fantastic, a real treat! Forget all the other versions, this is the one that counts.

Two Bette Davis for the price of one....with a fanastic score by Andre Previn played on a spooky Spinet. Davis plays twins, one of whom is a rich bitch and the other is poor as a church mouse. When the poor twin discovers she was duped out of her rightful marriage twenty years earlier she plots revenge. Superbly supported by Jean Hagen and Estelle Winwood the film is marred slightly by the appearrance of Peter Lawford as a gigolo. Nevertheless this is a wonderfully dark companion piece to "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" and is in my view much more atmospheric and suspenseful than "Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte" For Davis fans its a must.

Utterly gorgeous film, reminiscent of Kenneth Anger's work but actually totally individual. Shot is lush saturated colour we get to worship at the Divine temple of Bobby Kendall who dresses up as a Bullfighter, a young man dressed head to toe in white, as a harem boy...The sets are amazing as is the imagery, it has long been regarded a cult classic and is way more erotic than anything a modern day pornographer could offer. Stunning.

Considered very shocking in it'sdy it has gathered fans over the years including Martin Scorsese who have helped bring this film back to prominence. Karl Bohm is a strange creepy documentary film director who takes smutty pictures on the side in order to survive. He has vivid flashbacks to the games his father a psychologist used to film of him as a child...Lying in bed and being awoken by a lizard being thrown on the covers for instance. He begins murdering young women with a spike concealed in the tripod of his camera and they actually witness their own last moments as he films them in a concave metal mirror which reflects light back onto their faces. A gripping thriller with Bohm fantastically frigid as Mark with Anna Massey as the young girl who he attempts to form a bond with.

its a stunning thriller which is also a blue print for how male-female couples in screwball comedies would relate to each other in the thirties. There are touches of it in "The Thin Man" which pre-dates this by a year but the 39 steps sparkles with a much earthier wit, especially when Hitchcock handcuffs our hero and heroine together for a good portion of the movie. Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll are superb in their roles.

A briskly paced film almost a throwback to forties film noir has Rowlands on the run(as a former Mob Moll) who has unexpectedly become the guardian of a young boy whose family have been killed by the mob. He has a book of numbers from his father (a mob accountant) that could cause a lot of problems for a lot of people, people that Gloria is friends with. Gena Rowland is amazing as Gloria the woman who hates kids and really could do without the hassle but she must have some sort of maternal instinct because she protects the boy as if he were her own. It really is awonderful movie. Miss this at your peril.

An extremely unsettling horror in which a plastic surgeon tries repeatedly to give his disfigured daughter a new face by murdering young girls and transplanting their faces onto his daughters. Alida Valli as his assistant and procuress is extremely effective and the whole look and design of the film is pretty amazing for 1960. An extremely atmospheric chiller.

A stunning opening out of the story of two fantastic women considered to be rather eccentric in their own time but who were bonded to each other because they shared so much history and taste and wit that they were in essence inseperable. Grey Gardens is the crumbling mansion in Eat Hampton they occupy with quite a few cats. This was the subject of The Maysles documentary "Grey Gardens" (1975) where we saw the two women living in squalor. This HBO film opens up the scenrio and delves into the past to see what Big Edie and Little Edie were like in the 30's 40's and 50's. They dropped out of high Society and did their own thing. Both women are superbly played here by Drew Barrymore as Little Edie and Jessica Lange (on Emmy winning form) as her mother Big Edie. A very touching and funny film.

Lange pours herself into the skin of Farmer and plays her beautifuly, where Farmer's life was blighted by a meddling mother, institutions and rotten film directors and moguls here the bane of Lange' life appears to a script that is muddled and has too many cooks...someone once said "never lt the truth get in the way of a good story" and there is much that is fictional here including a lover played by Sam Sheperd who never existed. Clearly the only thing wrong with Farmer was her addiction issues, Alcohol and Benzedrine. Lange however triumphs over the films immediate shortcomings giving a towering performance that should have netted her an oscar.

Patsy Cline gets a rambunctious bio-pic with Lange lyp-synching to Patsy's originl songs. The film focuses largely on her abusive relationship with her second husband Charlie Dick. Lange does a superb job of fleshing out Patsy and making her as raucous as we suspect she was. Great support is provided by Ed Harris as Charlie and Ann Wedgworth as her mother.

Incredibly powerful version of Jesus' life adapted by Pasolini from The Gospel According to Saint Matthew, the film is largely peopled by non-professional actors with Enrique Irazoqui mesmerising as Jesus. This is quite a confrontational uncompromising prophet who challenges injustice where he sees it. ncredibly beautiful and moving.

A stunning performance from Anna Magnani as a Roman prostitute who when her pimp marries a local country girl goes and finds her son Ettore and moves away to Rome where she starts a fruit and veg stall on a market. Pretty soon however her pimp is back demanding she go back on the game in order to make him some more money. An incredible film by Pier Paolo Pasolini in which Magnani bonds beautifully with her son played by Ettore Garofolo and shot entirely on location as Rome recovered from the ravages of the war.

Tis was released in 1988 but its a production from 1972 from the BBC. Banned at the turn of the century because of it scandalous subject matter Mrs Warren is a brothel madam, Coral Browne is outstanding as she tries to justify her occupation to her priggish daughter played beautifully by PenelopeWilton.

If only it was that simple, A stunning film with very little narrative structure but a lot of stunning imagery by legendary film-maker Jodorowsky. Its awesome as is "El Topo" Its best to watch with Jodorowsky's Director commentary on.

Totally cool movie, Cagney at his best a real maniac on the loose. Love him I lso want to see "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye" which co-stars the lovely yet tragic Barbara Payton.

