Friday, April 29, 2011

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 364 - The Well


The memory I have of the first time I saw the well is amazingly clear. It was a rainy Saturday in October 1971. I came home from my paper route and nobody was else was in the house. I made sandwich of ham and cheese on toast and sat down in front of the TV. I was watching a kid's show on channel 11 and when it ended the movie started. It had very dramatic music as the credits played over a view of a field. A little black girl was walking along picking flowers and suddenly she dropped out of sight. The camera panned up and revealed a black, forbidding hole in the ground.

I remember sitting on the edge of my seat as the story played out. First the town consumed with suspicion and hatred when it is assumed a white man took the girl, then relentless suspense as the girl is found and the town comes together to dig her out. I riveted to the TV. I remember how annoying the commercial breaks were. The movies themes were very adult, but I was able to follow along. It is one of the first adult movies I watched all by myself and that I specifically chose to watch. 

Forty years later I realize the film is a perfect example of American film noir. It features low key black and white cinematography, use of unusual and expressive camera angles and deals with an important social issue. The girl trapped in the well is just a plot used to explore themes of racial prejudice and mob violence.

The story is told in three acts. First the disappearance of the girl, the initial search, and then the suspicion that she was abducted by a white man, a stranger in town.

The second act is about his arrest and the violent outburst that occur when the black community thinks there has been a miscarriage of justice, and the white community thinks the blacks attack a prominent citizen who was trying to use his influence to free the suspect. The violence is fueled by malicious gossip and rumors until a full fledged race riot is about to explode.

The final act is when the where abouts of the girl are discovered and the town slowly comes together to see if she can be rescued alive.

Released in 1951 by United Artists The Well is a straight forward "B" picture. There are no memorable actors, the most familiar face is harry Morgan (aka Henry Morgan0 who went on to star in Dragnet and would play Colonel potter in MASH. It was filmed on location in central California, but the location is never stated and could be any small town in America. the picture was produced by Leo Popkin who was an expert at turning out well made, low budget hits. He was also responsible for such hits as  And Then There Were None, D.O.A. and My Dear Secretary.

The Well is in public domain but rarely pops up on TV. I am not sure why but it might be because of the racial slurs that occur frequently in the center part of the movie. Many years after the civil rights movement, it was surprising to hear the "N" word used so liberally by the white characters, but the word was in common usage in the 1950's. 

It's too bad the movie is not shown more because it deserves to be seen. It has valuable lessons about getting along with each other and is a superior, suspense filled drama. The Well was nominated for two Oscars, one for Best Screenplay and another for Best Editing. The great editing is especially notable in the films third act as they attempt to rescue the girl.

If you have never seen The Well you should seek it out. I am sure it will impress you the way it did me, forty years ago.

At The Movie House rating ***1/2 stars








365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 363 - The Window


When television was in it's infancy the movie studios viewed it as a threat. movie theatre attendance dropped off as people stayed home to watch this new fangled invention. Then someone had the brilliant idea to sell the rights for the networks to broadcast movies. Soon entire back catalogs were being licensed and the studios discovered that television was a whole new revenue stream.

Local networks used movies as cheap and easy programming. before cable TV you could count on local TV to have multiple movie showings a day. They might reserve early mornings fro sitcom repeats and prime time for some original programming, but the rest of the time it was movies, movies and more movies.

In New York City WOR Channel 9 dubbed their movie programming "The Million Dollar Movie" and each film opened with the theme from Gone With The Wind and shots of NYC landmarks. For years I knew the GWTW theme as The Million Dollar Movie theme.

The Million Dollar Movie would sometimes program in blocks repeating the same film for five days in a row. I don't really understand this strategy. If an adult watched a movie on Monday then they would lose that viewer Tuesday through Friday. But for a kid, if it was a good movie, you watched it again and again.

One of my earliest memories is watching the movie The Window for five nights in a row.

The window is a excellent "B" suspense thriller with film noir overtones. The movie was released by RKO Pictures in 1949. It was produced by Dore Schary, who would go on to run MGM Studios. It was directed by Ted Tetzlaff who learned his trade as a cinematographer for Alfred Hitchcock. The screenplay came from a story by Cornell Woolrich (Rear Window). Woolrich was responsible for more film noir stories than any other crime fiction writer.

