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Dam Busters, The (1955) (***, docudrama) (8-04-10) (D.-Michael Anderson, Richard Todd, Michael Redgrave, Ursula Jeans, Basil Sydney) Based on the riveting book Dam Busters by Paul Brickhill. An intriguing, very well done (although at times somewhat slow moving), docudrama on the brilliant conception and implementation of a new British weapon for smashing the critical German dams in the Ruhr Valley industrial complex during WWII. Even if you do not like war movies, this is fascinating and suspenseful. For those not familiar with the weapon and the raid results, I will not spoil the discovery and surprise. However, I knew many of the facts and still found the details fascinating. Particularly note the entirely new and almost childlike simple bomb sight and altimeter that had to be developed; the spinning 5 ton bomb had to be dropped at exactly 60 feet and 600 yards from the dam at night. Some of the aerial footage is fascinating and probably included original weapon tests. The personalities of the fliers is never really developed--probably deliberately because these were real people and most did not survive the war.

The final raid is handled very effectively, and the tension from the standpoint of the fliers, operations control, and the scientist Barnes Wallis is palpable. The effects are adequate but not critical given the true nature of the story. Some of the low level flying is spectacular; the formations probably are under a 100 feet. You can overlook the fact that some of the shots of the raid show the planes without the bomb, and in some of the night scenes, supposedly over enemy territory, the plane's running lights are on. I am certain that George Lucas saw this film (he freely admits to watching innumerable war films and footage); the climactic bombing run in Starwars is stunningly similar. This is down to and including dialogue. As the bombers sweep past a shattered dam you can see the X Wings departing the exploding Death Star.

Dam Busters is one of Peter Jackson's favorite films. He currently has in production a remake. It was supposed to be out in the fall of 2009, but I don't have an update on the release date. Review based on the 119 minute British release. Available at 112 minutes. (revised version based on the originally review of 6-28-93)Beginning

The Dam Busters (Book), (8-04-10) Paul Brickhill, 1951, Evans Brothers Limited. Spoiler alert. Contains facts in the movie. A captivating marvelous book on a seminal air attack during WWII that combines science, history, politics, war, and the best in human nature. It is painful in the portrayal of the human toll of war. At a time when bombers were little more than winged boxcars packed with explosives designed to indiscriminately scatter death over a waiting populace, Squadron 617 was the rapier of bombing. Finesse, accuracy, ruthless selectivity was their forte. Their specialty was taking out the most exotic and difficult of targets and pinpointing with clinical precision specific locations so that the cargos of mass formations were not wasted. Frequently their weapons were so specialized and rare that if they could not locate their target to unload the bombs, they had to bring home these 5 or 10 ton terrors. None of the traditional dumping of their load to make it easier, faster, and safer to get home.

About half of the book is devoted to the dam busting. The remainder to the other exploits of 617. The problem: taking out the mighty German dams on the Ruhr that powered a big chunk of Germany's industrial might. As dams were extremely difficult targets to destroy with WWII technology, we follow the solution: the design and development of the ingenious skipping bomb by master weapon's designer Barnes Wallis, which allowed the spinning bombs to skip like a rock over the torpedo nets, strike the dam, sink, and then explode at the optimum depth to breach the dam. But technology only goes so far. It had to be delivered, which led to the formation of 617, a squadron made up of the best of the best. Bold, adventurous, but not foolhardy. Men capable of making the right decision under the most stressful conditions and executing what needed to be done with consummate skill and speed. Men who correctly assumed they were unlikely to survive the war and yet still functioned flawlessly.

The raid on the dams was done at night with the bombers crossing Europe at tree top level to avoid detection. One bomber had its bomb ripped off by a tree or a building. To carry the massive bombs, armor and the upper gun turret were removed. No doubt a fateful omission for some. They had one opportunity since the German's had mistakenly thought the dams relatively safe and their air defense around the dams was modest. It would not be after the raid. Of the 19 planes, two had to return early. Of the remaining, each with a crew of 7, only 9 returned and, of the 56 crewmen shot down only 3 survived. Two dams were smashed and one damaged. The human toll on the ground was principally POW slave labor and one town swept away. The industrial damage ultimately was modest, but in the dark hours of the war, it was slap in the German's face, a boost to English morale, and a political jump start for the British claims to the Russians of still being in the fight.

Afterwards, such a unit was too good to disband, so they were involved in some of the most important raids of the war. They smashed German U-Boat pens, collapsed the German V3 super cannon, took out indestructible viaducts, and pinpointed countless targets for the boxcars of death. They were responsible for carrying Wallis' super earthquake bombs, the 5 ton Tall Boy and the 10 ton Grand Slam.

Brickhill does a stellar job of weaving the science, the politics, the personalities, and the human aspects. Threaded throughout is the human impact of war. However, Brickhill can also be clinical in his assessment with such chilling lines as "There was a price on it that night; fighters got among the returning bomber stream and Tait saw the path back littered with burning Lancasters." Left unsaid is what we already knew. Few if any of the 7 men crew of each Lancaster would survive.

Damnation Alley (1977) (*1/2, sci if) (D.-Jack Smight; Jan-Michael Vincent, George Peppard, Dominique Sanda, Paul Winfield, Jackie Earle Haley) Good cast wasted on a bad film. The big one came down and five survivors cross a scorched earth in a high tech van in search of other survivors. I'm not sure how they did it, but the sky was a rather remarkable and disturbing effect. However, probably the best part was the mutant man-eating cockroaches. It is supposed to be one of two films that had scenes shot at Meteor Crater in Arizona, but I don't remember them--maybe I was asleep by then. (10-12-98) Beginning

Damned, The (1969) (***, drama) (D.-Luchino Visconti; Dirk Bogarde, Ingrid Thulin, Helmut Griem, Helmut Berger, Charlotte Rampling, Florinda Bolkan) Long (153 minutes), disturbing, allegorical tale of wealthy industrial family destroyed during the rise of the Nazis in early 30s. The family is decadent and rife with internal dissension, but in the absence of external disruption it would probably have survived at least another generation. However, the National Socialists exploit these weaknesses to destroy the family and gain control of their critical iron works--much as they did with Germany. An interesting side plot is the brutal internecine between the SS (Black Shirts) and the SA (Brown Shirts), although I am not familiar with these details to comment on accuracy. Modern viewers may find the film slow, but Visconti has his own measured visual way of telling the story. Those who like visual imagery may find the style especially appealing. For example, dinner parties and the drunken revelry of the SA go on much longer than modern tastes might find acceptable. This aspect of story telling is classic Visconti. He used it in his classic 1942 Ossessione, a dark film noir retelling of The Postman Always Rings Twice. One image that continues to float through my mind is the fiery furnances of the iron works, a clear metaphor for the rising flames of hell for the family and the country. X-rated. (7-15-96) Beginning

Dante's Peak (2000) (**1/2, action, disaster) (6-18-01)(D.-Roger Donaldson; W.-. Written by Leslie Bohem; Pierce Brosnan, Linda Hamilton, Jamie Renee Smith, Jeremy Foley, Elizabeth Hoffman, Charles Hallahan) A quintessential disaster movie. The mountain growls, big business would rather it didn’t, the scientists warn of disaster, they are ignored by the town folk, and the area gets incinerated in another Mount St. Helens blast as the heroes (Bosnan and Hamilton) try to escape. Everything that can go wrong for them does, of course. The characters are quirky and likable, the plot ludicrous and it knows it, and the effects adequate. In short, a pleasant diversion that you’ll be glad you didn’t pay prime rates to see. How do I know it doesn’t take itself seriously? Just consider the boat scene, the truck in the lava, and outrunning the blast. Nobody could put these together without being tongue in cheek. So if disaster films are your cup of tea, give it a look. Review based on the excellent transfer to DVD at Beyond Video. Beginning

Dark City (1998) (***, sci fi) (D.- Alex Proyas; Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly, Richard O'Brien) Science fiction noir. Since many of you may not have seen the trailers, I'll be sparse on plot so as not to give so much away. John Murdock (Sewell) awakens in a bathtub in a flop house with no memory and near a very dead body. A ringing phone and a gratingly whispered warning sends him scurrying for his life into the black bleakness of the city. And a search for who he is, what is happening to the city, and who are the hairless Strangers who threaten him at every turn. The other characters are Inspector Bumstead who hunts him relentlessly, Murdock's blues singer wife (Connelly), and Dr. Schreber (Sutherland) who knows a lot but has his own agenda.

The time appears to be the early 50s. The city dark, wet, foreboding, dangerous. A beautiful woman. A hard-boiled detective. A man on the run who doesn't know whether he is a murderer or not. The characters are ambiguous and potentially lethal. In short, prime noir territory.

The city is an integral part of the tapestry of fear, uncertainty and dread. It is a marvelous creation and at a visceral level it works. The plot even works well for about the first half. Unfortunately, the plot falters and the ending was a disappointment. The final confrontation looked like something out of a standard horror film--I keep thing of Spawn. Also, the director violated the one-scene-too-many rule--repeatedly. Instead of ending the film where he should have, he kept tacking on adjustments and wrapping up scenes. He should have given his audience credit for the intelligence to sort these thing out themselves.

Sewell is perfect. He has the right level of uncertainty, fear of what he might be, and a keen sense of self-preservation and willingness to act on it. Hurt is great as the befuddled detective who senses that there is more than just what he sees on the surface, but he still has a relentless sense of duty. Connelly is fine as the wife who thinks her husband is innocent and tries to act on it. The Sutherland part I found very distracting. I keep thinking of the Nazi henchman in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Brando in The Godfather. However, he did succeed in being creepy.

Ultimately Dark City probably just works best as a visual extravaganza and futurist noir. A feast for the senses. So if you like sci fi, especially imagery, and can overlook the ending, I would definitely check out Dark City on the big screen. (3-9-98) Beginning

Dark Crystal, The (1983) (***, fantasy) (D.-Jim Henson, Frank Oz; Performed by Jim Henson, Kathryn Mullen, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Brian Muehl, Jean Pierre Amiel, Kiran Shah) An imaginative and magnificently produced fantasy with muppets and animatronic creatures. On a distant planet a thousand years earlier the Dark Crystal was fractured and a piece was lost. This causes a war between the Mystics and the evil, disgusting Skeksis with their even more horrific minions the Garthim. As the planet's three suns race towards juxtaposition, the two surviving Gelfings, a small elf-like race, must restore the Crystal or their world will plunge into eternal night.

This is a classic quest with all the trials and terrors of the genre. The story itself is the weak point, but cut it a little slack and you will be rewarded with a tour de force of an alien world and creatures created by the wonderous imagination and mechanics of Henson and Oz. The Wizard of Oz keeps coming to mind. For example, the full size striders were done with men on 30 foot stilts!

If you can get through the opening banquet scene at the castle of the Skeksis with a few chuckles, then you will probably enjoy the film. Be forewarned, while Crystal was created by the same people who brought you Kermit and Ms. Piggy, it is NOT a children's movie. Even with the violence and disturbing images prevalent in our society, I don't recommend showing it to a preteen. Otherwise, you are likely to get your just rewards by having to peel them off the ceiling in the middle of the night after their nightmares. (9-28-98) Beginning

Dark Half, The (1993) (**, horror) (D.-George A. Romero; Timothy Hutton, Amy Madigan, Michael Rooker, Julie Harris) It was time for my horror fix. What can I say. Based on the Stephen King book. Reasonably good atmospheric set up but falls apart half way through, never recovers, and ends with the standard battle between good and evil. Thad Beaumont is an academician who is having a hard time making it as a serious author, but he is successfully writing brutal pulp fiction under the pseudonym George Stark. Circumstances lead to him having to dispose of Stark and things get very nasty. King has done nice jobs of portraying the internal and external conflicts between good and evil, but there is no depth here. I don't know whether it is the story, which I have not read, or Romero's adaptation.