"of course he's got a knife, it's 1183 and were barbarians" so speaks Katharine Hepburn as Eleanor of Acquitane summoned by her estranged husband Henry II to a Christmas court at Chinon, where their sons plot and scheme about which one of them will inherit the throne after their parents demise.
Its a superbly witty film with lots of verbal jousting between the leads, Katharine Hepburn, Peter O'Toole, Anthony Hopkins and Timothy Dalton all put in career best peformances.

The critique for this isnt quite on the ball Murray Melvins character of Jeff the gay lad who begins to look after Jo played by Rita Tushingham isnt middle aged he's only a couple of years older than her and Dora Bryan is aslut but she is no alcoholic. Jo and her Mum are constantly having to do "moonlight flits" when the landlady's back is turned and it is on one of these "flits" that they board a bus that bizarrely takes them around all of Manchester's greatest landmarks including the Victoria monument and the war memorial in St Ann's Square?It really is a beautiful film largely about fear and uncertainty. Jo is constantly abandoned by her mother (Helen) played magnificently by Dora Bryan. Helen is really only able to fend for herself. Its an incredible film capturing the North of England at the moment when it was still recovering from the after effects of the war and just before the sixties began to swing. In a few short years Dora would be singing "All I want for Christmas is a Beatle"

A plush Drawing Room comedy in which a stuffy Ruritainian Prince attempts to romance a young showgirl he has just seen onstage in "The Coconut Girl" The Regent of Capathia has come to London with his son (Jeremy Spenser) and his dotty mother in law (Dame Sybil Thorndike) For the coronation of George V and the foreign officer has left Richard Wattis in charge of entertaining the Prince. We are on the verge of the first World War and there are rumblings that he may be pro- German. So he is NOT to be offended. Hence the trip to the Theatre and a liasion with Monroe. The whole film is a romantic piece of fluff by Terence Rattigan, played onstage by Olivier and Vivien Leigh. Here Monroe is glowingly photographed by ace cinematographer Jack Cardiff who filmed "Black Narcissus" and she looks better than she has ever done. Olivier is quite leaden as is his direction, it lacks the lightness Cukor or Wilder might have given it and Monroe steals the filmfrom Olivier. Her best moments are alone, or with Sybil Thorndike who advises her to wear "more mascara, when one is young one should wear a lot of mascara, when one is old MUCH MORE" and with the young King (Jeremy Spenser) who wants to oust his domineering father and take the reigns of his country. If you are a Monroe fan it is a must if not you are not really going to enjoy it.

Matthau on fine form as Julian, a Dentist having an affair with ditzy Toni ( Goldie Hawn) but pretending to be married so that he doesnt have to commit. After Hawn attempts suicide he promises to divorce his wife and marry her. Toni however wants to meet his wife to smooth things over and be sure for herself that she doesnt still love him. Thinking on his feet he ropes in his prickly Nurse played by Ingrid Bergman and things become complex and incredibly funny. The film is totally stolen by Bergman who look amazing for 55 and who gets down and grooves with Goldie on the dancefloor of "The Slipped Disc" nightclub completely shedding her antiseptic image she is pursued by several men including an Ambassador, Toni's neighbour Igor and eventually realising he has backed the wrong woman, Julian. A riot, beautifully scripted with lots of one liners and as I said Bergman in a rare comic role steals the entire film.

Simply THE most beautiful film ever made has little narative structure, loosely based on the life of Sayat Nova the legendary Georgian Troubador it is essentially a series of beautifully linked tableaux in which performers are involved in Ritual Dances and ceremonies. One of the most affecting has a flooded monestary with all the books left out to dry on wallsand rooves by a young boy...The wind blows the pages back and forth looking for all the world like they are being read by imaginary readers. I cannot stress How beautiful this film is. Everything about it is carefully considered and it 79 minutes it just isnt long enough. If you like this then you will surely love "Ashik Kerib" , "The Legend of the Surami Fortress" and "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" by this amazing Director who was banned in the Soviet and imprisoned for many year. Unmissable!

An epic of close-ups of Joan of her accusers of the peasants watching her burn. Even though this is a silent it is perhaps the first really modern film where the lead actresses performance has a lot more to it than swooning and lifting her limp hand to her brow to suggest grief. At one point Dreyer had Falconetti crawling on her bare knees on cobbles to achieve the exact sort of pained expression he needed. It still hasnt been surpassed. The only film Falconetti made and for a long time considered lost until it was found in the store of a mental asylum.

Extremely entertaining Comic-Sci Fi with a dash of romance thrown in for good measure starring Fred Ward (looking like he has just stepped out of a Richard Avedon photo) and Kevin Bacon as always extremely reliable and fun as Earl and Val two handymen of a small isolated town who discover, underground creatures which can sense movement and hunt their pray that way. The comic pairing of Ward and Bacon is great to watch as is Reba McIntyre as one half of a gun-happy couple. As I said its very very entertaining and its lovely to watch the small community pull together in order to escape the beasts.

Its probably ten years too late but Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is still an entertaining romp with a few excellent set-pieces honouring the earlier films. Set in 1957 during the Cold War, the Russians are now the baddies, enter Cate Blanchett as a sort of dour Ninotchka who never lightens up. She is quite terrible. As is Ray Winstone as Indiana Jones new sidekick who constantly seems to be exclaiming "Jonesy!!!" and opening his arms for a hug. Karen Allen however picks up the slack magnificently and its a bit of a surprise that its taken until now to reteam the original Raiders of the Lost Ark pairing because she was pretty much the best heroine the series ever had. Further giving the whole film a fifties feel is Shia Le Boeouf as Marian's son who rides a motorbike and has a bit of a Brando-Wild One vibe about him. He also takes on a few of the more strenous stunts. The end is really touching allowing those of us who hankered for Jones to settle down to be given our final pay-off. It could have been better but it could have been a lot worse.