The movie stars Barbara hale, Arthur Kennedy, Paul Stewart and, on loan from Disney, child actor Bobby Driscoll.

The movie rests on Driscoll's small shoulders. He so convincingly plays a boy who is terrified for his own life without over acting in the slightest.

The movie is based on the boy who cried wolf story. Young Tommy tells tall tales to get attention. This sometimes causes trouble for him and his parents. he tells his friends he and his parents are moving out west to a big ranch and that night the landlord is at the door trying to rent the apartment.

Tommy's parents are frustrated with his made up stories and warn him there will be real punishment if he tells more. Later that night, while sleeping on the fire escape because of the sweltering heat he glimpses a murder through the cracked shade of the upstairs neighbors window. Unfortunately no one, including his parents and the police will believe him, no one except the murderer who is now planning on killing Tommy and his parents.

At 73 minutes the film is a taut, suspensful thriller. The film perfectly captures the experience of a boy growing up in the slums of 1940's new York City.  The film captures the dark overtones of the failure of the American dream for many in the post war years. 

Director Tetzlaff manipulates the audience carefully so we fully identify with Tommy and his plight and even come to see his parents as bad because they refuse to believe him, even as he becomes more and more frightened. The film induces both excitement and anxiety as Tommy tries to escape from his neighbor, intent on murdering him.

Movies like The Window prove that low budget does not mean low production values. I have not seen this movie in about 44 years, but watching it now I realized how much of an impression it had made on me when i was 8 years old. I thought it was great then and it is still pretty good now.

If you love suspense thrillers or good classic film check out The Window.

At The Movie House rating *** stars

Thursday, April 28, 2011

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 362 - Jane Eyre


As I come to the end of this year of movies I am taking the opportunity to look back at five films that I distinctly remember watching as a kid. 

I love going to the movies, but my love of movies started in my living room. Watching the event movies on network TV or the classics on Million Dollar Movie, I really enjoyed sitting with my family and watching a film and these are some of my fondest memories.

I mention this because the film I chose today was Jane Eyre. I have very distinct memories about this film and the odd way my father liked to watch movies. I would be in the living room with my mom and sister, and maybe my older brothers and sister, and we would be watching a movie on television. My dad would be in some other part of the house doing something and occasionally he would wander into the living room, and invariably he would make a comment, or ask what was happening. He would stay for a few minutes and watch, and then wander off again, or my mother would "shhshh" him, and he would leave the room, only to return a little while later and once more ask what was happening.

I will always remember watching Jane Eyre on TV and my dad wandering in and pointing out the little girl with the cough was Elizabeth Taylor. He would leave, and then come back in a bit and ask "is she dead yet?".  My mother shhshhd him out of the room, only for him to return later and ask "does she know who's in the attic?". It was a very odd way of watching movies and I often thought my dad didn't like going to the movies because you couldn't wander in and out and kibitz with people.

When I was young I thought Jane Eyre was as scary as any horror movie. Especially the scenes of Jane as a young girl at the Lowood School for Girls. The film had a dark, forbidding mood and I didn't realize it was a romance at all.

As an adult I appreciate the amazing cinematography, art direction and set design that perfectly captured the mood of the Gothic novel it is based on. The 1944 film starred Joan Fontaine, straight from her Oscar win for Hitchcock's Suspicion and Orson Welles. Much of the films mood and atmosphere are attributed to Orson Welles, but he refused a producer's credit on the film.

The movie is based on the classic novel by Charlotte Bronte and directed by Robert Stevenson who would later become synonymous with the best of Walt Disney's live action films including Mary Poppins.

I have not seen Jane Eyre in at least 39 years and I was astounded at how vividly the look of the film had stayed in my memory.  I distinctly remember the scenes in the orphanage and the loathsome Mr. Brocklehurst (Henry Daniell). 

Jane Eyre has all the mood and atmosphere of the best adaptations of other great literary works, such as David Lean's Oliver Twist or Great Expectations. 

The film received an extensive restoration by 20th Century Fox and is definitely worth revisiting.

At The Movie House rating ***1/2 stars

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 361 - Before The Devil Knows Your Dead


Before The Devil Knows Your Dead is the last film directed by Sidney Lumet. It is a crime thriller starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney and Marisa Tomei.

