marlin-21 Reviews

School for Scoundrels (1960)

A truly classic film !

[10/10 · 9 July 2007]

An utterly delightful film ! Sharp scripting, perfect casting and impressive acting. I have never seen Ian Carmichael any better than in this movie. Janette Scott is delicious, to. Even the minor roles are handled with care and commitment. Knowing the principal locations well and owning two of the cars depicted ( the Austin Healey 3000 and an Aston Martin) are merely the icing on the cake, for me ! Even the location of the tennis club is now known to me, thanks to submissions on this website,and would still seem to be the same as they were then. Not only that but are only a few miles from where I presently live. I have watched this film dozens of times and still manage to discover fresh delights and nuances, let alone locations - the road where Terry-Thomas and Carmichael drive on when going to pick Janette Scott is a stretch of the North Circular that I use daily !

Blue Juice (1995)

A little gem of a movie !

[25 May 2007]

A proper little gem of a feelgood movie, it has well wrought characters and great character portrayals. It also has production values way above it's budget. For what it is worth, England ( well, Cornwall really ! ) has never looked better, and, projected with a script of some worth, the whole movie adds up to a true mini classic. Each character's role is well explored and developed, and the level of each actor's ability is truly impressive. All it lacks is a first class music soundtrack, something which one is entitled to take for granted in a movie aimed at the market it does. A little more hot sex would not have gone amiss either !...especially with Catherine Zeta-Jones in the driving seat !

The Eve of St. Mark (1944)

Critique of "Eve of St, Marks"

[28 March 2007]

This much underrated and little shown movie is up there with the best of the WW2 morale boosters and truly deserves to be better known. Unlike many mawkish and sentimental American movies about the sacrifices made by America in WW2, this film is genuinely uplifting and soul stirring and manages to do so by some superbly poetic speeches made by several cast members, who delivered poetic stanzas as though Olivier and Barrymore were watching. Vincent Price- who as a Southern "aristocrat" has never been better IMHO, quotes readily from Shakespeare and does so without making the viewer feel embarrassed or uncomfortable. His role is that of charm personified and he carries it off perfectly. At other times the dialogue is snappy and amusing and the movies use of many outside locations gives it an added dimension that, along with the dialogue, demands the viewer's constant attention. This is a movie to keep and enjoy. I will !