Style2

How Green Was My Valley (1941) Directed by John Ford

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 5:24 AM / comment : 0 , , , , , , , , , ,





(Review originally written at 17 November 2008)

The '40's are known for their strong family-drama's, often based on a best selling novel. All that this movies have in common is that they are filled with melodrama, dozens of characters and are basically in their themes and essence more or less the same. Yet they always manage to make a powerful and effective impression, no matter how many times you have all seen it before.

This is a real family-drama alright! It has as a nice change that the movie for once isn't set in an upper-class family but a hardworking and struggling family in a little mining place, set in Wales, around 1900. But yet all of the problems remain the same. There is love, hate, struggles between the classes and death. The universal themes are all handled well within this movie, making "How Green Was My Valley" just as powerful as any other genre example from around the same time period.

The movie is filled with many characters (not in the least due to the fact that the family consists out of many children), each of course with their own problems and views on the world. It makes the movie really melodramatic and you can actually wonder if it all wasn't a bit too much to handle in a just over 2 hour long movie. Lots of drama is happening in this movie, often involving some of the different characters of the movie and at times it is hard to keep track of things.

This unfortunately often is the case with movies based on a novel. There is no way that you can ever put everything that is in a novel into the movie. You have to make some cuts but often a danger with those cuts is that the story will loose its power, since some things will be left out that are perhaps relevant for a certain following situation or the development of a character. Because of this as much as possible elements from the novel are being kept in the movie, with as a result that the movie often feels overfull, overlong and way too melodramatic. This also goes for "How Green Was My Valley", that is filled with characters, dragging in some parts and over-dramatic in others.

Nevertheless "How Green Was My Valley" remains a great genre movie, thanks to its craftsmanship. Even though I probably prefer John Ford's less serious movies, I can also appreciate his heavy drama's. It's a well told movie, despite all of the earlier mentioned problems with these type of movies.

But of course you also shouldn't forget the acting. It's a movie that is made foremost by it's characters and the actors that are portraying them. Even though the movie doesn't feature the biggest stars of its time, it's a cast that is filled with some real capable actors who suits their roles all very well. Yes Walter Pidgeon and Donald Crisp are some well known actors but they were mostly actors who were normally playing secondary characters. Same also goes for Maureen O'Hara, who perhaps also wasn't that well known during this movie, which was only the 8th she ever did, even though she had already played the role of Esmeralda in the 1939 version of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame".

To show how popular this genre was at the time; it won 5 Oscar's in 1942, including the one for best picture and best director, which means that it beat Orson Welles and "Citizen Kane" at that time. It really doesn't mean that this movie is a better one than "Citizen Kane" but its merely a reflection of how people looked upon movies in the early '40's.

8/10

Watch trailer

The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) Directed by Vincente Minnelli

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 5:01 AM / comment : 0 , , , , , , , ,

-->



(Review originally written at 6 November 2008)

For a movie with such a lame and sappy title, this is surely a great one. The movie is actually quite different from what you might expect. It's a strong drama that gives an insight view of the Hollywood business behind the camera's.
Movie buffs will be surely able to recognize some situations, characters and movies feature within this movie. A lot of this movie seems to be based on actual persons and events, although it of course gets all so mixed in with each other a lot, so it all still works out as original as it can get.
It besides gives us a great inside view of how movie-making in the '40's/'50's was done. The movie can be seen as one that goes behind the scenes, that shows how actors, producers, writer, directors and studio bosses all interact and quarrel with each other and how eventually a movie gets established.
But what foremost makes "The Bad and the Beautiful" such a fine and original movie is its story-telling. Basically the movie has 4 different story-lines, which each featuring a different character. What they all have in common is that they once got cheated on by movie producer Jonathan Shields, played by Kirk Douglas. The stories are being told in flashback mode and in between it cuts to the 'present' time, in which the three cheated on persons are being asked to revive the career of the tough Jonathan Shields. So you could say that this movie is four for the price of one! Each storyline is one on its own, featuring new events and characters. Nevertheless the movie never starts to feel messy or overfilled. This is of course due to the presence of the Kirk Douglas character but also really thanks to its well balanced writing.
The movie also won an Oscar for its screenplay. It won four more Oscar's and it also was nominated for another one. Strangely enough the movie did not receive a nomination in the best picture of best director category. It's the movie that still holds the record for most Academy Awards won by a film not nominated for best picture.
The movie is really being carried by Kirk Douglas, who gives away a fine performance. In all fairness, he is a guy that mostly has done some great stuff in the '50's and early '60's, which however just weren't exactly the 'golden age' of cinema. After that he hasn't starred in any real memorable movies and he now days is better known as the father of the successful actor Michael Douglas (although his career is also already declining in these recent years). So he himself never have really been a that great star, which I think has more to do with the fact that he began rather late with acting in movies. Had he begun his career in the '30's and early '40's, he would had played surely much more great roles during his career and he himself would be better known and appreciated as an actor now days. In this movie he might very well play the best role out of his career. He plays a tough and rotten character but at the same time with a real charming touch to it.
Also the other actors within this movie know to impress. The movie has a great cast, with Lana Turner, Walter Pidgeon and Dick Powell, among others. But in my opinion also a lot of credit need to go to director Vincente Minnelli for the acting performances within this movie.
The movie feels old fashioned and modern at the same time. It's a movie that is mostly done in '40's style and this is also probably the reason why it got shot in black & white. It on the other hand is also really modern with its story, which must also had been quite daring for its time. What happens behind the scenes stays behind the scenes, would had most likely been the general thought of Hollywood at the time. This movie simply ignores this and gives an original and nice look from the other side of the cameras.
A great movie, worth watching!
8/10