The film is about two brother's who decide to commit a crime, and I will say no more than that. The story is told in non-linear fashion and various events are seen from different points of view. 

Before The Devil Knows Your Dead proves that Lumet is still a master story teller and Hoffman a consummate actor. This multi-layered thriller provides enough nail biting suspense for two films. 

In watching this film you are reminded of the police adage, "There is no such thing as the perfect crime".

If you have not seen Before The Devil Knows Your Dead than you need too. Not only is it the last, great work of one of cinema's greatest director's, but it is also a complex film, with deep emotional consequences, rare in a suspense thriller of this type.

At The Movie House rating ****

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 360 - Serpico


Director Sidney Lumet passed away on April 9th. It has been my intention to pay tribute to this master craftsman who created some of the most memorable films for the fifty years. Starting with 12 Angry Men in 1957 and ending with Before The Devil Knows Your Dead in 2007, Lumet delivered one great work after another. He was a prolific director who sometimes released more than one film a year. he had a reputation as an actor's director working with the same actor's over and over again. He made five films with actor Sean Connery and three with Henry Fonda. Lumet was at his peak in the 70's when he directed Serpico, Murder On The Orient Express, Network and Dog Day Afternoon. But no director is perfect and he closed out this period of creative genius with the dreadful The Wiz.

In deciding what film of Lumet's to watch, I used a recent Facebook discussion initiated by my friend David about the body of work produced by Al Pacino, as a guide. Pacino and Lumet made two iconic films together, Serpico and Dog Day Afternoon, and Lumet, more than any other director, seemed to be able to get the best performances out of Pacino. In both films Pacino is a man under pressure who is trying to hold things together. Lumet directs Pacino to keep his emotional outburst under control, so when they do happen they are like mini explosions of anger and fury. In the hands of lesser director's Pacino's outburst were allowed to be expansive and go on and on, until he played entire roles with the volume turned to "11".

Serpico was one of the best in a series of gritty, urban police/crime dramas made in the 1960's and 70's. Other notable films were The Detective, Madigan, No Way To Treat A Lady, The Incident, The French Connection, Report To The Commissioner, The Taking of Pelham 123, The Boston Strangler, The Laughing Policemen, Across 110th Street, Dog Day Afternoon, Death Wish and Dirty Harry

All were filmed on location, usually highlighting run down neighborhoods and parts of cities suffering from urban decay. All used naturalistic lighting so the films had a sense of realism and some scenes, especially nighttime, would be dark and murky. They usually had jazz based musical scores with percussion's that tended to drive the action, but also wind instruments that provide a note of melancholy.

Serpico is based on the non-fiction book by Peter Maas and tells the real-life story of New York City police Officer Frank Serpico who struggled his entire career to fight corruption on the police force. As a new officer he is filled with idealism and the determination to do his best as a police man. he soon learns that corruption runs rampant on the force. That almost every officer and detective he encounters is on the take and some cops are as bad as the criminals. He wants no part of this and his failure to participate leads to mistrust amongst his fellow officers who view him as an outsider. The mistrust turns to threats and intimidation and soon Serpico is as much danger from his fellow cops as he is from the crooks on the street.

Pacino gives one of his greatest performances in Serpico. His progression from a man who wants to do right to the officer testifying before the Knapp Commission is outstanding. Serpico was released in a period of cultural turmoil. The film was released just one year after the Knapp Commission released it's final report on the widespread corruption in the New York Police Department and politicians, cops and the public were still dazed at the scope of it all.

Lumet captures everything with the sure hand of a master film maker. He collaborated with screen writers Norman Wexler (Saturday Night Fever) and Waldo Salt (Midnight Cowboy) on the script. The cinematography that captured the gritty realism of New York City was by Arthur J. Ornitz (Boys In The Band, Death Wish, The Anderson Tapes). The film was edited by Dede Allen (Bonnie and Clyde) and Richard Marks (The Godfather Part II). The music was composed by Mikis Theodorakis, nominated for a Grammy for his work. Serpico was also nominated for two Oscars, one for Pacino and one for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Pacino did win a Golden Globe Award for his performance.