Hutton did do a superb job playing both Beaumont and Stark. The transformation was extraordinary. The changes in voice, physical mannerism, build, and appearances were excellent. The computer generated bird effects were quite effective. (4-27-98) Beginning

The Dark Knight (2008) (***1/2, action, noir) (6-10-08) (D.-Christopher Nolan; W.-Christopher and Jonathan Nolan; Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman) The title sums it up. This is not your children's comic book Batman. It is bleak, dark, horrific. Anyone taking children under 13 is in for a rude shock. Batman has always been outside the law, a vigilante. He is seriously considering retiring. Commissioner Gordon (Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) have proved exceptionally skillful at controlling the criminal element and cleaning up Gotham by legal means. The mobs are on the ropes, and one last push is about to deliver the death blow. Since the city is outraged by Batman operating outside of the law, it looks like Batman may at last be able to retire to his girl friend Rachel (Gyllenhaal). However, no one reckons on the appearance of the Joker (Ledger). Between the Nolans' writing and the late Ledger's extraordinary performance, we have the most creatively evil character in years. The Joker reeks of insanity directed by a brilliant scheming mind. His greasy disheveled hair, his smeared on make up, all add to the image of one not constrained by any normal rules. He wishes to reduce humanity to the lowest common denominator and show that civilization is only a veneer that can be stripped away when the proper forces are judiciously applied, and he has some extraordinary ways of applying force to Everyman. He is about to reduce Gotham to his level- chaos. Fear will replace reason. Death and destruction will replace hope. How it happens, where it goes, and how it affects the principals is the story, and I will reveal nothing further about plot.

The film mirrors aspects of the world situation. How do you deal with an enemy who has no soft spots, no things that they really want or need that allow an effective counter strike? The Joker sums it up beautifully with "You have nothing to threaten me with. Nothing to do with all your strength." Further what do you do when you have no bargaining chips? It is your mere existence and social order that your opponent wishes to destroy, and there is no compromise. Alfred (Caine) sums it up succinctly on his monolog on the brigand that was disrupting their caravans carrying payment to warlords to stabilize a country. "Some men just want to watch the world burn." Their final solution to the brigand was elegantly appropriate. The Joker just wants to watch the world burn, and his wants are very inexpensive indeed.

One is repeatedly reminded of Ying and Yang. Two faces of the coin. Balance and counter balance. Joker and Batman. They complement each other. Without the other they are incomplete; they need each other for their very existence. Again The Joker has a pivotal remark that sums up this balance.

The film is beautifully filmed, elegantly directed and presented by excellent actors. Bale is the definitive Batman. Tortured, damaged, conflicted, human. The Joker, monster that he is, may also reveal the roots of his insanity-or maybe not. However, regardless he too is damaged at a most fundamental level. Freeman and Caine do their usual superb supporting roles and their behavior is perfect with critical plot elements. Dent is ruthlessly efficient, but human. The mob justifiably fears him. However, my wife and to a lesser extent I think that Dent's behavior at the end was not believable.

I reiterate that the film is very dark and not an upper. Indeed it is so dark that it is not clear where the series can go from here. It is also long (over 2 and a half hours). My wife thought too long, I didn't. So if you want a disturbing action movie, check out Dark Knight. Beginning

Dark Side of the Rainbow, The (1999) (***, rock, movie) (4-5-99) (D.-The Staff at the Jefferson Theater) It has been claimed that Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon was written to the film The Wizard of Oz. With the rerelease of the Wizard, the amount of discussion of this has increased exponentially, especially on the internet. Just do a search on "Dark Side of the Moon" and "Wizard of Oz". In particular, there is great argument over whether it really does match the film and if it does where do you start the CD to match the film. In an innovative experiment, the people at the Jefferson Theater ran a weekend show through February showing the restored Wizard played simultaneously with the Moon so you could judge for yourself. I saw it on the last showing, which is why I am just getting around to reviewing it. In case they do it again, you can decide whether you want to go. Unfortunately, they didn't have independent control of the CD volume, so Moon frequently totally overwhelmed the film's sound track.

While many people have done a word-for-word, beat-for-beat analysis, I just watched/listened and tried to judge whether the tonality of the music matched the mood of the film. In many places it worked, and in many places there was no match for me. So I wasn't impressed with the overlap. However, a fairer test would be to take the film on DVD and run it side by side with the CD--especially after going over the material on the Web. Ultimately, for me, it was an interesting experiment, but without the volume control, it was not completely successful. Beginning

Dave (1993) (**, comedy) (D.- Ivan Reitman, Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Frank Langella, Charles Grodin, innumerable political commentators and officials playing themselves) Inoffensive featherweight way to waste a couple of hours. Dave (Kline) is an impersonator of President Mitchell. The worthless president has a stroke while dallying with a secretary, and his unscrupulous chief of staff (Langella) replaces him with Dave, whom he expects to use to control the reins of power. Surprise, surprise! Dave, a really nice guy, decides to do something worthwhile with the position, plays political hardball with Langella, and wins over the President's estranged wife (Weaver). Limited and low key humor, minor tension (although the ending wraps everything up in a very tidy package), but with virtually no satirical bite. Sad because the idea has promise and it could have been developed into a first-rate movie. A complete waste of the talented Weaver who stands there and either looks perplexed or entertained by Kline, and never interacts with him at any emotional level. (6-7-93) Beginning

Day After Tomorrow, The (2004) (**1/2, Sci Fi) (6-29-04) (D. Roland Emmerich; Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Sela Ward, Emmy Rossum, Jay O. Sanders, Dash Mihok, Kenneth Welsh, Ian Holm, Perry King) I’m a grade Z, the virus take over the world sci fi fan. So how could I pass up a new ice age freezing out the northern hemisphere—in a week.

Let’s not confuse art with entertainment. First let’s look first at the negatives. A hackneyed plot complete with just about every stock story line they could lift from any and every disaster movie. Banal dialogue that in general is an insult to the talented cast. Not bad enough to be campy.

But if you like visual disaster movies, Day has them in spades. You get to see Los Angeles reduced to rubble by twisters rather than the long expected Big One. New York is inundated by a tidal wave and then frozen solid. Planes are literally frozen out of the sky. And it doesn’t look much more realistic than what we see on the screen. I did like the arrival at New York in spite of it being used before. The film is peppered by little humorous touches. The Vice President being one of them. The likeness is uncanny.

The film succeeds in a few very human moments. The librarians and their reactions. Ian Holm as Prof. Rapson can turn the smallest scene into a gem. The custodian with his floor polisher. All have very real impact. But most of the rest of the film is show. A fine show yes. But just a show.

Do ignore the carping about the science. It is awful, but anyone who expects accuracy in a film like this should come by and see me. I can give them a real deal on a bridge.

Given the film’s weaknesses, I cannot bring myself to give it ***, but I am glad that I went to see it on the big screen. You were forewarned. Beginning

Day at the Races, A (1937) (***1/2, comedy, musical) See Marx Brothers. Beginning

Day of the Jackal, The (1973) (***, suspense) (D.-Fred Zinnemann, Edward Fox, Alan Badel, Tony Britton, Terry Alexander) A taut thriller built on Forsyth's novel of the same name. A resourceful, exceptionally ruthless assassin (The Jackal) contracts to kill Charles De Gaulle. The story unfolds as he prepares his assault and the equally ruthless French secret police get wind of the attempt; a savage battle of wits ensues. The secret police's problems are compounded by De Gaulle's well documented refusal to avoid public places even when he was at risk. An excellent cat and mouse game where the mouse (Fox) is clever, merciless, and lethal. He also operates on his own internal code where honor is more important than his life. When the movie came out, a reviewer commented that he was amazed that a superb movie could be made from such a dull book. I couldn't believe what I was reading! The movie is taut, suspenseful and keeps you on the edge to the end; in short a respectable thriller that delivers. As far as I am concerned, however, the book was electrifying, and I couldn't put it down. Read the book, even if you don't see the movie. (11-15-93) Beginning

Day of the Triffids, The (1962) (**, sci fi, horror) (10-22-04) (D.-Steve Sekely; Howard Keel,Nicole Maurey, Janette Scott,Kieron Moore,Janina Faye) A classic example of how to take an excellent book and reduce it to a near turkey status film. A truly marvelous meteor shower turns out virtually everyone on earth to watch it. Unfortunately, it blinds everyone who watched it. A very few escape such as the protagonist in a hospital with his eyes bandaged. When he wakes up in the morning, it is a far different world. Unfortunately for humanity, the strange rays turns the odd triffid plants that are everywhere into mobile murderous flesh eating monsters. The blind population is now reduced largely to Purina Triffid Chow. The story revolves around the few survivors attempting to link up with other sighted and fend off the increasingly larger and more numerous triffids. Or in a few cases, the sighted trying to save the blind. The final resolution is laughable in the extreme; if getting rid of triffids was that easy, what was the problem in first place?

The film is tacky and inadvertently funny throughout. The sight of a triffid racing down a road like a roadster brings a mixture of laughs and groans. The growth from potted plant to 20 foot behemoth overnight without any food is another gem. The DVD transfer is rather a mess with garish hypersaturated colors that work in places, but not for normal scenes, which make up the bulk of the film. Review based on the DVD available at Clemons Library.

Wyndam’s novel on the other hand is very realistic and thought provoking with its social and political commentary. Its assessment of human behavior, both good and bad, is quite believable. The triffids had been around for a long time and while dangerous could be “defanged” by removing their poisonous lash. Also, as you would expect for a mobile plant, movement was slow and awkward. No sports car triffids here. Indeed, they represented a very important economic resource, which accounted for their widespread distribution. As the narrator says, the only thing that man had evolutionarily over the triffids was sight. If you want some laughs check out the film. Bad, but not bad enough that I turned it off. However, if you want a riveting story, read the book. Beginning

Day the Earth Stood Still, The (1951) (***1/2, 50s sci fi) (D.- Robert Wise; Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe, Billy Gray, Frances Bavier, Lock Martin) B/W sci fi classic. Literate, well acted, and visually impressive even today. Alien Klaatu (Rennie) and giant robot Gort, who is more than he seems, land in Washington DC to deliver warning to human race: Stop your war-like ways or be destroyed. Rennie is wounded by a nervous soldier, is taken to a hospital, and escapes to learn what humans are really like from Neal and her boarding house friends. The bulk of the movie is about his interactions with us, and his attempts to make his announcement to all humanshe refuses to deal with any one government. As a show of force, he turns off all non-essential electricity in the entire world for one hour. Don't forget: "Klaatu barada nikto!"

While the special effects were minimal, the saucer and the robot mainly created the visual aura of the film. The almost featureless saucer is sleek, enormous, imposing. It should be impressive, since in reality it was 350 feet in diameter and 25 feet high. In spite of its imposing size, it was so light that it almost took off for another world during a wind storm. One neat visual was the way that the seamless, featureless saucer suddenly opened up. This was accomplished by sealing the slits with a plastic compound and painting over it. When the saucer was opened by three men inside, the invisible seams split open.

The robot was over eight and a half feet high. The elaborate suit was made from thick rubber to give it body while it remained pliable. The helmet was sheet metal, and a second version was used for the close-up shots. The actor inside was Lock Martin, who was the doorman from Grauman's Chinese Cinema in Hollywood; he was the tallest man the director knew. Martin had a slim build and was unable to pick up Patricia Neal, which is why you only see him carrying her. Details from Movie Magic by John Brosnan. (2-7-95) Beginning

Dead Again (1991) (**1/2, thriller, supernatural) (D.- Kenneth Branagh; Kenneth Branagh, Andy Garcia, Emma Thompson, Derek Jacobi, Hanna Schygulla, Wayne Knight, Campbell Scott, Gregor Hesse, Christine Ebersole)A stylish supernatural thriller juxtaposing a 1949 murder and execution with the returning memory of a modern woman with amnesia. The woman relives the past leading up to the murder in nightmares and through hypnosis. While the plot has more holes than a Swiss cheese, it is stylishly done with good tight switching between the past and the mounting conclusion in the present. The climax is a real throat grabber. While not a great movie, it is quite entertaining and suspenseful. An amusing unbilled cameo appearance by Robin Williams. Beginning

Dead End (1937) (***, drama) (D.-William Wyler; Sylvia Sidney, Joel McCrea, Humphrey Bogart, Wendy Barrie, Claire Trevor, Marjorie Main, Huntz Hall, Leo Gorcey, Gabriel Dell, Ward Bond, Billy Halop, Bernard Punsley, Bobby Jordan, Allen Jenkins) Badly dated but still intriguing slice of life in New York slums during the depression. Based on Sidney Kingsley play. The set by Richard Day is so striking that it caught it my attention in the opening few seconds and held it throughout. Bleak, grimy, rat infested, crime ridden, and a striking contrast to the nearby opulent rich who have begun to urbanize prime river front property. The tone is set in the first few minutes with the cunning old woman "playing" with a cute little toddler in a wagon. This movie introduced the "Dead End Kids" (Halop, Jordan, Dell, Hall, Gorcey, and Punsley.) who played juvenile delinquents in a repeat of their stage roles. The times may have changed, the vocabulary may be a bit more raw now, and the violence more overt, but you know the type. Their arrogant stance as they claim the corner and stare down anyone who violates their space hasn't changed. It is one word in any language: Trouble. Most of us would wisely cross the street.

