Land of the Pharaohs (1955)

On the set: Joan Collins

New acquisition: Bringing Up Baby (1938)

 

The Outlaw (1943)

Advertising The Outlaw at the London Pavilion (Anthony Linck. 1946)

Only Angels Have Wings (1939)

Scarface (1983)

In 1980 Miami, a determined Cuban immigrant takes over a drug cartel and succumbs to greed.

Deliberately sleazy, but engrossing gangster saga (clearly an Oliver Stone script!) with no redeeming character in sight with screechingly over-the-top performances by Pacino and Pfeiffer, a gawdawful 80s soundtrack (which was already dated at the time of its release) and lots of explicit violence.

Halliwell (no star): "Absurdly brutalized remake, with detailed violence and a superabundance of foul language; the film seems to want to make a political statement."

Maltin*1/2: "...but this film wallows in excess and unpleasantness for nearly three hours, and offers no insights except that crime doesn't pay. At least the 1932 movie moved. Even so, this has become a pop-culture phenomenon, with Pacino's Montana an underdog hero!"

Scarface (1932)

An ambitious and nearly insane violent gangster climbs the ladder of success in the mob, but his weaknesses prove to be his downfall.

From memory: Not just a gangster film classic, but arguably the genre's ultimate masterpiece: a wildly lively, violent, powerful, and realistic crime saga never loses its grip on the audience.

Halliwell****: "Obviously modelled on Al Capone, with an incestuous sister thrown in, this was perhaps the most vivid film of the gangster cycle, and its revelling in its own sins was not obscured by its subtitle, The Shame of a Nation."

Maltin***1/2: "Powerful gangster film is the most potent of the 1930s, with Muni delivering emotionally charged  performance...Raw, harsh, and brimming with unsubtle symbolism..."

Today We Live (1933)

(ph: George Hurrell)

The Thing from Another World (1951)

Land of the Pharaohs (1955)

A captured architect designs an ingenious plan to ensure the impregnability of tomb of a self-absorbed Pharaoh, obsessed with the security of his next life.

Nicely assembled large-scale production has lots to show and is fairly entertaining, but is highly marred by wooden performances and dialogue to match. 

Halliwell*: "Unexpected, interesting excursion into Ancient Egypt, distended by Cinemascope, basically a macabre melodrama with a final spectacular twist. The engineering details would make a fascinating documentary."

Maltin**1/2: "Entertaining, if fruity spectacle...filmed on an epic scale. Hawks claimed neither he nor his writers (including William Faulkner and Harry Kurnitz) "knew how a pharaoh talked"...and it shows. Still worth catching for great revenge ending and now-campy villainy by Collins."

The Outlaw (1943)

Land of the Pharaohs (1955)

Sergeant York (1941)

On the set: Howard Hawks and Gary Cooper

El Dorado (1966)

A gunfighter for hire joins forces with an old friend, a sheriff, and together with an old Indian fighter and a gambler, helps a rancher and his family fight a rival rancher that is trying to steal their water.

Sleepy and slow-paced Western which is constantly on the verge of forgetting the plot; nevertheless, the movie is quite entertaining thanks to the director's grip holding it altogether and the casts' easygoing professionalism.

Halliwell*: "Easy-going, semi-somnolent, generally likable but disappointing Western...an old man's movie all round."

Maltin***: "Typically smooth Hawks mix of comedy and action, with zesty Leigh Brackett script and exemplary performances, espacially by Mitchum, Caan as young gambler who can't shoot, and George as ultra-cool hired gun."

His Girl Friday (1940)

On the set: Cary Grant, Howard Hawks and Rosalind Russell

The Big Sleep (1946)

Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a rich family and before the complex case is over, he's seen murder, blackmail, and what might be love.

Classic detective thriller with a nearly incomprehensible plot, but highly ebtertaining due to prime direction, excellent star performances, a touch of Noir with a pinch of ironic humour, snappy dialogues and suspense.

Halliwell***: "Inextricably complicated, moody thriller from a novel whose author claimed that even he did not know 'who done it'. The film is nevertheless vastly enjoyable along the way for its slangy script, star performances and outbursts of violence, suspense and sheer fun."

Maltin****: "Classic mystery thriller...So convoluted even Chandler didn't know who committed one murder, but so incredibly entertaining that no has ever cared. Powerhouse direction; unforgettable dialogue..."

Rio Bravo (1959)

A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a cripple, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.

Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

The lone inhabitants of an abandoned police station are under attack by the overwhelming numbers of a seemingly unstoppable street gang.

I remember: This movie was highly anticipated, and it certainly delivered, a low-budget masterpiece of slick, straightforward action cinema, very reminiscent of Howard Hawks.

Halliwell***: "Violent but basically efficient and old-fashioned programmer which shows that not all the expertise of the forties in this then-familiar has been lost."

Maltin***1/2: "...riveting thriller, a modern-day paraphrase of Howard Hawks' RIO BRAVO. Writer-director Carpenter also did the eerie music score for this knockout."

To Have and Have Not (1944)

During WWII an American expatriate helps transport a Free French Resistance leader and his beautiful wife to Martinique while romancing a sexy lounge singer.

A pulp adaptation of an Ernest Hemingway novel (script co-written by William Faulkner!) has achieved iconic status by superb direction, ironic narration, atmospheric cinematography, and the first-time-on.screen chemistry between Bacall and Bogart.

Halliwell**: "Fairly routinely made studio adventure notable for first pairing of Bogart and Bacall, as an imitation of Casablanca, and for its consistent though not outstanding entertainment value."

Maltin***1/2: "Hemingway's "worst novel" forms the basis for Hawk's version of CASABLANCA...Their [Bacall and Bogart's] legendary love scenes make the movie, but there are also solid performances, and a couple of songs."