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Wagon Wheels (1934)
Excellent western from 1934
Wagon Wheels is a really enjoyable old western to watch. Set in the year 1844, any viewer will find humor, music, drama, suspense, romance, and excellent acting throughout the cast. It is also a superb depiction of some of the elements, and especially equipment that beset an 1840's wagon train heading west. The ensemble actors had a keen sense of playing their roles in a manner depicting that previous period. Randolph Scott leads the players, where he is heroic, valiant of character, and sagacious of spirit. . .while his easy natural ways are endearing. Beautiful Gail Patrick is perfect for her role as a widowed mother taking a 4 year old son west. Her little boy, played by Billy Lee, is one of the great child actors ever, and gives a wonderful performance here. The 3 men leading the wagon west (Randolph Scott & 2 grizzled characters) have a real challenge defeating the elements that fall upon them. I don't want to give the whole story away, only to say I've seen a whole lot of westerns, and this one is one of the most enjoyable to me.
Gunsmoke: The Brothers (1966)
There goes my share. . .
I'm sorry, but you'll probably find that the lead-in description of this episode by the IMDb team is completely wrong, if you watch this great episode. The Marshall never displays naive eyes. But there is real naivety on display by the younger brother, Billy (very well portrayed by Bobby Crawford) as he finds that his older brother, Eddy, who runs the gang (deftly performed by Carl Wilkins) is far more sinister than he could ever imagine. With the help of the Marshal and the Gunsmoke regulars, Billy slowly begins to realize what it means to include common integrity and righteousness of purpose as a paradigm for growing up. Roger Ewing (as Thad) has a good episode, here, as a kind of older brotherly influence on the boy Billy, as he stews in the the Dodge City jailhouse for much of the episode.
Gunsmoke: The Widow (1962)
Mrs Arthur's challenge
In this 7th season, Gunsmoke embarked on a new one hour format for it's episodes. In this first one- hour season, the Gunsmoke team was inconsistent for awhile in filling the time gaps with enough material, especially when the story could have been produced in the old half-hour format as was the case here. Thus, it may drag just a bit in spots.
Joan Hackett (as Mrs Arthur) is the widow of a gallant Cavalry Captain who has been killed in a battle with the Kiowa Indians. Mrs Arthur has just come from Washington where she has much influence. She is determined to get someone to take her to the very place her husband had been killed in the Indian battle so that she can determine the truth about his death. Her determination (as she attempts bribery to coerce Marshall Dillon to help her) finally gets enough attention that a "wolfer" ends up convincing her that he can guide her out there. The attractive Ms Hackett is something the wolfer has his eye on much more than the mission, of course. The Marshall saves the day, and there is quite an epic ending with the Indians being very grandly stoic, and the widow coming a bit unnerved, such that I will not reveal any more lest i ruin it for you. Overall, not a bad episode at all, especially since the ending carries a real meaning. Ms Hackett would be a wonderful addition to any episode, that is for sure!
Cut Bank (2014)
Good acting all around
Really fine acting pervades this twisting tale of a fake murder gone bad, by all present in it. The direction and plot may have needed some tidying up, but why quibble? For the most part this is a very enjoyable well made 'small town Americana' movie. John Malkovich stands out among the principals, acting wise. . .but the whole cast chips in with really good performances in this taught, yet slowly moving thriller. A couple of the scenes were just a bit hard to believe. Like the struggle between the big Indian, (who is, amazingly, left out of the IMDb credits) and the loner/killer, well played by Michael Stuhlbarg. The Indian is twice the size of Stuhlbarg yet is killed by him in a fight. Unlikely. But the movie drew me in simply because everyone in it was stellar in their performances, including Malkovich, Billy Bob Thornton, Bruce Dern, the aforementioned Stuhlbarg, And the younger actors, Teresa Palmer and Liam Hemsworth were pretty solid as well. The cinematography was good, and the sound score was excellent. I give this one 8 and a half stars out of 10.
Trespass (2011)
A Tresspass upon credulity
This movie actually has about 30 good minutes. Then it completely runs out of credibility, piece by piece until the film-makers reach a point of complete absurdity. . . almost making the ever continuing run of completely absurd incredulous scenes seem funny. I doubt this is the kind of entertainment that they think they are providing, however. Wonderful Nicole Kidman works way too hard for this kind of thing to have happen, in my opinion. The technical aspects of the film are fairly well handled, no question. But if you go to the movies to be entertained by a natural sequence of events leading to a credible entertaining story, this film is only going to make you madder and madder. . . that you are still watching it.
All Fall Down (1962)
Berry Berry odd
A very strange movie. The critics may have been duped here. The movie is beautifully filmed. This sort of puffed out melo-drama kind of turns me off, though. Every scene seems slightly over-crafted toward an eclectic purpose that just does'nt seem to exist. The early scene when Brandon De Wilde goes into the bar with everyone looking just a little too full of malaise sets the tone for the entire film. Every scene just wants to imply something mysteriously artsy and meaningful, but what IS it? Yeah, that name, Berry Berry, that Warren Beatty had to carry the entire film is extremely annoying. WHO in their right mind would name their kid Berry Berry, and if they ever did, what schmuck would allow himself to be called that his whole life? Also, they make a big fuss over how beautiful Eva Marie Saint is supposed to be. . .but in this film anyway, she just does'nt fit the bill. She gives a good acting effort here, but there is something that the film wants her to portray that she is not , IMO. And Warren Beatty, himself, seems kind of lost in his role that confines him to that horrible name, and his extremely self-abusive (and abusive to women as well) character. His good looks is about all he really gives here that makes sense. Karl Malden and Angela Lansbury do a fine job acting wise. I doubt that the shy Brandon De Wilde character would continue to call his mother by her first name (Annabel) if she asked him not to (like she actually does). He is just too empathic and caring to do that. I dunno, it's pretty odd, that is for sure. Otherwise, a strange over the top melo-dramatic semi-stinker, that's what I thought of this one.