One plots hinges around McCrea, an out of work architect being torn between two women from opposite sides of the track (Barrie and Trevor). Another plot involves Baby Face Martin (Bogart), a brutal killer who returns to claim his misrembered youth, his mother and his girl friend. He should have remembered that fairy tale endings only work out in the movies. Following Petrified Forest, Dead End was Bogart's entry into the big time. Originally, he was billed below Sidney, but in rerelease was given top billing.

A rather neat point concerns the scene where Bogey effortlessly flips a knife through an orange peel lying on the dock several yards away. It took a great deal of practice and finally the tutoring of the director.

In reality the Dead End Kids probably didn't do much acting. Going out to Hollywood, they were hell on everyone on the train, and in Hollywood, they went wild. Hall and Dell crashed a car. Gorcey got four tickets in three weeks. Underage Jordan was arrested for driving without a license. They harrassed the other actors by comparing them with the original stage actors, and cut school. Dell, imitating Wyler's voice placed innumerable long distance calls to his mother and the parents of the others. Goldwyn even got called "Pop" and got raspberries when he grounded them between takes. (Details taken from MicroSoft's Cinemania, 1994) (11-7-94) Beginning

Deadline U.S.A. (1952) (***, Drama) (D.-Richard Brooks, Humphrey Bogart, Ethel Barrymore, Kim Hunter, Ed Begley, Paul Stewart, Jim Backus) Terse, taut, well done account of the last hours of a newspaper attempting to survive. Bogey is a driven, type A editor who strives to maintain the integrity of paper and help clean up the town regardless of personal risk and the destruction of his personal life. (7-7-94) Beginning

Deadlock (1991) (**-sci fi) (D.- Lewis Teague; Rutger Hauer, Mimi Rogers, Joan Chen, James Remar, Stephen Tobolowsky, Basil Wallace) Made for HBO movie. Fabulous concept reduced to near banality by poor writing, pacing, and more gaping holes than a good Swiss cheese. A few tense moments, but wasted performances by Hauer, who appears terminally dumb, and Rogers, who doesn't show much more common sense. Chen's performance is so campy as to be ridiculous. The concept: A maximum security prison with no walls, fences, dogs and few guards. Why? All prisoners wear necklaces. Each necklace is linked to an unknown inmate's necklace. If the two "wedded" inmates get more than 100 yards apart, boom on both. If anyone tinkers with a necklace, boom. Hauer is in for a jewel robbery. His two vicious partners are still free, but he is the only one who knows where the diamonds are. Rogers is in on trumped up narcotics charges and finds out that the two of them are necklace partners. The warden, of course, is a sadistic overseer. Hauer and Rogers escape, etc. etc. I admit that there are very few thrillers that can stand a close postmortem. However, a good thriller sweeps you up in the action so that you don't pick up on the flaws until later. Too bad, the flaws are so depressingly obvious during Deadlock. (3-28-94) Beginning

Deadly Eyes (1982) (**1/2, horror) (D.- Robert Clouse; Sam Groom, Sara Botsford, Scatman Crothers, Lisa Langlois, Cec Linder Lesleh) Yet another toxic waste produces giant rats that take over the Toronto subways flic. But I enjoyed it. Good production values, acceptable acting, and solid if predictable plot. All done on a shoestring. A triumph of style over budget. How do you get herds of killer rats thundering down the street? The answer is dogs in rat costumes. I had always assumed it was chihuahuas. However, according to James O'Neill in his charming little Terror on Tape (Billboard Books, 1994), it was actually dachshunds--which does account for their odd gait. Also, according to him, if you listen closely you can hear the rats barking, but I haven't had a chance to verify this. However, still a lot of fun, but not without gore. By the way, if you are squeamish and ever want to go into a movie theater again, don't watch Deadly Eyes. AKA Night Eyes and The Rats (original book title).Beginning

Deadly Is The Female (1949) (***1/2, crime, drama) See Gun Crazy. Beginning

Dead Man Walking (1995) (***1/2, crime, docudrama) (D.-Tim Robbins; Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, Robert Prosky, Raymond T. Barry, R. Lee Ermey, Scott Williams, Scott Wilson, Roberta Maxwell) Intense, gripping account of last days of convicted killer (Penn), his interactions with a nun, Sister Jean Prejean (Sarandon), and her interactions with him, his family and the families of the murder victims. The screen play was written by Robbins and is based on Prejean's book, although at least some of the the film characters are composites. I have not read the book. Rape and multiple homocides are ugly crimes, but these are just the beginning of the human devastation for the survivors on both the dead and the killer's side, as the film so clearly shows. Robbins and Sarandon are both anti-capital punishment, but Dead Man is as fair a telling of both sides as you are likely to find. Sarandon's Academy Award winning performance is superb as she is torn apart trying to meet and console the bereaved families as well as save Penn's soul. Penn is excellent as the strutting, arrogant killer who blames his current predicament on everyone else, including the young couple for being on lovers' lane, except himself. Given the extraordinary emotional pressures, I find his confession and repentance believable. One can suspect that this is just his ultimate con in a long series of denials and manipulations. However, even if his repentance was heartfelt, whether it would have held if he had received a reprieve, I think, is highly subject to question.

The cinematography is fluid, frequently stark, and befitting the subject. The instrumental and vocal accompaniments are excellent. Epecially striking is the Middle Eastern vocal. Robbins' brother David composed and played some of the haunting electrical and acoustic guitar pieces.

It has been reported that people coming out of the film sometimes change their beliefs about capital punishment. This is certainly possible if they have not carefully thought through the reasons for their views. In that regards, Dead Man is an excellent film for forcing people to confront the reality of their views. Why does society kill? Is it ethical? Is it cost effective? Does that matter? To what extent should the survivors of the victims be allowed to participate in the end? These are all valid points for post discusison. Even victims cannot agree. There was a TV interview with one of the victims of Robert Willy (on whom the film was based). Willy and his partner killed her boy friend had held and raped her for 24 hours before they released her. Sixteen years after the incident she had no satisfaction with his execution, but she did feel relief that she would never have to worry about being confronted by him again. I have heard parents who lost children in similar situations state that they were against the death penalty. There are neither easy issues nor clear solutions as the film so painfully depicts. (4-8-96) Beginning

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982) (***1/2, **, comic noir) (1-29-01) (D.-Carl Reiner; Steve Martin, Rachel Ward, Reni Santoni, Carl Reiner, George Gaynes, Frank McCarthy) First note the double rating. This film is very much an in joke. The first rating is for avid fans of film noir and 40s detective films. The second is for everyone else. Plaid is a comic noir thriller with detective Martin working for gorgeous brunette (Ward) to solve the riddle of her father’s death. The film is shot in beautiful high contrast black and white. The plot, the lighting, the characters, the dialogue are all classic noir, just fractured. The fun twist however is that the film uses scenes and lines from numerous noir films. So you find yourself 1) trying to identify the films, and 2) trying to figure out what the next scene and film will be. Not all the scenes work well, but they did have to integrate them into a semi-coherent plot (only semi, this is noir). My wife and I found it to be a hoot but found a down side. We will never be able to watch the key theft in Notorious again without laughing. Review based on the nicely letterboxed DVD from Sneak Reviews. The DVD has textual material including listing the films used so you can check your memory afterwards. Amazingly, however, they base the entire opening down to the news paper headline on the uncredited Keeper of the Flame. If anyone catches other omissions, let me know. The film used several noir veterans including costumes by Edith Head and sets by John DeCuir. The film is dedicated to famed costume designer Edith Head because this was her final film. The music was done by Miklos Rozsa, and includes not only new material, but his classic original material from noir films used for Plaid. Beginning

Death and the Maiden (1995) (***, drama, political thrller) (D.-Roman Polanski; Sigourney Weaver. Ben Kingsley, Stuart Wilson) Brutal, taut politcal drama set in recently democratized South American country. Wilson is activist lawyer whom the government wants for trials of death squads. Weaver is his wife and death squad survivor who is still driven years later by her hatred for her unseen tormentor. On a stormy night, Kingsley brings the husband to their isolated home after his car breaks down, and Weaver becomes convinced he is her torturer. Weaver and Kingsley are excellent as the principals with fine support by Wilson. Is he guilty and what should she do? The film deals fairly and realistically with this issue up to the last five minutes. It also effectively raises the human rights issues of those countries where a small number of thugs terrorize the majority in the name of stability. Ultimately, however, Death has its own political agenda that must be met, and it does this in the last few minutes. As drama, I think that it would have been far more effective if this had been omitted. However, as a political statement, I think Death is far more effective than the similarly targeted Closet Land. The title is based on a Schubert piece. (8-28-95) Beginning

Death Race 2000 (1975) (**1/2, sci fi humor) (D.-Paul Bartel, David Carradine, Simone Griffith, Sylvester Stallone, Mary Woronov) A low budget cult classic brought to you from the husband-wife team of Bartel and Woronov. Also, formed the basis of a video game. Black humored tongue in cheek satire of the gladiatorial evolution of modern sports and debasement of interview style news. It pays homage to the Sci-Fi writer Robert Sheckley. Some of the TV interviews and commentators are right on, and with each year closer to 2000, real TV approaches the whimsy of Death Race. Truly, it is hard to envisage how to stoop lower than Jessie Raphael, Geraldo, or some of the home video shows. In the year 2000, a trans-US road race helps keep people's minds off of their oppressive dictatorship. So, what is different about this race that keeps everyone distracted? The crews get additional points for running over pedestrians with a complex system based on age and sex. Also, all's fair in love and racing as far as bagging targets or taking out opponents. In short, during the race it is a good idea to stay glued to your TV and not walk down to the corner for cigarettes--cancer could prove the least of your worries. As the announcer praised one racer: "Loved by thousands, feared by millions." The acting is awful and some of the plot and jokes are equally bad. However, overall the humor is situational, and the situation is so totally off the wall that it carries the day. Scenes such as the geriatric home, the bull fight with the car having Texas long horns mounted on the front, the blessing of the race, the aftermath and the quibbling over whether the points counted will long stick with you. Death Race is also noteworthy for its intellectually enlightening geography lessons. You will be impressed with the barren New York mountains, the surging hills of Kansas, and the magnificent California-like terrain of New Mexico. (4-12-93) Beginning

Deep Blue Sea (1999) (***, sci-fi, horror) (7-26-99) (D.- Renny Harlin; Samuel L. Jackson, Thomas Jane, Saffron Burrows, LL Cool J, Michael Rapaport) Frankenstein in shark skin. Scientist Susan McAlester (Burrows) is hot on the trail of a solution to Alzheimers. The money is about to be pulled, and businessman Russell Franklin (Jackson) wants to shut down the project unless they can prove to him over the weekend that the project will work. With the noblest of intentions but using outlawed genetic engineering, McAlester has created sharks with brains the size of V-8s in an isolated water research facility--where else? A storm further isolates the small group of Purina Shark Chow from the outside world. Who will survive and how long can you hold your breath are not academic questions as the night wears on.

Deep Blue is sleek, lean, and as sudden and lethal as a two-ton mako shark emerging from the watery gloom. There is rarely anything new in this genre. What counts is style, pacing. Does it keep you on the edge of your seat? Does it shock and amuse at the right times? Do you develop any empathy with the characters, rather than just considering them another piece of fish food? Deep Blue manages all of these with style and grace. It delivers exactly what you want in the way of a summer horror film. Harlin knows how to shock and truly surprise, even today's jaded audiences. There is one scene in particular that both stunned and brought laughter to the audience.