At The Movie House rating **** stars












Wednesday, April 27, 2011

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 360 - Ben-Hur


There will never be another film like Ben-Hur. It featured a cast of 15,000 extras used to populate the Colosseum where the chariot race was held. The Colosseum itself was built from the ground up, along with the streets of old Jerusalem and Cesar's palace in Rome. A revolutionary high speed kitchen was developed on the back-lot just to keep all the extras fed. An entirely new camera, MGM Camera 65 was developed to capture the wide screen scope of the picture. It was five years in the planning and filming and the intense labor killed the famed producer Sam Zimbalist. He had a heart attack a week before final shooting. The movie was nominated for twelve Academy Awards and won eleven, the most given to any film and a feat not repeated until Titanic in 1997 and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King in 2003.

Along with the chariot race the movie contained an epic sea battle between the Romans and a fleet of Macedonian pirates. the gripping scenes of the galley slaves rowing for their lives are still memorable to this day. Ben-Hur featured and all star cast including Charlton Heston in his best role. along with Jack Hawkins as Quintus Arius, there was Haya Harareet, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith and Sam Jaffe.

But along with the epic scenes, it is the quiet moments you remember. A despairing Judah Ben-Hur praying to God and a gentle hand appears and gives him water. Jesus standing on the mount with the multitude before him, but his attention is captured by Judah, far off in the distance, walking away. The look on Judah's face when he looks into the yes of the man whose preaching he ignored and realizes he knows this man. 

There is no need to recap the plot of the movie here. if you have never seen Ben-Hur you should make a point to see it. Is exciting entertainment, the likes of which will not be made again.

At the Movie House rating **** stars


365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 359 - Hop


When the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks made over $360 million dollars and its "squeakquel" made over $440 million you had to know that were were doomed to see cute computer animated critters inter-acting with humans for the foreseeable future. Since then we have had Yogi Bear, Marmaduke and now Hop.

Hop tells the story of E.B. a young rabbit destined to become the next Eater Bunny. But E.B. wants to play drums in a rock band so he runs away from Easter Island and lands in Hollywood where he encounters Fred O'Hare and unemployed slacker who has not found his calling in life. You can be guaranteed that after much mayhem both Fred and E.B. will find there life's destiny.

Hop is voiced by Russel Brand and Fred is played amiably by James Mardsen. The film is rifts off the Santa Claus legend to create a back story for the Easter Bunny. Predictable, but amusing this film will become an DVD Easter staple for kids and I can guarantee a sequel within 2 years.

At The Movie House rating **1/2 stars. (Add a half star if you are twelve or under. Detract a star if too many jellybeans makes you sick)


365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 358 - Monty Python's Life of Brian


In 1977 they protested the mini-series Jesus of Nazareth by writing thousands of letters. In 1989 they lined up outside theatres to picket The Last Temptation of Christ and in 1994 they were scandalized by Mel Gibson's The Passion. In all this time what they should have been screaming bloody murder about was the blasphemous, but hysterically funny, Monty Python's Life of Brian.

Life of Brian is a spoof of all the Biblical films made about the life of Jesus. I want to make that clear, the movie is a spoof of movies, the same way Airplane spoofed disaster pictures. The film does not mock Jesus in any way. Maybe it mocks some of the events surrounding the Crucifixion, but in a very funny way! In fact Jesus is never seen or talked about in the entire movie. There is a brief reference to Jesus in the beginning of the movie, when the Three Wise-men show up at the wrong door, but that's just in passing.

The story follows Brian (Graham Chapman) a man, who as an infant was born just down the block from Jesus, who is mistaken for the Messiah and put to death by Pilate. On the way the film makes fun of pseudo intellectual revolutionary groups, Romans (Pontius Pilate in particular), Jews, religious zealots, people with speech impediments, public executions and anything else it can set it sights on.

The gags come a mile a minute members of the comedy troupe play multiple roles, including the female parts. The rest of the Python gang, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle,terry Jones and Michael Palin are all here contributing to the sheer mayhem of this exuberant movie.

Not quite as funny as The Holy Grail, but still great Monty Python.

At The Movie House ***1/2 stars

*note - actually there was much scandal surrounding the film. It was protested as being blasphemous. It was outright banned in many countries. It was condemned by many important religious figures and politicians (whom it turned out had never seen it but were basing their condemnation on what others were saying, who also had not seen the film.) 