Wanda Nevada (1979)
lack of taste never stopped a production before
This picture from 1979 is quite entertaining, actually. On the surface it seems to be a light quasi-western comedy with murder, and a mystery treasure hunt. But there is a problem, the picture turns out to be the ultimate cradle and snatch movie. It is an example of a movie that stepped over a boundary of social morays. . .and I believe helped set the stage for some of what is allowed along moral physical lines in film making today. It is pretty quirky and a fun picture to watch, however. I will give it that. It tries to stay sweet while all the time building up a sexual attraction between the 2 leads, Brooke Sheilds (13), and Peter Fonda, who looks to be about 35 in the picture. Since Peter Fonda is the director also, it must be him who I must assail to have created this unseemly, immoral paradigm for lustful regress with this young almost pre-teen. Strange as it seems, this picture is well enough made to be called enjoyable. It never goes very far toward any kind of actual sexuality, so it skirts danger that way, but the very idea of it is a bit hard to take. The cinematography in the Grand Canyon gets some decent treatment, and the music, especially the Carol King songs are a treat.
Wagon Train: The Liam Fitzmorgan Story (1958)
Hooray for the Irish
Cliff Robertson (as Liam Fitzmorgan) pursues a traitor to an Irish cause. Veteran character actor Rhys Williams who plays James Grady, is secretly an informer called Torrence and the father of Laura Grady (played beautifully by a young and wonderful Audrey Dalton). Liam Fitzmorgan has been sent by the Irish resistance to track down a character named Torrence who he has information is the informer from Dublin that he has taken an oath to revenge. He falls for Laura and only she prevents Fitzmorgan from killing her father by swearing her father is not the one (Is NOT the traitor Torrence, though he is). After Liam is shot in the back by an Irish low life blackmailer, Grady saves Liam from death with his surgical skills before dying himself from a stab wound from the nefarious blackmailer. Robertson has to go with an Irish accent the entire episode, which he pulls off fairly well. Audrey Dalton, being Irish, and being a wonderful actress. . . really seems to carry this episode. The entire episode never gets out of camp, and is, thus, fairly campy and melo-dramatic as more than a few performances are a bit over-wrought with rather strange semi-Irish accents.
Tombstone (1993)
Too long
Tombstone, a George Cosmatos directed picture from 1993: I am sorry, but I must give this kind effort a weak score. There is far too much laconic self importance among the principles, and very little typical human behavior. The fact that nobody ever uttered a humorous line in the entire picture says something about what Hollywood believes comprises entertainment these days. And this is a very long movie, full of melo-dramatic seriousness. (I suppose "I'm your Huckleberry" expresses humor on some level, but. . .) Set in the late 1800s, Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp gives a very serious performance finding revenge laden motivations around every corner of the picture. Val Kilmer, as Doc Holiday, helps him some. . .at least offering a glimmer of lightness, but certainly not enough. He is somewhat lighter, but I would understand I suppose, given that his gun contains a vastly superior chamber for bullets than anyone had ever seen before. In one of the numerous gunfights, I have slowed the video down to count 35 consecutive bullets coming from his 2 guns a blazing. Credulity has little business in current Hollywood fare for ingestion, I suppose. Sam Elliot is just slow, serious, and weak here. His natural sounding accent for slow and stupid never gets more play than here. The rest of the cast seem to continually try to give the very image of themselves something definite to be remembered on screen, but is'nt this the directors entire idea here? Impression!?! I was not impressed, however.
The Only Good Indian (2009)
A Beautiful metamorphosis
The Only Good Indian is a tribute to the plight of the Indian during the struggles of the early 1900s. The story is artistically crafted by director Kevin Willmott who creates a constantly moving aesthetic paradigm indicating the kinds of injustice man must suffer unto man in a period of upheaval for the Native American. It is an extremely human picture that carries the weight of a whole people and raises them up to a level of justice. I loved this movie. There are so many little deft touches that come home to the human heart. A young Indian boy, Charlie (played beautifully by Winter Fox Frank) takes off from his indoctrination school, and gets hunted down by self taught detective, Sam (Wes Studi), who has hopes of becoming a Pinkerton detective. Charlie must go back to school where Sam wants to take him to collect his $10 for bringing him back on the motorcycle and sidecar that Sam has purchased from a catalogue. Along the way to bringing Charlie back to his school he sees a Pinkerton reward poster for $1000 for another runaway Indian girl, Sally, who has been accused of murder (though it turns out she killed an orderly at an insane asylum who had raped her). He finds her living in a church where she has become beloved by the pastor and his wife. Sam takes her with them. The white man's ways have nearly convinced Sam to play the game the way the new world of white man's order would have it. Along the road to bringing back his captives however, Sam gets reminded in savage ways of the white man's brutal ways. He is slowly remembering his native beginnings, as Charlie and Sally remind him in subtle ways how he once must have believed. Along the way, he turns down a Pinkerton job as he helps Charlie spring Sally from jail, runs from an ever following Sheriff, and gets re-composed toward his own true heritage. With fine cinematography and a very good cast, this picture had me teary eyed near the end, and gave me a glimpse of real sympathy into the native American heart.