mpcurtis-72830 Reviews

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

Did we see the same film?

[2/10 · 29 March 2021]

I've had a CD of Ennio Morricone's music for the last 30 years and love listening to it. It includes selections from this film, which I finally saw it today.

Achingly slow western in which every scene consists of a series of deadpan expressions. Long, long closeups of the stars saying nothing. It actually looks like a silent with some hasty dialog thrown in. The screenplay must run to all of three pages. Far too much is left unexplained at the end. At least Sergio's other films had a plot and action sequences lasting longer than three seconds. What a waste of talented stars.

The Joker Is Wild (1957)

Wondered why I couldn't find this on DVD...

[3/10 · 6 March 2021]

In his "Rat Pack" appearances Frank Sinatra, the nightclub singer, failed to illicit laughs when delivering jokes or playing the straight man. Yet Frank Sinatra was cast to play Joe E. Lewis without any of his legendary comic timing. He looks like he's sleepwalking through the performance. Anyone could have played it better. Why not his buddy Dean Martin?

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: Triumph (1964) Season 3, Episode 9

Maggie Pierce is Drop-Dead Gorgeous

[4/10 · 10 December 2020]

Had to watch this episode again, just to see Maggie Pierce as Lucy. She plays an optimistic missionary seconded to an older, bitter one. I saw this episode years ago, and thought I missed something in the confusing ending, but I didn't. It is still confusing, like someone didn't think it through. Lucy admits her husband is flawless, but shows a strange attraction for a browbeaten man twice her age, a missionary who is oddly flirtatious. Her clueless, altruistic husband returns to find his wife dead and immediately wants to kill the perpetrator. (To hell with the Indian legal system!) Sadly, he mistakenly kills his own wife. Watching it again didn't help sort this mess out.

The Shoes of the Fisherman (I) (1968)

Incomparable performance

[6/10 · 22 March 2019]

I think anyone would agree the film has severe faults, but Quinn's performance is excellent. Yes, it's better than Zorba. Anyone can play a Bohemian; playing a believable pope is much harder. Whether one likes it or not, we now have a real liberal pope, but the world of the 60s was not ready for one, especially with nightly Vietnam War protests taxing conservative's hearts. His liberalism and a meandering script hurt the film at the box office.