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 357 - How Green Was My valley


Citizen Kane is widely considered the greatest American movie ever made. Yet in 1941 it lost the Academy Award for Best Picture to How Green Was My Valley. For that reason alone, Valley has been dismissed as an usurper and film unworthy of the accolades laid upon it. 

People talk about the brilliance of Kane and the genius of Orson Welles, who was the creative force behind it. They mention the amazing cinematography techniques developed for the film and the sharp script writing and the excellent acting. What they don't talk about is it's heart. Citizen Kane is a brilliant movie but it's a cold movie, hard edged. How Green Was My Valley has a heart and soul and spirit that uplifts even as it tells the bitter story of the dissolution of a family and years of tradition.

Roddy McDowall, at the age of 12, leads a cast of acting giants in the story of a Welsh mining village and how a fathers ideals of a company putting the person over profits soon give way to the reality of lost jobs and low wages. The father is played by Donald Crisp as the patriarch of a family of five sons and one daughter. All the sons are grown except for Huw (McDowall) and work in the mine. Maureen O'Hara is the only daughter. She has the misfortune to fall in love with the local preacher who will not subject her to his vows of poverty. Her unrequited love for him leads to scandal and further trouble for the family.

Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck and directed by John Ford How Green Was My valley is a commentary on the importance of family, the hypocrisy of religion and the rights of workers. The story is told in a long flashback by the grown son Huw, who recounts his days in the idyllic valley and how, as the working conditions at the mine deteriorated so did everything else.

The film ends on a note of tragedy, but still clings to its message of hope. I won't say it is a better movie than Citizen Kane, but it certainly deserves the honor of Best Picture just as much as Citizen Kane did.

At the Movie House rating **** stars

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 356 - Barabbas



Barabbas tells the fictional story of what happened to the man who was released in the place of Christ. The film features Anthony Quinn as Barabbas. Arthur Kennedy appears as Pilate.  Jack Palance is Torvald a gladiator who seems to have gone insane with his lust for blood. Harry Andrews appears as Peter and Ernest Borgnine is Lucius, a Christian. The film was made in Italy and the rest of the cast are Italian actors including the great Vittorio Gassman as Sahrak.

The film contains some fantastic set pieces including the recreation of the Crucifixion during an actual eclipse, the stoning of Rachael for her beliefs, the toils in a sulfur mind that collapses in an earthquake and best of all the recreation of the gladiator school and the Colosseum in Rome. 

Barabbas, released from prison, is haunted by the fate of the man killed in his place. He seems impervious to death since Jesus died in his place. Through out the film he is troubled by problems with his vision because he refuses to "see" the truth about the man who died for him.

After he is released he returns to his old ways of thieving and is arrested again. he sentenced to labor in a sulfur mine where he is the only survivor of an earthquake, along with the man he is chained too. he is sent to gladiator school where his strength and beliefs are tested. he is put to the ultimate test when Rome burns and the Christians are blamed.

Released during a spurt of religious epics Barabbas is often overlooked. But the film has a lot to offer, especially the acting of star Anthony Quinn who is in almost every scene. The crucifixion seen alone is worth watching the movie for. And Jack Palance is over the top in the memorable role as the blood thirsty gladiator who sets his sights on Barabbas.

Worth a look especially around Easter

At The Movie House rating *** stars



Re-release poster art

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 355 - The Ten Commandments


I first saw the ten Commandments when I was 10 years old. My mother, sister and myself went to see the re-release at the North Massapequa theatre in the spring of 1970. We waited in a long line only to discover, when we got to the box office, my mother had forgotten her wallet. Without asking the woman in line behind us paid for our tickets and my mother returned the money to her the next day. I have always remembered this moment of generosity. We had moved to Long Island only eight months earlier and it was nice to know that the same general kindness amongst neighbors existed there the way it did in Brooklyn.

The movie made a huge impression on me. It is a film every kid should see. I have watched it many times since. Growing up I would watch the annual televising on ABC and I have owned it in all the video formats, RCA Video Disc, VHS, Laser Disc and DVD. I am mentioning this because I watched the film on the new Blu-ray high-def disc and it was like watching the movie for the first time. 

The colors are lush and brilliant and the detail is so fine you can see the individual strands on baby Moses' basket. The metals glimmer and the fabrics shimmer. Paramount's new Blu-ray is a sight to behold.

