Golden Era of Film

The last year or so I've found myself drawn to movies from the early era's of film; from the roaring twenties on to the late seventies. Before that I was mostly obsessed with current films and cinema from the eighties on, but after watching countless documentaries I've found a love in old pictures.

Tonight I'm watching 'Sunset Blvd.' I had only seen this movie once or twice, never in its entirety, on AMC or TCM. Even though the quality is sub-par [encoded from avi to flv which destroys most of the quality] the movie shines through. Willem Holden is great as the main character, Joe Gillis, narrating the events in pure noir fashion, using beautiful phrases [there to the west was the tennis court, or rather, the ghost of the tennis court] and, of course, smoking. Most of the scenes, however, are stolen by Gloria Swanson playing the bat-shit crazy, deluded washed-up actress Norma Desmond. Lost in her own world of disillusion, she tries to submerge Joe in what once was, while coping unsuccessfully with what is. I have to say that my favorite scene is between Joe Gillis, and Betty Schafer [played by Nancy Olsen] talking about Joe's career. While Joe is trying to escape the mental Norma, he visits a close friend to find out that his girlfriend/fiancee is the secretary for his connection at paramount. On their previous meeting, Betty negativly reviewed his latest script. "Your one of those 'give us a message' kids. The journey isnt enough." The start acting out a scene from one of his decent screenplays, and stay in character until Joe is beckoned to use the phone in the hall. The acting, directing, dialogue, are all very unconventional for the times, also being one of the first films to take place behind the curtain in Hollywood. Cecill B DeMille and Buster Keaton even appear for a short amount of time, as themselves.

"Thats the trouble with you readers, you know all the plots."

Yesterday I had a hankering for Peckinpah, so I watched 'The Killer Elite', 'The Getaway' and 'Convoy'. Apparently I really needed to stare at Ali McGraw for 4 hours. Which was fun. I prefer her in the Getaway more than Convoy. In Convoy she seemed a little to Barbeau. I love the gritty machismo realism in Peckinpah's films. Even Convoy, which is essentially smokey and the bandit, he managed to make gritty and real. Borgnine's performance as the fascist shit-machine Sheriff is actually the best in the film next to Kris Kristofferson as Rubber Duck and his teamster buddy Burt Young. The Killer Elite was a film in the vein of Convoy, fun, which is alien to Peckinpah. Actually, reverse that. James Caan and Robert Duvall are back together as a pair of Goverment bodyguards in the midst of a conspiracy. I just want to get my favorite part of the film out of the way, and i know this sentence alone will give you cause to rent buy or watch this. It has ninjas. Thats right. Imagine Peckinpah's no guff-albeit-a-bit-racist manliness, played by James Caan, and ninjas. I should keep ahead of myself and just end the review there.

'The Man With The Golden Arm' starring Frank Sinatra is the first Preminger movie I've seen. I've heard his name [Cecil B. DeMented has it tattooed on his body] and seen him before [Mr Freeze in the Adam West version of Batman.] The movie is about Frankie Machine [Sinatra] an ex card-shark and junky. The entire movie goes from him getting out of jail, doing heroin, saying hes not going to do heroin, then doing heroin again. As well as his mistress and crippled wife, the plot isnt much. But for the time it is incredible, one of the best movies about heroin I've seen, and frighteningly real in the 40's when Heroin was becoming THE big thing. Highly recommended.