Hedda Gabler (1962)

 

A scheming woman marries a nice but dimwitted intellectual out of convenience. She hears that her old lover is back in town. She decides to destroy his life, jealous of his love affair with another.

A TV production with a stellar cast, in which Ingrid Bergman shines the best, is unfortunately a brutally condensed, stubbed up adaptation of the classic play.  

 

 

Superman (1978)

 

An alien orphan is sent from his dying planet to Earth, where he grows up to become his adoptive home's first and greatest superhero.

From memory: Entertaining, witty, star-cast screen adaptation of the classic comics superhero has a lot to offer, but is also a bit heavy-handed, and the villains are not that convincing; however, Christopher Reeves was a perfect choice to cast him as Superman.​ 

Halliwell (no star): "Long, lugubrious and only patchily entertaining version of the famous comic strip, with far too many irrelevant preliminaries and a misguided sense of its own importance."

Maltin***1/2: "Dynamic, grandly entertaining saga...mixing equal parts sincerity, special effects..., and send-up.Great fun." 

Hurricane (1979)

The desperate love affair between a young Samoan chief and an American painter, against the will of her father, but amid this man-made tension comes a hurricane so devastating, the lives of the lovers and the entire island are imperiled.

From memory: Pretty bad catastrophe movie with very poor special effetcs and the star cast laid to waste.

Halliwell (no star): "A remake of the 1937 film, lacking the style, the innocence, and even the technical splendor."

Maltin BOMB: "Look what just blew in: a $22 million remake of the 1937 classic that may well put you to sleep!"

Les années lumière (1981)

 

 

A young drifter meets up with a strange old man who claims that he has been taught to fly by birds. 

 

From memory: Powerful parable from a master director, compelling and complex, despite the absurdity of its premise, and the two leads are excellent.

 

Maltin***: "Thoughtful yarn well acted by its two leads." 

Pope Joan (1972)

The medieval legend of Pope Joan, a woman, who was made Pope for a brief period around 855 A.D.

Despite some production value and a star cast this quite pedestrian movie hardly makes much out of a rather spectacular story.

Halliwell (no star): "Uninspiring pageant, brutish and rather silly, full of would-be medieval sensationalism."

Maltin BOMB: "Dim story...Performers seem to be embarrassed, as well as they should..."

Triple Cross (1966)

A British bank robber finds himself caught between the waring parties in WW2.

Old-fashioned, mildy entertaining espionage thriller; a bit too long and, like its hero, strangely apolitical.

Halliwell (no star): "Ho-hum biopic of double agent Eddie Chapman; effective scenes merely interrupt the general incoherence."

Maltin**: "Adequate WW2 spy yarn...A bit too long."

The Third Man (1949)

A pulp novelist travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend,  a black-market opportunist.

A true classic, meticulously executed post-war drama with extraordinary expressionist cinematography and a plot which echoes on many levels.

On another view: have nothing to add; it's a joy to watch this movie every so often.

Halliwell****: "Totally memorable and irresistible romantic thriller. Stylish from the first to the last, with inimitable backgrounds of zither music and war-torn buildings pointing up a then-topical black market story full of cynical characters but not without humour. Hitchcock with feeling, if you like."

Maltin****: "...a bona fide classic..."