The Ten Commandments deserves the royal treatment it received at the hands of Paramount's home video department. As we get older the cynic in us tends to deride the film for some of the corny dialogue (Moses! Moses! Moses!) and some of the over acting. Poor Anne Baxter vamps and Charlton Heston is as a emotive as the stone the Commandments are written on. But these are small matters and mostly due to the style of film making Cecil B. DeMille liked and the period the movie was made.

What hasn't changed in fifty five years is the pure spectacle of the movie. The epic proportions of the undertaking and the grandeur of it all. The special effects still hold up today. Yes they could now do the parting of the red sea with computers but would it be as good as the composite shot created by the best technical wizardry of the day. 

And Yul Brenner gives the performance of a lifetime as Pharaoh. He plays Rameses with a stoic demeanor that perfectly showcases a man with a "hardened heart"

If you have not seen The ten Commandments in a while or your viewing is limited to the pan & scan version on TV with commercials you owe it to yourself to experience the film in this fantastic Blu-ray version.

At The Movie House rating *** stars

1970's re-release poster. resembles a 70's disaster movie poster.


1989 restoration release poster. resembles big event posters such as Superman


Two sheet from 1956


Two sheet from 1956

One sheet from 1956 featuring name of theatre.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Movies for Easter

To celebrate Easter here are twenty two uplifting and inspiring films to bring you joy and entertainment for the holiday.


Widely considered the greatest mini-series ever made, Jesus of Nazareth was shortened and released as a feature film in Europe and Australia. If possible see the original six hour version available on DVD. Probably the best movie ever made about Christ, this masterpiece directed by Franco Zeffirelli was not with out scandal. Before it was aired multiple Christian fundamentalist groups protested the movie (without seeing it), claiming it to be blasphemous and removing Christ's divinity. General Motors, the primary sponsor received so many letters they were forced to withdraw from the project and lost a huge amount of money. As it turns out the mini-series was a beautiful interpretations of Christ's divinity and his humanity. 
At The Movie House rating **** stars


Ben-Hur is the best of the of the big biblical spectacles. For Charlton Heston, the role of Judah Ben-Hur was the part he was born to play. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor. The film was awarded ten other Oscars and held the record for most Academy Awards won by a single film for thirty nine years. The movie follows the life of Judah Ben-Hur as his destiny converges with Jesus Christ.
At The Movie House rating **** stars


Before he was Judah Ben-Hur Charlton Heston was Moses. Cecil B. DeMille's greatest picture, The Ten Commandments still holds up today. The over wrought melodrama and the lofty dialogue just add to the fun of this biblical spectacle. See this film on the newly restored Blu-ray. It will make your eyes pop.
At The Movie House rating **** stars


Barabbas tells the story of the man who was freed instead of Jesus. The movie features some excellent cinematography, including filming the Crucifixion during a real eclipse, and some wonderful acting by Anthony Quinn.
At The Movie House rating *** stars




Chocolat is a fable about finding the good in life. Based on the best selling novel, the movie features Juliette Binoche, Alfred Molina, Lena Olin, Judi Dench and Johnny Depp
At The Movie house rating ***1/2 stars


Irving Berlin's delightful tune is brought to life in the movie Easter Parade. Featuring Fred Astaire and Judy Garland the film is a song and dance romance.
At The Movie house rating ***1/2 stars 


From director Mel Gibson came this modern biblical film that follows the passion of Christ on the day he was crucified. Brutal and violent, the film portrays the suffering Christ endured in a way no other film ever had. Hard to watch, yes, but beautiful and inspired film making. Another film that was involved with controversy before it's release.
At The Movie House ***1/2 stars 


King of Kings was another spectacle that followed the life of Christ. This movie shows the politics of the time and how events unfolded that led to the Crucifixion. Narrated by Orson Welles and featuring Jeffrey Hunter as a very youthful Jesus.
At The Movie House rating ***1/2 stars


Willem DeFoe starred as Jesus in this highly controversial biblical epic by director Martin Scorsese. Met with scores of protest The Last Temptation of Christ explores the humanity of Jesus and includes scenes of the devil's final attempt to lure Jesus away from the plan God has for him.
At The Movie House rating ***1/2 stars


