Shadow of a Doubt

"We're not just an uncle and a niece. It's something else"

After watching Psycho for the first time last month and being completely blown away by its brilliance I thought that if I’m going to call myself cineliterate then I need to be watching more of Alfred Hitchcock’s work. While browsing my LoveFilm streaming account I came across Shadow of a Doubt from 1943 and gave it a go. Unsurprisingly it’s very good.

Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Newton (Teresa Wright – Mrs. Miniver) is a teenager, just graduated from High School living in the small idyllic town of Santa Rosa, California with her mother (Patricia Collinge), father (Henry Travers - It’s a Wonderful Life) and younger siblings (Edna May Wonacott & Charles Bates). Charlie is fed up with the mundane nature of her small town life and complains that nothing ever happens to her. Soon after she receives the wonderful news that her Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten – Citizen Cane), whom she is named after, will be coming to stay. His visit comes shortly after he is seen hiding out in his Newark boarding house room, spying two men from across the street. Young Charlie is initially delighted by the arrival of her Uncle but she begins to suspect that all is not well with him around.

Cops

One of Buster Keaton’s most iconic short films stars Keaton as a young man going about his daily life when he inadvertently gets into trouble with first one Cop, then another until finally the whole LAPD are chasing him down despite him doing nothing wrong intentionally. He finds a wallet and is accused of stealing, is conned and accidentally steals a whole family’s furniture and unintentionally explodes a bomb at a police parade.

The resulting eighteen minutes are a thrilling chase sequence with plenty of trademark stunts and dead pan.

The General

If you ask anyone who has heard of Buster Keaton to name one of his films then chances are they’ll say The General. By far his most famous film, Keaton stars as railroad engineer Johnnie Gray on the eve of the American Civil War. Johnnie has two loves in his life; his girl Annabelle (Marion Mack) and his engine, The General. When war is declared Johnnie rushes off to enlist in the Confederate Army only to be turned away as he is too important on the railroad. Annabelle doesn’t believe him though and says she doesn’t want to see him until he’s in uniform. Meanwhile a Northern spy plots to steal a Southern train in order to cut communications before a big offensive. With Annabelle onboard, Johnnie has to save his two loves at once.

It is true that The General is Keaton’s most famous work and is generally considered to be his best. For me though this is not the case. While I admire much of it and enjoyed it, the film is more of a drama-comedy than his earlier comedy-dramas and it is these that I prefer.

Total Recall

"You were dreaming. Doug? Was it about Mars?"

It’s 2084 and bored construction worker Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) wakes from yet another dream featuring him and a mysterious woman on Mars. Quaid is bored and dislikes his surroundings and tries to get his wife Lori (Sharon Stone) to agree to a holiday on the red planet. She declines. On his way to work Quaid sees an advert for Rekall, a company that implants memories for a fee. He visits them and agrees to a two week implanted holiday on Mars where he’ll also take on the role of a secret agent. While he is being put to sleep but before the memories can be implanted Quaid has a violent reaction, claiming that they have blown his cover. He escapes the facility and after being attacked heads for Mars to uncover who’s trying to kill him and indeed who he is.

I first saw Total Recall about twelve years ago and certain things had stuck in my memory but I couldn’t remember the ending. What I did discover is that my memory of the film was much better than I now think it is.

Triple Trouble

Charlie Chaplin’s final Essanay film is probably his most controversial. Unlike the controversy his films created in the 1930s and 40s, the controversy surrounding Triple Trouble comes from its very existence. The two reel film was created in 1918; two years after Chaplin left Essanay and was compiled by Chaplin regular Leo White. White directed some sequences and took other scenes from Police as well as the ending from Work and some unused footage from the never completed Life. The result is a hodgepodge of half completed jokes, tired scenes and uneven continuity.

The plot (I think) involves Chaplin working in the house of a scientist/Count (Leo White) as a janitor. Having got into his trademark trouble and briefly bumping into a Maid (Edna Purviance) whose role is not expanded, the janitor finds a bed for the night at a flophouse. While there a pickpocket enters and starts stealing from the residents. The janitor attempts to stop him and then for some reason runs away from the police. Later the janitor meets an old friend who convinces the cleaner to help him to steal from his employers.