Watch trailer

That Forsyte Woman (1949) Directed by Compton Bennett

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 1:08 PM / comment : 0 , , , , , , , , ,



(Review originally written at 18 July 2007)

The movie started off really well and interesting enough but about halve way through it suddenly starts to make some unbelievable twists, that are just not credible, which is mostly due to the acting.

Real problem is that it's highly unbelievable that Irene Forsyte (Greer Garson) and Philip Bosinney (Robert Young) fall in love in this movie, which is about the most essential part and twist in the story. Garson and Young have absolutely no chemistry together and how their are being drawn together by their love for each other is therefor highly unconvincing. On top of that Robert Young really doesn't have the right looks for the part, he was at least 10 years too old at the time for this role really.

A positive casting note was Errol Flynn in a serious and demanding role. He in this movie also shows that he could actually really act. It's also a rare movie in which he plays a more 'bad' than 'good' kind of character. He's perhaps the only real true highlight of the movie.

The still young Janet Leigh also appears in this movie in one of her first movie roles. Definitely not her best role, she still had a lot to learn but that's not just her fault. The script just didn't gave her that much interesting to do.

The movie is definitely more classy and better looking and made than the average MGM genre movie, made in the same period. It therefor is also perfectly watchable for persons who normally aren't too fond of the formulaic kind of '40's MGM period drama's.

The story still has some interesting elements and characters in it but its weaker and unconvincing second halve prevent this movie from being a true classic and above average one.

6/10

The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954) Directed by Richard Brooks

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 4:17 AM / comment : 0 , , , , , , , , , , ,



(Review originally written at 30 March 2007)

 This is your typical average overdone MGM drama, with a sappy story and a fluffy look and feel all over it. Nevertheless, everything in it is done well enough to make this a good (enough) genre movie to watch.

 The movie is needlessly told as a flashback, which also makes us the viewers already aware of how the main story ends, in advance. Sometimes in cases this approach works well for a story but not for such a mediocre movie as this one I'm afraid.

 In the midst of all the formulaic drama there are some fine actors in the movie, that get to shine. Elizabeth Taylor is really great and to me she was the one that truly carried the movie, though in screen time it is perhaps Van Johnson who plays the real main role of the movie. The movie also has a supporting cast to die for; Walter Pidgeon, Donna Reed, Eva Gabor and even a young Roger Moore in his first real notable movie role. I just wish that some of the character development would had been better though. Also the 'relationship' between Charles Wills and Marion Ellswirth never gets developed well enough, though it plays an essential part in all of the drama in the movie, especially in the beginning and toward the ending of the movie.

 The movie is really typical for MGM '50's standards, meaning that the drama is heavy but the approach of it isn't always. The movie at times tends to be more cheerful than dramatic, which isn't always for the movie its own benefits. Toward the end the drama thickens, which especially gives the movie its 'overdone' feeling, which also doesn't exactly make the movie more believable to watch. It's still a good enough drama to watch, just not one that will grab you.

 The movie uses some fine settings. Of course Paris is the perfect backdrop for a romantic movie and they used some nice locations in the movie (not the Eiffel tower for a change, even though it's still featured on the movie its cover). Also the costumes are quite nice.

 Good enough for its genre and MGM '50's standards but that doesn't exactly mean that it's a highly recommendable one though.

 6/10

 Watch trailer
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
Copyright © 2014 Boba_Fett1138's movie reviews
⬆
Top