Quo Vadis takes place thirty years after Christ's death and tells the story of the Christian movement in Rome. It features Peter Ustinov as the insane Emperor Nero. The film is filled with spectacle, including the burning of Rome and the Colosseum where the Christians were fed to the lions.. The first great biblical epic to come out of Hollywood.
At The Movie House *** stars


Another movie about the rise of Christianity featuring Richard Burton as the Roman Tribune who crucifies Jesus and then has his life transformed by Christ's divine power. 
At The Movie House rating *** stars


The all singing, all dancing version of the Gospel according to St. Matthew, Godspell is the film adaptation of the hit Broadway Play. 
At The Movie House ***


Andrew Lloyd Weber's rock opera brought to the big screen.
At The Movie House rating *** stars


Fiddler On The Roof is another hit Broadway musical that offers inspiration for everyone.
At The Movie House rating ***


The Greatest Story Ever Told is the most ponderous of all the big biblical epics. The film is exceedingly long and features multiple cameo's by big name stars that become distracting. Charlton Heston plays John the Baptist making this movie the tri-fecta of religious roles for him.
At The Movie House rating *** stars


For the truly blasphemous this extremely funny spoof of all the great biblical stories. The Life of Brian is the second great film to be made by the irreverent comedy troupe Monty Python.
At The Movie House rating *** stars


Jennifer Jones starred as Bernadette in this film about the miracle at Lourdes.
At the Movie House rating *** stars


Capitalizing on the success of The Song of Bernadette, Warner Bros. released The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima in 1952.
At the Movie House rating *** stars


A joyful family film that can be watched anytime of the year The Sound of Music is filled with enough inspiration, faith and hope for three movies.
At The Movie House rating **** stars.


Audrey Hepburn starred in this inspiring story about faith and devotion.
At The Movie House rating *** stars


In his first film Paul Newman starred in this unique biblical epic about the cup of Christ.
At The Movie House rating *** stars


Lillies of the Field is an uplifting tale about faith and believing that we are all capable of being God's handyman to do his work.
At The movie House rating ****

And finally a bonus film!

Hop is new in theatres this Easter. This animated tale about a rebellious Easter Bunny has not been screened by The Movie House at this time.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 354 - Quo Vadis


Quo Vadis is the first great Biblical spectacle. Released in 1951, this larger-than-life production about Emperor Nero and the persecution of Christians was made on a giant scale featuring a cast of thousands. It depicts scenes of the burning of Rome and the Colosseum where Nero fed the Christians to the lions.

The movie starred matinee idol Robert Taylor as Marcus Vinicus, a Roman Commander (who talks with an American accent while everyone else seems to have a British one) who falls in love with a slave woman, Lygia (Deborah Kerr) who is secretly a Christian. Meanwhile Nero becomes more and more outrageous and at his most insane he orders the burning of Rome. When the Roman citizens turn against him he blames it on the mysterious religious sect, the Christians. Meanwhile Marcus has learned of Lygia's secret religion and becomes converted after seeing how they behave at Nero's persecutions. The movie ends with a final confrontation as Nero entertains the masses by feeding the Christians to the lions and burning them at the stake.

Along with Taylor and Kerr, Peter Ustinov stars in a fabulous over-the top performance as Nero. Leo Genn is his most trusted advisor Petronius. Finlay Currie is Peter (he later starred in Ben-Hur as Balthasar) and  Patricia Laffan is Poppaea, Nero's wife. She seeks revenge against Marcus because he rejected her for the slave girl Lygia. Both Sophia Loren and Elizabeth Taylor have uncredited cameos in the movie.

Filmed on location in Rome the movie is epic in scope and still holds the record for the most costumes in a single movie, 32,000.  By today's standard some of the dialogue and romantic interludes are dated, but the movie still holds up after sixty years as good old fashioned spectacle. 

At The Movie House rating *** stars (watch it on the new Blu-ray if you can)

Note the warning on the top poster " Not Suitable For Children"
Here is some additional poster art from MGM. 

One Sheet Featuring Rome Burning

Italalian One Sheet


1960's Re-release One Sheet

Spanish One Sheet

Minimalist Spanish One Sheet

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 353 - The Robe


It's that time of the year! Now playing on a TV near you, big, spectacular biblical epics, the likes of which will never be made again.