Especially noteworthy is the cook, Sherman 'Preacher' Dudley (LL Cool J) and his faithful parrot. LL Cool J is a hoot and also does the title song.

The FX are good. The sharks are a mixture of CG, animatronics, and real sharks. Unlike Jaws where parts of the shark were animated for different scenes, Deep Blue used complete computer controlled sharks that could swim and move like real sharks. Some of the shark fodder is CG. It is not trivial to get a person being dismembered to look realistic by CG.

Forget some of the science. Forget the fact that at one point they open a pressure door, and it takes three seconds for the pressure difference to appear--artistic license. If you like solid white knuckle entertainment, Deep Blue will not disappoint. Beginning

Deep Cover (1992) (***1/2, drama) (D.-Bill Duke, Larry Fishburne, Jeff Goldblum, Charles Martin Smith) A brutal cocaine cartel, a deeply moral, very deep undercover cop (Fishburne), a manipulative G man (Smith), and a grasping mob lawyer (Goldblum) contain all the elements of a Greek Tragedy. The recurrent question: "Can the protagonists do what has to be done to get what they want?" And at what price? There is enough power, wealth, spoils, and vengeance to tempt the Almighty himself. While the plot falters in places and the moralizing and stereotyping are heavy handed at times, this is one taut, brutal roller coaster ride. Outstanding integration of sound and cinematography grab you by the throat from the opening credits (I kept trying to read them, but couldn't keep my eyes off the underlying footage) and won't let go until the final crawl. A haunting sound track, foreboding atmosphere, a film noir narrative voice over by Fishburne, and hip street-wise action contribute to a dark thriller. Fishburne's voice is great and his brooding countenance ideal, but he lacks the emotional range to fully carry the part. Goldblum is fascinating, a loose canon mixture of a mischievous Dennis the Menace and perhaps Attila the Hun. The interplay between him and Fishburne is a fascinating moral seduction, but who is the instigator and who is the victim? A fine shoot 'em up that justifies considerable discussion afterwards.

Continuity error: In the bar fight, something disappears and then reappears. Can you catch it? (courtesy of S. E. Demas). (10-4-93) Beginning

Deep Rising (1998) (***, horror) (10-2-00) (D.-,W.-Stephen Sommers; Treat Williams, Famke Janssen, Anthony Heald, Kevin J. O'Connor, Linden Banks , Wes Studi, Derrick O'Connor, Jason Flemyng, Cliff Curtis, Clifton Powell, Trevor Goddard, Djimon Hounsou, Una Damon, Clint Curtis, Warren Takeuchi, John Finnegan) Reviewed from the DVD at Beyond Video; the DVD lacks any interesting supplementary material. I’m going to take a lot of heat on this one, but I’ll define my criteria first. For the horror genre does it deliver solid mindless entertainment with black humor as well as decent creature and F/X? Since the answer was yes for my daughter and myself, then ***. If plot and real suspense are important criteria, bag it.

A speedboat captained by John Finnegan (Williams) races through the stormy China Sea for a rendezvous with a luxury liner, the Argonautica. His cargo is a band of heavily armed pirates led by Hanover (Studi) and they are not delivering cookies; as long as they pay, Finnegan doesn’t want to know what they are up to. Since this is a horror movie, surprise, surprise, something else got there first. As the previews say "Women and children first", and they aren’t talking about the lifeboats. There are precious few survivors, including a resourceful jewel thief Trillian (Janssen, the Bond girl with the killer thighs). Then begins the obligatory battles with the creatures and each other.

Played distinctly tongue-in-cheek with understated performances by Williams and Janssen. Of particular note is Finnegan’s mechanic, Joey "Tooch" Pantucci (O’Connor), who is a hoot. Indeed, the director liked his performance so much that he wrote the part of the delightfully slimy Beni in The Mummy specifically for O’Connor. However, don’t equate tongue-in-cheek with not violent or gory. The film is both. The creatures and special effects are good as is the ultimate destruction of the liner, which is convincing indeed. It was a 110 foot model.

In my opinion, any film that ends with a jet ski chase through a sinking ocean liner cannot be all bad. Just remember, "Now what?" Beginning

Deliverance (1972) (***1/2, drama) (D.-John Boorman, Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox, Bill McKinney, James Dickey) Taut, nasty little thriller about four businessmen who canoe a wild river before it is dammed and tamed. An encounter with some demented mountain men leads to the discovery that human terrors can far exceed natural ones. Truly believable behavior of civilized men who, when confronted with intolerable stress, must choose between morality and survival. Deliverance made the foot stomping, heart pounding Dueling Banjos a household piece. (4-26-93) Beginning

Dementia 13 (1963) (***, horror) (8-13-07) (D.-Francis Ford Coppola; Francis Ford Coppola, Jack Hill (second unit writer); William Campbell, Luana Anders, Bart Patton, Mary Mitchel, Patrick Magee, Eithne Dunne, Peter Read, Karl Schanzer) A zero budget 60’s horror film. A first time 23 year old director. Produced by legendary schlockmeister Roger Corman.. A theater marquee ballyhoo of “You Must Pass the "D-13" Test To Prepare You for the Horrifying Experience of Dementia 13. If You Fail the Test...You Will Be Asked to Leave the Theater!” Available on the disk set of 50 horror movies for $20. What could be worse? What could be more wrong! This is a very respectable horror movie as the first writing/directing effort of the great Francis Ford Coppola. It is particularly impressive when recognizing that Coppola, who was assisting Roger Corman on The Young Racers in Ireland, was allowed by Corman to use the same sets, crew and actors for his film as long as he could shoot around Corman’s schedule. But then Corman was noted for his skill at making movies, cheap and fast (he once finished a shoot early and made another complete film in 3 days on the same set), and for nurturing young talent.

Coppola was clearly strongly influenced by Hitchcock, but he manages his own unique twists, turns, and visual imagery. I won’t say much about the plot except that it involves the grasping wife (Anders) of the son of an eccentric rich Lady Haloran (Dunne). The wife wishes to alter the will in a more favorable fashion—for herself. The mother “celebrates” the death of her daughter seven years earlier by reenacting the funeral down to the last details. The family is gathered for this annual rite. But enough about dysfunctional families. The plot is neither linear nor predictable especially near the beginning. Also it has some superb visuals and some sequences that will look very familiar now a days. While *** may be a bit high, the movie bests many modern horror films, and shows the early talent and imagination of one of our great directors. It shows on Turner Classic Movies. For fans of horror films and Coppola, I strongly recommend it. My review is based on the 50 horror films for $20 copy, which are not always the best, so the TMC will probably be a much higher quality print. The original title was Dementia, but they discovered that title had been used in 1955, so they added the 13. Beginning

Demon Seed (1977) (***, sci fi) (D.-Donald Cammell; Julie Christie, Fritz Weaver, Gerrit Graham, Berry Kroeger, Lisa Lu) Good news. Bad news. First the bad news. The story. A super computer (voice by Robert Vaughn) schemes to impregnate Christie with the ultimate goal of world domination. What a ridiculous premise! What idiocy! With a story like that, there is no doubt as to why I didn't watch the film for years. Now, the good news. Demon is a viciously well crafted white knuckle thriller with a superb performance by Christie as the terrorized woman. And once you are in the house, the premise doesn't seem absurd at all. Beginning

Destination Moon (1950) (**1/2, 50s Sci-Fi) (D.-Irving Pichel, John Archer, Warner Anderson, Tom Powers, Erin O'Brien-Moore) A landmark in Sci-Fi special effects, which won it an Academy Award for special effects. One of the first serious attempts to accurately portray space travel. Coscripted by Robert Heinlein. Given the time and the modest budget, the effects are indeed quite special in this color movie, although you do occasionally catch reflections from the supporting wires. While the plot has minor elements of tension, this movie is mainly for aficionados of Sci-Fi. (11-23-92) Beginning

Dernier Combat, Le aka The Final Combat, The Last Battle, The Last Combat (1983) (***, sci fi) (DW.- Luc Besson; W- Pierre Jolivet; Pierre Jolivet, Jean Bouise, Fritz Wepper, Jean Reno) (***, sci fi) A unique offering. Mad Max meets a post-apocalyptic Paris without cars or a big budget. Civilization is in ruins. Most are dead. The cause isn’t clear, but the few survivors cannot or will not speak. The Man (Jolivet) flees one form of tyranny to the ruins of Paris only to find his life threatened by the Brute (Reno), a monster bent on destroying any vestiges of humanity or civilization that remain. The Man finds refuge and shelter with the Doctor (Bouise) in an asylum, which is the only structure secure enough to hold off the Brute. This is a classic tale of good (in a relative sense) trying to hold off the forces of destruction and chaos. The Man represents the remains of civilization with his case of goodies (watch the film to see what it contains), his carefully husbanded batteries and his tape recorder. The Brute excels in claiming territory and items, strength, aggression, and cleverly designed weapons. In short the very things that unfettered by humanity probably brought the world to its current condition.

How this plays out is more interesting in style than in substance. Logic isn’t the intent here. It is moody atmosphere, and a study in how much can be presented on screen without having to use any dialogue. After all what can you say about a film that has fish raining from the sky? Jolivet makes a great everyman while Reno is truly frightening as the force of destruction that plays at civilization but can never get it right. Incidentally, if La Jetee was too static and lacking in action for you, one cannot level that complaint against Combat.

This is Besson’s first film and the beginning of a long-standing interaction with Reno. For a first time director, one can certainly see his budding talent, and the ability to create a very alien world on a shoestring budget.

Review based on the VHS tape available at Clemons (VHS1559). I’d say it is French with subtitles, but there is no French. And no subtitles.

Note added later: The DVD has magnificent wide screne presentation. At least one critical scene was added, and the quality is far superior to the VHS transfer. There several scenes in the VHS where one wondered why everyone was sleeping during the day. They are actually night scenes that transferred to look like day. Beginning

Detour (1945) (***, classic, noir, crime) (D.-Edgar G. Ulmer; Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake, Edmund MacDonald, Tim Ryan, Esther Howard) Ultralow budget classic. A seedy hitchhiker nursing a cup of coffee in a night diner. A confrontation over a record on the juke box. A spectacular lighting switch to a voice over and recall of events leading here. It all begins easily enough. A young, broke pianist (Neal) hitchhikes to California to be with his girl (Drake). A fateful lift in a flashy car in the middle of the Arizona desert. A death. A series of fateful choices. As in much noir, choices made for logical reasons can bring convolutedly unforseen and catastrophic consequences. As with good noir, you can argue over when, what, and if other choices could have been made and whether the outcome would have been different.

Vera (Savage), as the instrument of destruction, is perfect and beautifully acted. She is complex--brassy, manipulative, playful, and vicious. In my opinion, a major weakness is that the director runs off on unproductive tangents too often to maintain the tension. Some of this probably just reflects the low budget and talent provided for a B film.

In spite of weaknesses, I give the film ***. In some of the stylistic setups, the ugly view of a dangerous world, and its bleak deterministic view of humanity's fate, it beautifully epitomizes film noir. Detour achieves a base emotional intensity that many slicker noirs lack. Fabulous set pieces include the diner and the transition as well as the rationalization in the desert. As an aside, some people like the ending, although I didn't. However, it wasn't in the original script and was inserted to satisfy the censors. Total psychological destruction was not enough; the legal system had to be satisfied--even if in its satisfaction, any semblance of justice was perverted.