Cinema Paradiso

"Out of the fire of love come ashes. Even the greatest love eventually fizzles out"

Giuseppe Tornatore’s much heralded 1988 film Cinema Paradiso begins with a famous film director in Rome called Salvatore (Jaques Perrin) receiving news from his estranged mother that a man called Alfredo has died. The director then remembers back to the mid 1940s when he was a young child in the Sicilian village of Giancaldo. The young Salvatore (Salvatore Cascio), nicknamed Toto is a highly intelligent six year old who becomes fascinated with cinema during his frequent visits to the local picture house Cinema Paradiso. The boy develops a friendship with an old projectionist called Alfredo (Philippe Noiret) and begs him to teach him the art of film projection. Alfredo is hesitant at first, deeming it an unfit job for the sprightly Toto but through charm and persistence the boy finally becomes an apprentice. A few years later the now adolescent Toto (Marco Leonardi) is running the Cinema Paradiso and begins messing around with his own films. One day he spots a beautiful girl at the railway station (Agnese Nano) and his infatuation and love of film becomes shared with his love for the girl.

The film follows Salvatore/Toto from a young boy, right through to his middle age and is one of the most loving films I’ve seen in a long time. This is not only a romantic drama but also a love letter to film itself.

Police

Charlie Chaplin’s penultimate film for Essanay is regarded as amongst the best of his output for the company. The film was actually released after his first film for the Mutual Film Corporation The Floorwalker, over five months after his previous Essanay film Burlesque on Carmen. Another interesting release related fact is that Police released over two years before his finally Essanay film Triple Trouble which was created in part by Chaplin regular Leo White by piecing together unused shots from other Chaplin films including this and the unfinished feature Life.    

Police stars Chaplin as a recently released convict trying to make it in a cruel and hostile world. The initial plot follows along the same lines as much of Chaplin’s work. There were portions of Police that reminded me of Modern Times and the idea of the Tramp struggling to survive was used by Chaplin time and time again. It has been suggested that Chaplin borrowed the plot from Broncho Billy’s His Regeneration for which he had an uncredited cameo and I agree that the character development at least is shared between the two.

This is Spinal Tap

"Dozens of people spontaneously combust each year. It's just not really widely reported"

Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Spinal Tap, Iron Maiden, KISS, Black Sabbath. Some of the greatest rock bands in history, but there’s an odd one out. Spinal Tap, a band formed by actors Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer aren’t really a band at all. Spinal Tap are a fake band, created for the 1984 film This is Spinal Tap, a documentary, or rockumentary about a fictional aging British rock band embarking on their first US tour in six years. We follow their story from their landing in New York, through mishaps and mistakes as they struggle to deal with diminishing audiences, problems with the record label and inter band tensions. The film has become and iconic cult hit with the band still performing regularly today and has been credited by Ricky Gervais as one of the biggest influences for The Office. The band has even appeared in The Simpsons.

Beautiful Lies

"I don't want to love someone else. Understand? I just want to be sad"

Known in some countries by the titles Full Treatment or De vrais mensonges, Beautiful Lies is a French romantic comedy starring Audrey Tautou. Emilie (Tautou) is the co-owner of a new Salon in the beautiful seaside town of Sète. She receives an anonymous love letter which is actually from the Salon maintenance man Jean (Sami Bouajila). Jean is head over heels in love with Emilie but besides the anonymous letter hasn’t let his feelings be known to anyone. Emilie briefly reads the letter but throws it away then meets her mother Maddy (Nathalie Baye). Maddy has lost her spark and is depressed about her failed marriage. Emilie decides that to cheer her mother up she will take the love letter from the bin, type it up and post it to her mother’s address. This brings Maddy back to life and she begins her quest to discover its sender. What follows is a series of confused misunderstandings as the man ends up caught in a love triangle with mother and daughter.

Beautiful Lies is a frothy and often very funny romantic comedy which features some great performances from the principle cast.

Sunrise

"We're going for a trip across the water, I may not be back for quite some time"

Sunrise or sometimes known by its full title Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans is a multi Oscar winning film from F. W. Murnau, one of the most famed Directors of the silent era. Mixing Murnau’s traditional German Expressionism with Hollywood techniques the film stars George O’Brian as a rural farmer who begins an elicit affair with a glamorous and sophisticated Woman from the City (Margaret Livingston). The City Woman persuades the Farmer that he’d be better off with her in the city and suggests that he drowns his Wife (Janet Gaynor) and makes it look like an accident. Following a last minute change of heart The Man tries to gain his wife’s forgiveness as she herself flees to the city with him in tow.

I’d never heard of this film until a couple of weeks ago when I was searching for Silent Films that I could watch for Eternity of Dream’s Speechless Blogathon. I searched the IMDb Top 250 and found that this was one of the few silent films I hadn’t seen. And boy am I glad I found it. It is not surprising that Sunrise remains so highly regarded today as it is a truly magnificent film.