Up first is The Robe, the fictional story of a Roman Tribune who was responsible for conducting the Crucifixion of Jesus. At the Cross he gambles for Jesus's robe and wins. But upon touching it he is filled with searing pain and mental anguish. He believes the robe is cursed, but learns, when he is converted to Christianity, that it was his own guilt that was causing him to suffer. Richard Burton is Marcellus, the "reborn" Tribune who goes from a drunken and dissolute man to a believer in Christ who willingly sacrifices himself for his beliefs. Burton gives his usual over the top, ham handed, wooden performance. On the other hand matinee idol Victor Mature is excellent, in his one great role, as the slave Demetrius who rebels against Marcellus in search of Christ.

The Robe also stars Jean Simmons,  Micheal Rennie as Peter and Jay Robinson as the raving emperor Caligula. While a little dated in the acting style  and having the artificial look of a studio film (later films such as Ben-Hur, The King Of Kings and The Greatest Story Ever Told were filmed on location) The Robe is still a moving religious portrait and dramatic entertainment in it's own right.

The Robe was the first movie ever to be made in a widescreen process. 20th Century Fox trademarked the name CinemaScope for a screen process that made the image almost twice the size as standard film. This was in answer to the encroaching competition of television. The studios needed to find a way to get people out of the homes and back into theatres. You will notice the poster offers "The modern miracle you see without glasses" referring to the early attempts at 3-D movies.

The Robe was followed by a sequel, Demetrius and the Gladiators with mature, Robinson and Rennie reprising their roles.

At the Movie House *** stars


365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 352 - Billy Elliot


Have you seen the videos on You Tube of flash mobs that break out into spontaneous song and dance? These videos fill me with a kind of joy and exuberance that is hard to express. The same goes for the film Billy Elliot.

Through dance, particularly ballet, a young boy Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell) in working class Northern England finds away to express himself that his a joy to behold. Unfortunately his father Jackie (Gary Lewis) and brother Tony (Jamie Draven) both miners, don't think ballet is the proper way for a boy to behave. People might think he was a "poof"

The film is set in the mid 1980's against the miner's strike that was ripping England in two. Billy lives with his dad, brother and Grandma (Jean Heywood). His mom has been deceased for some time. Both Billy's dad and brother are very angry. their anger is directed at the police guarding the miners who cross the picket lines, but they are really angry at the world for things they can barely express.

One day while at boxing lessons that Billy's dad insist he take, Billy sees a group of girls practicing ballet. After boxing he joins them and learns he has a natural talent from the instructor Georgia Wilkinson (Julie Walters). When his dad finds out he has been skipping boxing and sneaking off to ballet lessons he forbids Billy from going again. Billy disobeys him and takes private lessons with Mrs. Wilkinson with the hopes of audition with the Royal School of Ballet in London. 

Because of events at the strike Billy misses the audition which leads to a final confrontation between Mrs. Wilkinson and Jackie and Tony. Billy's hopes of going away to school are crushed, visualized by the smashing of his mom's piano to be used for firewood on Christmas. Then his dad sees him dance and realizes he has been blinded by fear, anger and grief to all that his young son can be. Now Jackie is determined to do whatever he can for Billy, even if it means crossing the picket lines and becoming a hated scab

I saw Billy Elliot in the theatres in 2000, so knowing the story I focused more on the acting and the dance this time around. Jamie Bell, in his first acting role as Billy is a natural. There is excellent chemistry between Bell and Lewis so they really feel like father and son. The dancing is exciting, graceful, energetic and dramatic. The one glaring note I did notice this time around was the obtrusive rock music on the soundtrack. There are only so many times the song Children of the Revolution can be used for dramatic emphasis.

While the coming of age story is nothing new, the energetic effort put into all aspects of the film make Billy Elliot irresistible.

At the Movie House rating ***1/2 stars.

Note - Billy Elliot is another  British family film that arrived in America with a "R" rating because of the use of language. During some heated exchanges the father and older brother use the F-word. The MPAA feels is a word that will offend the delicate sensibilities of the average American 13 year old ( who probably use the word 20 times a day). This film, like The King's Speech, deserved a PG-13 rating. It's amazing that horrific acts of violence and overt sexuality of characters can  be approved by the ratings board but language is out of bounds.