If you look closely, you will notice the reversal of film during several hitchhiking scenes. Steering wheels are on the right and cars appear to drive down the wrong side of the road. This was not an error, but was deliberate editing to insure that movement was always from right to left. Some would say this follows the cinematic convention of a right to left movement corresponding to a negative or dangerous direction. A more pragmatic view is that it just matched the east to west map movement. (7-15-96) Beginning

Devil Bat, The (1941) (**1/2, horror, classic) (8-2-99) (D.-Jean Yarbrough; Bela Lugosi, Suzanne Kaaren, Dave O'Brien, Guy Usher, Yolande Mallott, Donald Kerr) Low budget horror film done very much tongue in cheek--if you cannot afford good FX, then go for the chuckles. Lugosi is an apparently mild mannered town doctor who feels that a cosmetic firm cheated him out of his just rewards. To correct this, he proceeds to cut a swath through the families of the company owners by setting his home-grown giant bats on them. Cheesy and entertaining for a low brow mindless evening. AKA Killer Bats. Beginning

Devil Doll, The (1936) (***, horror, classic) (D.-Tod Browning; Lionel Barrymore, Maureen O'Sullivan, Frank Lawton, Robert Greig, Lucy Beaumont, Henry B. Walthall, Grace Ford, Rafaela Ottiano) Recently on cable. Coscripted by Eric von Stroheim. Entertaining story of banker (Barrymore) and scientist (Walthall) who escape from Devils Island. The scientist and his crazed assistant (Ottiano) have developed a way to reduce living creatures to a fraction of their original size--with, of course, very noble intentions. After the scientist's death, the banker returns to France to extract vengeance on those who framed him, destroyed his family, and left his daughter (O'Sullivan) in poverty.

Barrymore's performance, especially when he is disguised as a woman, is excellent. The high point of the film is the effects. The photo overlays are respectable, especially given the time. However, a number of the scenes are done with absolutely magnificent oversized sets that make the "dolls" look correct. The effect is spectacular! The plot and effects are better than the later Dr. Cyclops.

Devil Doll seems to be unique. It is the first film that I can point to that has a mad woman scientist (Ottiano). The end is a bit mushy, although the implied end of the banker probably just squeaked by the censors--this was one of the many things that could not appear on screen. (6-23-97) Beginning

Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) (***, crime, drama) (D.-Carl Franklin; Denzel Washington, Tom Sigmore, Jennifer Beals, Don Cheadle, Maury Chaykin) Based on the book by Walter Mosely. The time is 1948. The location is the black community of Los Angeles. "Easy" Rawlins (Washington) is out of his aircraft job, has a house mortgage to cover, and is down to his last few bucks when opportunity knocks. Easy job. Find the girl friend (Beals) of the possibly next mayor and make big bucks. Only nobody is who they appear to be, and bodies begin to sprout around Easy likes daffodils through the spring snow. Police don't like having to clean up after this, and fix their steely gaze on Easy who seems to have the misfortune of being the last to be seen with the now-deceased. Classic film noir where the hapless protagonist finds himself deeper in the quicksand with every step taken to extricate himself. Solidly put together with entertaining characters (you will long remember Mouse), convoluted plot, fine camera work, and good performances. Washington is eminently believable as Everyman caught in a force beyond his experience. In spite of these pluses, Devil never succeeded in generating any real tension for me. The film was just too laid back, and Easy never seemed in any real danger (except maybe from his friends). Since Washington is such a fine actor, I must attribute the distance to the story and the director. Nevertheless, entertaining. (10-9-95) Beginning

Devil's Advocate, The (1997) (**, horror, suspense) I'm lucky to escape with my life on my rating on this one. My wife thought it was worse, much worse. I enjoyed it. However, I assumed that the film was tongue-in-cheek all the way through and was not to be taken seriously. Reeves is a young lawyer in Florida who succeeds in getting real scum off by masterful manipulation of the system and he has never lost a case. A super high powered New York firm headed by John Milton (Pacino) brings him up and hires him by flashing everything the Big Apple can offer. In case you haven't gathered from the title and Pacino's character's name, let me add that Milton only travels by the underground. So can Reeves be seduced by his dark side? The bulk of the film sets up what I thought was the riotous conclusion where Pacino presents his logically compelling case to Reeves. I loved Pacino's evil, seductive, over the top performance. Many of the visual images were spectacular. The rooftop water fall at the beginning and the wall bas relief come to mind. Just remember that my wife feels that $2.00 at The Jefferson, when it gets there, will be probably too much--or take it as humor. (11-3-97) Beginning

Diabolique (1955) (***1/2, suspense-horror) (D.-Henri-Georges Clouzot, Simone Signoret, Vera Clouzot, Charles Vanel, Noel Roquevert) At Sneak Reviews. Viciously effective classic black and white French thriller. Only slightly dated with more than enough complexity and style for modern audiences. The wife and mistress of a sadistic schoolmaster plot an ingenious solution to their common problem. Unfortunately for them, disturbing and unexpected things begin to happen after the deed. Don't let anyone tell you about it beforehand. (11-22-93) (6-17-96) Beginning

Diabolique (1995) (**, suspense) (D.-Jeremiah Checik; Sharon Stone, Chazz Palminteri, Isabelle Adjani, Kathy Bates) A remake of the French classic. A sickly wife (Adjani) and mistress (Stone) of a brutal, tyrannical schoolmaster (Palminteri) plot his demise. See above review. Why do directors insist on trying to out do great films by putting them in English and tacking on a soft and unbelievable Hollywood feel-good ending--with a Friday the 13th style yet. However, Palminteri and Adjani do good jobs as the sadistic philandering husband and his wife respectively. You love to hate Palminteri. Unfortunately, Stone doesn't even come close to being the hard boiled mistress that Signoret masterfully captured. The film works fairly well as a remake (excluding the ending and Stone), but my advice is to skip the remake and see the superb, highly influential 1955 original, although the ending has lost some of its impact because of being so extensively copied. (6-17-96) Beginning

Dial M for Murder (1954) (**1/2, thriller) (D.-Alfred Hitchcock; Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings, John Williams, Anthony Dawson) Based on Frederick Knott's play. Rich Kelly is the wife of ex-tennis star Milland. She terminated an affair with Cummings a year ago and he has just returned to England... Since much of the pleasure is in how this triangle unravels, I won't give anymore plot except it is a Hitchcock and involves blackmail, murder, and deception. Milland is ever so calculating. Kelly is believable, but Cummings never has much of a part or generates any real character. Dawson is pleasantly slimy, and Williams is the cool detective. While having an entertaining plot with a number of twists, I think M suffered from two problems. First, the constricted stage setting kept the director from really exploiting his talent for the twisted set piece. Second, the plot doesn't credit the audience with enough intelligence. A number of things are explained in overly long detail after the audience has figured them out.

M was made in 3-D at the very end of the 3-D craze, but was generally released in regular format. In fact, other than being voguish, it isn't clear why Hitchcock used 3-D since the largely static format rarely lends itself to noteworthy 3-D. However, at the Hitchcock exhibit at Universal Studios they showed the scissors scene in 3-D, and it was impressive. As with Lifeboat, it is entertaining to see how Hitch manages to impose himself on the constrained list of characters.

Review based on the Warner Brothers release A Night at the Movies 1954 Dial M for Murder (Clemmons Library), which is complete with newsreel, previews, and an amusing Daffy Duck and Porky Pig My Little Duckaroo cartoon. In short the full cinematic experience from my youth. The only thing missing was the B-rated second feature. And yes, even as late as 1954, much of our visual images of the world still came to us through the weekly theater newsreels.

Error: In one of the last scenes in the apartment, the shadow of someone outside the window is seen on the wall. Beginning

Dial M for Murder 3D (1954) (11-1-99) (D.-Alfred Hitchcock) Full Review. This is Hitchcock's classic thriller. While not one of his best, it shows the classic Hitchcock style. The reason that it showed at TechnoVisions is that it was shown in 3D. It showed to sell out crowds in Culbreth Theater (seating 584). Dial M was released at the end of the 3D cycle and shown largely in the non-3D version, so this was a real treat even for old dogs. Since the film is in color, it uses the polarizing glasses. While the technology is a bit primitive by modern standards (e.g., the mind blowing Terminator 3D at Universal Studios), the effect is still dramatic. Indeed, the crowds cheered the opening credits. Beginning

Diamond Men (2002) (***1/2, drama, comedy) (4-8-09) (DW.- Daniel M. Cohen; Robert Forster, Donnie Wahlberg , Bess Armstrong , Jasmine Guy) A low budget charmer. This is one of those films that the less you know about it beforehand the better. However, I'll give you the basic setup. Eddie Miller (Forster) is about 50 and a diamond salesman who travels the roads between Pennsylvania towns like an old clipper ship, has done so for as long as he can remember, and knows every client by first name as well as their kids and grandchildren. He is very good at it. Then he has a heart attack, recovers, but the company decides to phase him out. He is now too big a risk to be hauling a million dollars in diamonds around in his trunk. Some crass business practices don't change. The company brings in Bobby Walker, (Wahlberg ) who Eddie is expected to train as his replacement. Talk about a culture clash. Eddie likes classical music. Bobby rock. Bobby likes wild partying; Eddie hasn't dated a woman since his wife died years ago. Bobby is anything but professional in his approach to work; here they are, take em or leave em. Eddie is the total professional who has cultivated his clients and explains to Bobby "When they say 'no,' they're looking for a way to say 'yes.' " And Eddie knows the ways to yes.

Bobby does want to learn, but he especially feels that Eddie is in serious need of a life make over. Life is not just work, work, work. Not surprisingly his approach to restoring Eddie's joy of life doesn't always mesh well with Eddie's staid uptight personality. For example, Bobby's idea of a good time girl isn't Eddie's. Nor is the Altoona Riding Club. We get humor as the two men adjust to each other and begin to alter each other in subtle and not so subtle ways. We expect this to play out as a buddy bonding movie. It is, but it is much more. Just as you get comfortable, it throws in a plot twist that totally rearranges the landscape. Then as things again fit nicely it alters course yet again, continually reinventing itself. If you want to know what the shifts are, rent the movie.

Diamond has some of the most endearingly quirky characters and situations I have seen in quite a while. The acting and interactions between the characters is first class. The plot is full of delightful surprises. Available at Sneak Reviews. Beginning

Diary of a Hitman (1992) (**1/2, crime drama) (D.-Roy London; Forest Whitaker, John Bedford-Lloyd, James Belushi, Lois Chiles, Sharon Stone, Sherilyn Fenn, Seymour Cassel, Lewis Smith) Suspenseful offbeat thriller about weary hitman (Whitaker) who is falling apart

physically and psychologically. Tony (Cassell) is his contractor of long standing and a "friend" who is trying to keep him together. Whitaker agrees to do one last hit because he needs the money (after a lifetime of lucrative hits, this indicates that he has the usual criminal's lack of long range foresight). But it couldn't be an uglier hit as it involves much more than taking out a not too swift wife (Fenn). Whitaker's performance is well done and Fenn's perfomance of desperation is over the top which, in my opinion, given her background and the situation is very realistically cunning. Note, however, that others' view Fenn's performance range from abysmal to very well acted. Scripted by Kenneth Pressman and based on his play. Parts certainly show its stage origin. Adult situations, language, nudity, and violence. (4-17-95) Beginning

Dick (1999) (** or ***, comedy) (4-16-01) (DW.-Andrew Fleming; W.- Sheryl Longin; Kirsten Dunst, Michelle Williams, Dan Hedaya, Will Ferrell, Bruce McCulloch, Teri Garr, Dave Foley, Jim Breuer, Ana Gasteyer, Harry Shearer) Another double rated film. Very much an inside job. If you were an avid fan of the Watergate Scandal that brought down President Nixon, you will enjoy Dick. If you aren’t familiar with the events, the details, and the principals, the humor is likely to wash right over you and I’d give it **. If you want to really know how the scandal unraveled check out this satirical spin. Two typical ditzy teenage girls, Betsy (Dunst) and Michelle (Williams), are inadvertently in it from the beginning. I won’t spoil the plot by giving details, but we do get a lot of Nixon (Hedaya), Bernstein (McCulloch) and Woodword (Ferrell), Haldeman (Foley), Dean (Breuer), Rose Mary Woods (Gasteyer), Liddy (Shearer), and Kissinger (Rubinek). The girls are delightful as they blunder, like unknowing bulls in a china shop, through the conspiracy. Hedaya is stellar as Nixon. A mass of egotism, insecurity, intelligence, and misunderstandings. Ferrell and McCulloch are a delight as the bickering Woodward and Bernstein team. The real pleasure is in watching how the director choreographs the destruction of a presidency to the largely innocent actions of a pair of young girls and explains in “logical” fashion the origins of so many of the little details of the Watergate Conspiracy. Now we can really understand so many of those bizarre events of the original. Dick is largely a one trick pony, but if you liked the original run, you will probably like the rematch. Review based on the DVD from Beyond Video, which also includes a director’s track. We watched only part of this, but it was clear that the director was making a small attempt to remind those unfamiliar with the incident what had happened. It doesn’t work; there is just too much. Beginning

Dick Tracy (1990) (*** Comic book adventure) (D-Warren Beatty; Warren Beatty, Charlie Korsmo, Glenne Headly, Madonna, Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, John Forsyth, and a host of other well knowns) Academy Awards in Art Direction - Set Direction, Makeup,and.Music-Best Song, "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)". A true comic book rendition of Chester Gould's Dick Tracy comic strip. The entire city is done as a mat overlays in a comic book format, and it works! Very imaginative and visually appealing. Incidentally, the train that cuts Tracy off was not there, but was actually an overlay--nothing is what it seems in this movie. Many of the old Gould villains are back in spades including Flat Top, Prune Face, and Mumbles. The makeup justifiably deserves the Oscar with much fun coming from trying to figure out who is actually incredibly well hidden beneath it. The plot revolves around the pervertedly brilliant Big Boy Caprice who manages to organize all the riff raff in the city into one coherent crime wave. Pacino is priceless as Big Boy who flawlessly runs together into one seemingly rational sentence an extraordinarily profound observation and an equally outrageous non-sequitar. You have to listen very closely to everything he says. Madonna, who cannot act even remotely, is perfectly cast as the singer whom Big Boy seizes along with the other property of an untimely deceased gang boss; going swimming in that massive concrete block wasn't one of his smartest ideas. Her flamboyant excesses and belted out 30's tunes help fuel the 1000 horse power engine of this run away visual and aural feast. Kosmos is excellent as the young orphan, Glenne Headly makes a good Tess Truhart, Tracy's love interest, and Beatty, never a shy one, does a solid Tracy. A comic book treat that will keep you bouncing for hours afterwards.(11-23-92) Beginning

Die Hard (1988) (****, action thriller) (D-John McTiernan; Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedela, Boris Godunov) For action fans run, do not walk, to your nearest video store. Do not confuse this with the very inferior Die Harder. An outstanding heart stopping action thriller with perfect timing, imagery, action sequences, and an outstanding sound track brought to you in part by Beethoven. Willis is visiting his ex wife at a business Christmas party when terrorists, led by Rickman, seize the high tech, secure building. Willis manages to evade them and the plot revolves around the cat and mouse game between the terrorists and Willis. The terrorists, with Rickman as the superbly controlled villain-leader, professionally take the building and hold off the police SWAT units, but find the resourceful, obnoxious Willis much harder to deal with. What makes Die Hard better than Die Harder is that Willis is more human and more vulnerable than the superman of Die Harder. The terrorists are superb villains, resourceful, efficient, deadly--the key to a good thriller. They also have delightfully human traits. The terrorist (Godonov) confirms my long held view that it wouldn't take much to convert a ballet dancer into a martial artist. The movie is full of fine bits and supporting parts. Heart stopping action, cliffhangers where each succeeding act surpasses the last one, comic relief, outstanding cinematography and pacing, characters you can relate to, and realistic little touches all contribute to make this one of my favorite action movies. Once this baby gets rolling, your heart doesn't slow down until the closing credits. A must see. Beginning

Disturbing Films: We consider two truly disturbing movies that take very different views of the dark side of the mind: Lord of the Flies and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932). Both treat humans as being intrinsically flawed (if you wish, innate sin). In Flies just below the surface is an animal core held together ever so delicately by a fragile net of rationality and civilization, but in times of stress the fabric rends and the fearful animals can break loose and rampage over the restraining monitor (see also Forbidden Planet). In Jekyll we have a duality of a good, humanistic part and a completely self serving evil part; both are rational and it is the balance between these two warring factions that determines our behavior. Plug in a cassette. Turn down the light. Be disturbed. (4-19-93)

Dog Day Afternoon (1975) (***1/2, drama) (D.-Sidney Lumet, Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning, Chris Sarandon, James Broderick, Sully Boyar) Based on a true failed bank robbery in brutally hot weather. Hostages are taken, negotiations rise and fall, the press and public have a field day, the robbers' personalities and reasons are revealed, threats are made, the press and public have a field day, the air conditioning fails, the FBI moves in, the press and public have a field day... Part farce, part tragedy. But which comes next? Reality can always be more bizarre than our wildest fabrications. Pacino's performance is like a fallen powerline on a water puddle, the supporting cast is outstanding, and this true story is right out of a madman's nightmare. Notice a much younger Hendrickson (the android Bishop in Aliens) as an FBI agent. I will not spoil the plot by saying too much, and don't read anything about it beforehand. Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. A fascinating, disorienting trip through the convoluted corners of men's souls. (6-28-93) Beginning

Dolores Claiborne (1995) (***, drama) (D.-Taylor Hackford; Kathy Bates, Jennifer Jason Leigh, David Straithairn, Christopher Plummer, Eric Bogosian, Judy Parft) Probably the last week at the Jefferson. Another Stephen King novel brought to the screen. The plot is weak, won't stand close scrutiny, and has been done better before. However, where Claiborne delivers is in first-rate performances, a top drawer set of interpersonal interactons, and a superbly unbalancing way of telling a story. Did Claiborne kill the invalid in her care at the beginning of the film? Did she kill her husband 15 year earlier during a total eclipse of the sun and get away with murder as the local detective thinks? For reasons not clear even to herself, Claiborne's estranged daughter, a successful news reporter, comes back to help--or perhaps just to see what actually happened. Claiborne is about the masks that people wear to hide what they really think and believe. Ultimately, Claiborne is about the unmasking and the answers to the original two questions.

Bates is superb as the hard, burned out Claiborne. Leigh is well cast as her daughter who carries her own demons. Plummer as the police detective is driven by the intolerable thought that Claiborne was the only murderer who escaped him in his long fruitful career, and now Providence has provided him the means to right this egregious wrong. This triangle is taut, rich, and believable given the circumstances. Straithairn as Claiborne's husband is nastily believable as the catalyst for this human mess.

If there are flashback scenes where the actresses seem completely puzzled by what is happening, this is not acting, but real. The director cleverly refused to tell them what was happening and how the scene would fit into the whole. In this way he achieved a level of befuddlement appropriate to the scenes that probably exceeded even the outstanding talents of Leigh and Bates. Specifically, this was done in the early scene when Bates was ordering her daughter into the house .As an aside, my wife read the novel, but didn't think that the director could capture the unique presentation of the book. She was delighted to discover that, while the director did not use the novel's approach, his unusual cutting style managed a delivery that equaled the novel's in unbalancing uniqueness. In spite of the absence of explicit sex and with minimal violence, Claiborne can be strong stuff. Two couples walked out while we were watching it. (6-26-95) Beginning

Don Juan (1926) (***1/2, classic, action, romance) (D-: Alan Crosland; John Barrymore, Mary Astor, Willard Louis, Estelle Taylor, Helene Costello, Warner Oland) I think Sneak Reviews has it. A classic. The very first sound film (Vitaphone), although the orchestral music and the sword fight sounds were the only sounds. Dialog was still considered too radical at this time, and its inclusion was being hotly debated. Since it is essentially a silent film from 1926, I was prepared to watch it for 5-10 minutes and say I had looked at it. Fortunately I didn't have anything else to do that evening. Even at 111 minutes, it is genuinely entertaining. The film is full of dry humor, spectacular sets, evil Borgias that could hold their own against the best modern villains, swashbuckling swordfights that would be the envy of modern action directors (and without the benefits of stunt men), and a frequently disorienting surrealistic air that Fellini would have loved. Of course it has the overacted visual style and variable speed cinematography (used to set mood and pacing) that is so characteristic of silents, but it works. Strutting, vain Don Juan (Barrymore) and ethereal Astor as the salvaging love of his life make up the love interest. Throw in evil personified in Oland (Cesare Borgia) and Taylor (Lucretia Borgia) where a lovely woman on the rack made up for the absence of TV. Lots of nifty lines such as when Juan prevents Astor's father from being poisoned. A Borgia says to him admiringly that they like clever friends and then adds meaningfully that they have "no clever enemies." Also, the scene where Juan accidentally has a nobleman's niece, wife, and mistress show up at the same time for an assignation is a riot. (10-30-95) Beginning

Doors, The (1991) (**, biography) (D.-Oliver Stone, Val Kilmer, Meg Ryan, Kevin Dillon, Kathleen Quinlan, Kyle MacLachlan, Frank Whaley) Set to the haunting music of The Doors, we are treated to the rise and self-destructive fall of Jim Morrison, lead singer for the sixties rock group The Doors. While you may not know them by name, you certainly have heard their "LA Woman", "Light My Fire", "Riders on the Storm", and "The End". As shown by Stone, some of their concerts of the sixties must have been truly wild happenings. When my son and I went to Def Leppard, I was really disappointed that the modern rock scene has cooled so much compared to that of Morrison's sixties. Unfortunately, if you are looking for logic and a rational reason for Morrison's sexual and drug excesses, Stone provides no insight. Perhaps, this is as it should be. There may indeed be no logical reason for why, when two apparently equivalent people are subjected to temptation, one survives and the other perishes. However, this makes for a most unsatisfactory movie, where images and sound alone try to make up for a lack of substance. Incidentally, Val Kilmer does a fine job and is an exact look alike for Morrison. The resemblance is absolutely uncanny. (7-7-94) Beginning

Double Indemnity (1944) (***1/2, drama, noir) (D-Billy Wilder, Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Edward G. Robinson) A Wilder Raymond Chandler script (from James M. Cain's novel) that makes a nastily lethal stew with MacMurray as an available young insurance salesman and Stanwyck as a bored, disgruntled wife. While this was probably pretty hot stuff in 1944, the necessary sexual chemistry to make it believable just couldn't be put on the screen then. In spite of this, it was instrumental in pushing the envelope on what was shown; the writers and director fought tooth and nail to put on what you do see. While entertaining with some nice touches, it does show its age. Most noteworthy as the model for Kasdan's stellar Body Heat where Kathleen Turner incinerates the screen with her sexuality. It does make a pleasant diversion and coupled with Body Heat makes an interesting comparison of the evolution of social mores and film making. (Reviewed 2-1-93) (8-18-93) Beginning

Down Twisted (1987) (**, action) (D.-Albert Pyun; Carey Lowell, Charles Rocket, Trudi Dochtermann) Obviously intending to capitalize on the story line and success of Romancing the Stone, Twisted doesn't make first base. In a banana republic, heroine is pursued by bad guys trying to recover a priceless artifact. Forget the story. However, even bad movies can have memorable moments and this one has a few fine visuals such as the opening and one knock out scene near the end. This late scene comes up so abruptly and ends so atypically that it stunned me, but when I analyzed it, it was so logical I admired its beauty. [If you plan to watch the movie, read no further.] The heroine and the male lead are trying to escape through the airport when the army moves in to catch them. She has the money in the suitcase. During the frenzied pursuit, she hides in the men's room, an unusual but reasonable hiding place when they are searching for a woman. One of the searching soldiers rushes in, confronts her, opens the suitcase to confirm her identity, pauses, grabs a handful of money (not too much, not too little), exclaims "Gracias señorita", and rushes outclearly declaring the rest room empty. The quick witted soldier, very likely a peasant conscript, obviously sees freedom in her suitcase and grabs the brass ring. His thanks are heartfelt, and why be greedy when there is enough for everyone. Further, by not being greedy, he reduces the chances that she will mention his action if she is captured. (10-24-94) Beginning

Dracula (1931) (***1/2, classic, horror) (D.-Tod Browning; Bela Lugosi, David Manners, Helen Chandler, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan, Herbert Bunston, Frances Dade) At Sneak Reviews (Charlottesville) and Film Festival at Home (Los Alamos). Based on the popular stage play, Dracula is also one of the more faithful presentations of Bram Stoker's novel, which is the classic and defining Dracula to which all others pay homage even when they jape it. Lugosi's smooth, fawningly evil Count is the quintessential Dracula as is Frye's over the top, bug-eyed, deranged Rensfield. Dracula has been so imitated, overworked, and poked fun at that it is now more likely to bring chuckles than shivers. However, taken on its own terms and in historical contexts, Dracula is a polished and effective piece of horror where one clearly sees the origins of many modern styles. The sets, in particular the grand stairwell scenes and the castle in the Carpathian Mountains, are exceptionally dramatic and effective even today. One oddity that I found that works in increasing the eeriness is the almost complete absence of background music. Classically trained Lugosi was an Hungarian immigrant and played Dracula in the stage role from 1927-30. He initially knew little English and learned his lines phonetically, which gives them their smooth, drawn out, carefully enunciated unsettling character. One of his classic lines is near the beginning in the Count's castle when he offers Rensfield a drink and Rensfield asks the Count to join him. Lugosi responds with "I never drink <pregnant pause> wine!" Lugosi was effectively typecast into the Dracula role and never escaped it. The two were so inseparable that, at his request, he was buried in his cape. Some facts from Microsofts Cinemania. See Vampires. (1-23-95) Beginning

Dracula (Spanish Version 1931) (***1/2, classic, horror) (9-10-01) (D.- George Melford; Carlos Villarias , Lupita Tovar, Barry Norton, Pablo Alvarez Rubio, Eduardo Arozamena, Jose Soriano Viosca, Carmen Guerrer) Review based on the DVD, which has both the English and Spanish version. However, I will only review the Spanish version here as the English version is reviewed at http://www.people.Virginia.EDU/~jnd/a-z/d.htm#Dracula31. In the early age of talkies it was common to make the same movie with casts who spoke other languages. The English version of Dracula was made during the day and the Spanish version was made on the same sets at night—a complete changing of the guard. Villarias does a stellar job as the Count. I have no doubt that the Spanish version had as profound and disturbing an effect on the Spanish-speaking audiences as did the Lugosi version on English speakers.

The film is as disturbing as the English version, but also suffers from the fact that the portrayal of the Count has become so stylized and used as the basis of so many jokes that it loses some of its impact. Nevertheless, a good ride on the dark side.

There are very real differences in the two versions of the film. Many of the scenes are set up quite differently and there are substantial plot differences. The Spanish version is ultimately more upbeat. The ways in which the two directors approach the appearance of the Count differ radically, but both work. There is also a lot more skin in the Spanish version. The English version had the women in high collared dresses while the Spanish one used low cut ones and sheer nightwear. The DVD has an interesting interview with Tovar, the young actress playing Eva. She thought nothing of the clothing issue and was startled later when she saw how conservative the English version was. She also used to come to the sets an hour or more before everyone else—a truly creepy experience, and I assume a useful one for getting into the mood. She later married the producer, and their daughter’s sons, Chris and Paul Weitz, produced the film American Pie. As an aside the director didn’t speak Spanish, and the cast didn’t speak English. The interpreter appears to have allowed a lot of free expression. A tribute to the talents of everyone involved.

The film has excellent production values and acting. The print has been restored and is beautiful. A must see for all horror film buffs.

There is a strong movement to declare the Spanish version superior to the English one. I did not watch them back to back so am not about to make a claim. Both are very good. Beginning

Dracula (1973) (**1/2, horror) (D.-Dan Curtis, Jack Palance, Simon Ward, Pamela Brown, Nigel Davenport ,Fiona Lewis, Penelope Horner) Stylish, lovingly photographed TV movie that holds its own against theatrical releases. A competently executed, reasonably faithful adaptation of Stoker's novel. Palance, as always, has craggy sinister features and exudes oily menace, but with a surprisingly sympathetic portrayal of the doomed Count. With the screen play by Richard Matheson, however, one hoped for more. See Vampires. (2-8-93) Beginning

Dracula (1979) (***, horror) (D.-John Badham, Frank Langella, Laurence Olivier, Donald Pleasence, Kate Nelligan, Trevor Eve, Janine Duvitski) A standard retelling of the Dracula legend with the sexiest count to ever grace the screen. Langella exudes such sensuality that spells or magic would be unnecessary to attract nubile young women. Not well received by the critics, but Langella's performance, a repeat of his acclaimed Broadway role, is worth watching. See Vampires.(2-8-93) Beginning

Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995) (**1/2, comedy, horror) (D.-Mel Brooks; Leslie Nielsen, Peter MacNicols, Mel Brooks, Steven Weber, Amy Yasbeck, Lysette Anthony, Harvey Korman) The problem with trying to spoof Dracula is that the book and original film have such intrinsic power that even while being japed the underlying drama and horror can still surface and strike deep primordial fears. Having said that, Dead does have many light moments, a few fine belly laughs, and a fine time making fun of the Victorians and the Dracula myth. Nielsen is a fine Count. MacNicols is great as Renfield--a parody of Dwight Frye's parody. It will be awhile before I forget the breakfast. Korman's pompous style is perfect for Dr. Seward and the women are suitably heaving and vulnerable in the Victorian fashion. Weber (Harker) is adequately unaware as to what is really going on. While Brooks' van Helsing is fractured, even Brooks cannot consistently make fun of the great vampire hunter. If you go into Dead in the right frame of mind, not a bad evening. However, do remember, "Position is everything." Beginning

Dragon Heart (1996) (***1/2, fantasy, action) (D.-Rob Cohen; Dennis Quaid, Sean Connery (voice of Drago), David Thewlis, Dina Meyer, Julie Christie, Pete Postlethwaite) I am a sucker for sword and sorcery films, and Dragon Heart more than fills this need. A classic tale of good (led down the wrong path) and pure unadulterated evil set in the 10th century. Evil has come upon the land, and Quaid is perhaps the only survivor of pure chivalrous knighthood. He is training the son of an evil lord in the hopes of passing on not just swordsmanship but also his ethics. Too bad that it would be easier to train a rat to like Shakespeare. His failure with the prince converts Quaid from a stalwart knight into a bitter and disillusioned renegade. After years have passed, Quaid encounters the last of the dragons and an absolutely magnificent and hilarious battle between the two evenly-matched antagonists ensues. They arrive at a draw and compromise--one which you aren't likely to find in any of the fables. Then, of course, the hero has to be led back to the role of all good knights--the climactic battle between good and evil.

Lots of brawling fights and dragon attacks (violence at Starwars' level), amusing characters and plot twists, and delightful chemistry between Quaid and Connery. Postlethwaite is a riot as the poetry writing Brother Gilbert who turns out to also have more pointed skills. Christie is excellent as the prince's mother. You will long remember her "A mother's gift to her son." of a set of dragon slayers. Thewlis, the grown prince, is a suitablly entertaining villain. The boy prince (missed the actor's name) is an incredible physical and oral likeness of Thewlis--looking at Thewlis, he knows exactly what he is going to be like in 10 years. Dragon Heart does borrow heavily from such classics as The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), but the role models are excellent and they do a nice job so, frankly, I don't care. The result is a lot of fun. The film does drag in a few places, especially where Drago the dragon waxes philosophical; the points were clear, didn't need to be labored, and should have been replaced by more action.

Much of the footage was in the Republic of Slovakia. Awesome terrain and castles! Clearly a place worth visiting now that they have the dragon problem under control.

Oh yes. I did forget to mention one small thing. Drago never existed. This is the first time where an entire character in a non-cartoon film was produced purely by computer animation. And superb animation it is along with the matching of the other characters with the dragon. Drago is REAL down to and including his articulated speech and very human physical mannerisms. Oh, there are a few places where the plants don't move from his beating wings overhead (possibly the fault of the new "Digital Continuity Editor" or "Dragon Foley Editor"), but you have to look for them. The real beauty of Dragon Heart is that they have taken the new technology to heart and used it as just another actor needed for the film. The digital technolgy is not the end, but the means to produce a truly realistic sword and sorcerer film. As an interesting aside, film makers have certain visual cues that they use in their story telling, and they are so standardized that we use them to interpret scenes without even thinking about them. In Dragon Heart, for example, there is one scene where Quaid is talking with Drago. Quaid is in the foreground and Drago completely fills the space behind him. To concentrate your attention on the speaker, Quaid is in sharp focus and Drago somewhat out of focus. This is easily done with cameras by controlling the f stop and focal plane. However, since Drago was inserted digitally, he was probably always in perfect focus. So for this shot, his image was probably digitally defocused to create the proper visual cues.

Dragon Heart is not the first dragon spectacular. Disney did the amusing and impressive Dragon Slayer in the early 80s with then state-of-the-art visuals with models. I suspect they still hold up. If you enjoyed Dragon Heart, you will probably also enjoy Dragon Slayer. (6-24-96) Beginning

Draughtsman's Contract, The (1982) (***1/2, costume drama) (8-13-01) (WD.-Peter Greenaway; Anthony Higgins, Janet Suzman, Anne-Louise Lambert, Hugh Fraser, Neil Cunningham, Dave Hill, David Gant, David Meyer) Clearly in the art house category and not for all tastes. An erotic mystery. The time is 1694 on a rich English estate. Mrs. Herbert (Suzman) wishes desperately to save her marriage, and chooses to do so by commissioning, in her husband’s absence, 12 drawings of his beloved estate, which is the only thing he has any real passion for. The selected draughtsman is one of the best, Mr. Neville (Higgins), who is a young, handsome, arrogant, egocentric city man. She meets his exorbitant price : “£8 (per) drawing; to provide full board for Mr. Neville and his servant, and to agree to meet Mrs. Neville in private and to comply to his requests concerning his pleasure of me." Beyond the contract, he is also a man of limited imagination.

Like the director of a modern film, Mr. Neville expects everything to be precisely the way he wants and to be totally under his control. However, slight discrepancies keep creeping into each of his masterpieces. He considers this, and his convoluted dealings with these country bumpkins, a mere irritation. There is, however, much more going on in this banter and familial machinations than he grasps. This leads to the puzzle of the drawings and a solution with life and death consequences.

Much like the formal English gardens included in his drawings, Contract is structured, cold and formal. The magnificent setting, the costumes, the formal sophisticated witty dinner conversation are all part of this structure. But the true underlying order does not emerge until the end, by which time you are scrambling to recall everything you have seen and what it means. My wife and I spent more time discussing and trying to interpret what we had seen afterwards than we spent watching the film. The film takes its own time in developing its story, but we found hanging in there well worth the effort.

Review based on the recent DVD from Sneak Reviews. It has an excellent wide screen transfer and actor biography, with no other supplementary material. Beginning

Dreamcatcher (2003) (** for those who have not read the book, *** for those who have, sci fi, horror) (12-310-03) (D.- Lawrence Kasdan, Morgan Freeman, Thomas Jane, Jason Lee, Damian Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Timothy Olyphant, Donnie Wahlberg) If you enjoyed some of King’s best books such as The Stand, you will probably love his Dreamcatcher. As with many of his books the plot is complex, convoluted, extensively uses mental processes, and the story telling is mesmerizing. I could hardly put this one down. However, converting this complexity to screen has rarely been done successfully. Too much has to be left out. Dreamcatcher with its top notch director and cast makes a valiant, but ultimately unsuccessful, attempt. The basic story is as follows: Four childhood friends linked by a telepathic bond to each other and a mentally challenged friend from their childhood go hunting in the Maine woods during a storm. The storm is the least of their problems as they find themselves the target of an alien invasion and a military establishment bent on suppressing it at any cost. The set up, I think, actually works for anyone watching the film. The bond between the men and the creeping dread as they begin to realize that something horrific is happening builds the story beautifully. Done at the appropriate pacing.

Unfortunately, once you are confronted with the monsters and the military, the remainder of the story is compressed. Critical details are left out. Physical monsters were created where the book’s creatures were mental. And the imposed twist on the ending is a disaster. Nevertheless, for those who have read the book, the last half is a fascinating exercise in analyzing why the movie makers did what they did, how they chose parts, and why they changed some. And ultimately why it didn’t work. One major, and justified, criticism of the film is why should a race capable of star travel resort to an Alien-like method of infestation. This is completely and logically explained in the book even though the movie leaves all the wrong impressions. A miniseries would have been perfect.

The movie is moody, creepy, with lots of fine touches. An issue that we could not understand was how they would handle the critical mental processes in Jonesy’s mind. They came up with a stellar conceptualization. The acting is good and Jonesy’s part, played by English actor Lewis, is one of the high points of the film.

Review based on the DVD. Warning: Do take my dual warning very seriously. Beginning

Dressed to Kill (1946) (**1/2, crime) (12-03-01) (D.-Roy William Neill; Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Patricia Morison, Edmond Breon, Carl Harbord, Patricia Cameron, Tom Dillon) Sherlock Holmes is the most filmed single character in movies. This is the last, and apparently one of the least, of the Sherlock Holmes series starring Rathbone as Holmes and Bruce as Doctor Watson. The story revolves around three music boxes that are the source of mayhem and murder. I won’t reveal any plot; but, you don’t’ really watch this film for its plot. It is the polished interaction of the two principles. Rathbone with his regal features and immaculate diction is the quintessential Holmes, and Bruce with his bumbling, frequently clueless character is the perfect sidekick.

Review based on the DVD from Clemons. The film also has seven radio broadcasts of the Rathbone-Bruce series complete with the original ads! Having grown up on radio series and waited breathlessly every week for the next show, this brings back fond memories. For viewers who have never listened to a radio broadcast of a show, this is a golden opportunity to hear what used to be one of the primary forms of mass media entertainment. The shows are accompanied by beautiful stills from countless different Holmes’ films including Dressed. You may want to turn you back on the TV so as to not have this disrupt your listening.

One is left with the impression that the film is restored. This is clearly incorrect (see next entry).. While the film itself isn’t in bad shape, the audio is frequently awful. Especially at the beginning it is so mushy as to be almost incomprehensible. It gets better, but has relapses. So if this is the best that can be recovered, it was done none too soon.

Dressed to Kill in the Holmes Triple Feature (1946) (3-25-02) I have already reviewed the single film DVD of this movie. The problem with the film and sound on the earlier disk was not the state of the film, but the quality of the reproduction. The triple feature has a fine visual-audio reproduction of the film.Beginning

Drive-In Theaters

One year I plan to make the cover theme of the year's compilation The Drive-In Theater. I had planned to use this topic when I prepared to go out to New Mexico for six months a few years ago. I reasoned that the Southwest, being consistently warmer and drier than the East, would have more drive-in theaters, and be a rich source of photo ops. Alas, I found about as few functioning drive-ins out there as we have in Virginia. However, the number of decaying drive-in carcasses on the highway of the VCR revolution is higher in the Southwest; building space is not at such a premium.

The Tonto Drive-In Theater in Winslow, Arizona (1997). The theater had been out of busness for at least 10 year.

I grew up in the era of drive-ins. Saturday night family entertainment consisted of bundling up the kids, even toddlers, and ripping over to a drive-in. Some drive-ins even had playgrounds. It was always a double feature and a few places had triple and quad features (multiple films on the same screen). In the 50s, I think admission was $0.50 for adults. I knew guys who would stuff their dates in the trunk to save money, although I'm not sure they ever had another date. Drive-ins were always cheaper than regular theaters, which was greatly appreciated on a student's lowly budget. The billing generally included the A picture (longer, better talent, better budget) paired with a B picture (shorter, cheaper, and with less talent). Drive-ins were also where you still had a chance to see older films. To save money we usually brought our own popcorn and soft drinks. I have exceptionally fond memories of these weekend jaunts, which probably accounts in part for my love of films. To give you some idea of their popularity, before I was in high school Albuquerque had three regular single screen indoor theaters, an art theater, and at least five single screen or twin drive-ins that I can remember. Albuquerque's last drive-in closed in 1996.

Drive-ins weren't just family entertainment. The nickname Passion Pits was dead on. They were the favorite necking spots for hormonally inflamed teenagers and students. A good place to get better acquainted after initial, more neutral, ground meetings. To insure that things didn't get too steamy, some drive-ins had patrols that would go around and rap on the windows of the too-heavily engaged. No one would try that nowadays for fear of being greeted by a volley of gunfire. At times a few drive-ins even had heaters physically similar to the speakers that you hung inside your car. These were never an acceptable substitute for a good car heater.

Actually, it turns out that we have an old style family drive-in right near here. The Fork Union Drive-In, which sits among the cornfields brings out families by the droves with herds of kids every weekend during the warmer months. I haven't been to a showing there, but I have it on good authority that it is everything that my fond youthful memories of drive-ins represent. Lexington also has one, but they don't advertise in the Charlottesville paper (but the Friday supplement lists theirs films). The antique car people frequently go on a roll to one of these drive-ins--befort it closed in many cases after a dinner at the 50s motif Pink Cadillac Restaurant southwest of Waynesboro.

What happened to drive-ins? In my opinion, it was a combination of technology, changing social mores, and a more diverse work force.

Improved, inexpensive color TVs with improved network programming had already inflicted substantial damage on the drive-in when the introduction of the VCR inflicted an essentially mortal wound. Any almost-current film for $1-3 to be viewed at your convenience with as many people as you wanted. Drive-ins just cannot compete. Coupled with ease of using TV or VCRs was the increasing cost of property in urban areas. It is hard to justify the small return of a drive-in on a prime piece of real estate. In Charlottesville, for example, a theater sat for many years on the ground that the Kroger's complex now occupies next to the 250 bypass. This worked as long as it was on the very edge of town, but of course growth took care of that, and Krogers is now practically in the center of town. Thus, drive-ins were forced into more remote locations at the same time it became easier to see what you wanted at home. A no-brainer.

As far as the intimate interpersonal interactions in the front seat, smaller cars led to the demise of the bench seat. Necking in bucket seats over a floor shift isn't impossible, but it certainly lacks creature comforts. Finally, the sexual revolution and increasing availability of empty homes in the afternoons of working parent families reduced the need for such private meeting places.

I miss the drive-in. It represents the passing of a piece of my youth. Drive-ins made for great family entertainment and a guaranteed way to get everyone together at least once a week.. Many of my fondest memories of my youth involve drive-ins. (6-3-97) Beginning

Drowning Mona (2000) (*, comedy) (12-25-00) (D.-Nick Gomez; W.-Peter Steinfeld; Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Neve Campbell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Casey Affleck, William Fichtner, Marcus Thomas, Peter Dobson, Kathleen Wilhoite, Tracey Walter, Will Ferrell) On paper it looks like a good idea. This has got to be the only reason that the talented Midler, DeVito, and Curtis did it. The savagely unpleasant Mona Dearly (Midler) is murdered. Her funeral is akin to a town celebration as everyone has good reasons for wishing her dispatched. The local Police Chief Wyatt Rash (DeVito) has to figure out who the guilty party was from his 460 suspects. During the course of the film, we are treated to a variety of quirky characters and their reasons for wanting Mona dead. Black humor is very tricky and requires great talent to pull off, but Mona doesn’t work at any level. The characters are uninteresting or just so unpleasant you develop no interest in them at all. The plot and comedy don’t work. The editing and timing are all off. For example, DeVito, a talented comedian, just floats from one suspect to another.

I would like to say that the main problem is that they didn’t drown Mona soon enough. However, they did that in the first 5 minutes. But like an unkillable Jason in Friday the 13^th, we were repeatedly inflicted with her unpleasant and unfunny character via flashbacks for the rest of the film. Actually, this brings to mind a good idea. Rent Friday the 13^th; you will get more laughs. If you want DeVito and Midler in top form, check out Romancing the Stone, Outrageous Fortune, and RuthlessPeople. Beginning

Dr. Cyclops (1940) (**1/2, sci fi, horror) (D.-Ernest Schoedsack; Albert Dekker, Thomas Coley, Janice Logan, Victor Kilian, Charles Halton) Classic effects driven color sci fi about mad scientist (Dekker) who shrinks humans to 18 inches (the actual size of King Kong). The director used most of his budget on effects; he should have spent a little more on story and dramatic timing. Very good use of anatomically correct giant model furniture and overlays makes the size differences truly believable. The director completely misses the boat for a horror film or thriller. The pleasant bright lighting, the jaunty musical score, and the steady stream of humor sets the completely wrong tone. One never develops any real sense of menace. Scenes that should build to a climax just happen, and there is no sense of relief or horror. The only shocking moment is the killing of one of the scientists. An interesting view for students of effects and early horror. (12-4-95) Beginning

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1913) (for film buffs only, silent, horror) (9-28-99) (D.-?; King Baggot, Jane Gail, Matt Snyder) Early, but not the earliest version of Robert Louis Stevenson's great novella. There are at least three others that predate it (1908, 1910, 1912--IMDb Internet Movie Database). This version is before the introduction of the bar girl and follows the original story reasonably closely. The transformations are respectacle for the time. Both parts of Jekyll and Hyde are played by Baggot who does a respectable job of both. From my standpoint, Hyde was a problem. He was ugly, deformed and weak. His evil only worked on the weak. Later versions endowed Hyde with great physical power, although frequently in a deformed body. However, in Stevenson's story, the lure of Hyde was his physical prowess and the lack of morals in using his strength. In this regard, I think later versions were more effective. Another weakness, even by silent standards, is that they left a lot of the story out. If you were not familiar with the plot, you would be lost for a good portion of the movie. Based on a recent copy by Sinister Cinema purchased from Movies Unlimited. The copy is in very good shape, although the hand written messages are poorly stabilized. The film is preceded by several very enjoyable Jekyll and Hyde trailers from over the years and followed by a very bizarre piece of animation, The Devil's Ball of unknown date. Beginning

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) (**1/2, horror) (D.-John S. Robertson, John Barrymore, Martha Mansfield, Brandon Hurst, Charles Lane) No less than the sixth silent version of Robert Louis Stevenson's tale, and considered a classic. However, considerable liberties were taken with Stevenson's story. While the moral conflict within Jekyll is somewhat more accurately portrayed than in the 1932/41 versions, the key internal struggle between Jekyll's diametrically opposed parts is inadequately realized. Nevertheless, Barrymore does a very credible job as both Jekyll and Hyde. This must have been a most sought after role as where else could an actor revel so luxuriously in depravity as Barrymore certainly does. One amazing point is that in the first transformation to Hyde, Barrymore manages the extraordinary feat with no facial make up or props! In later transformations where Hyde becomes grossly misshapen, time lapse overlays are used. The film does suffer from the exaggerated theatrical style of the early silents, although it is clear that the film makers are beginning to appreciate the power of the media and that stage exaggerations are no longer necessary. In spite of faults, an interesting period piece with respectable photography. (9-12-93) Beginning

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932) (****, horror) (D.-Rouben Mamoulian, Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, Rose Hobart, Holmes Herbert, Halliwell Hobbes, Edgar Norton) A 1932 horror version of Robert Louis Stevenson's story. What could be worse? WRONG! A real knock out that deserves ***1/2 even by today's standards and an extra 1/2 for being 1932. As an added pleasure, there is a filming error that either slipped by or was felt to be too complicated to fix--watch for it carefully and let me know if you find it or if you need more hints than the one given at the end of this review. Fredric March received an Academy Award for Best Actor as both the over inquisitive scientist (who asks one too many questions) of nature, and his released altered ego, the psychopathic Mr. Hyde (who, freed of morality and conscience, takes and does whatever he wants). Marsh is stellar especially in the unfettered Hyde who positively glows in his ugliness and power over others. Hopkins is outstanding as Ivy, the bar girl, who regrettably attracts both men's attention. The cinematography is stellar. The images through Jekyll's eyes and the use of mirrors are stunning. Can you figure out how the opening mirror scene was done? The initial transformation overlays are flawless even by modern standards. The use of split screen images and extreme facial close ups skillfully enhances the story. Many images will be seared into your conscience (e.g., the murder back drop). Also, when Hyde is finally free of Jekyll's control, he steps outside into a heavy rain, throws off his hat, and raises his face to the heavens to savor the freedom of rain failing onto his face for the first time. Further, recognize that many of scenes were created without the benefit of zoom lenses, which give modern movies a distinctive texture. The night scenes are beautiful. Much of the acting is good even by today's standards and only occasionally lapses into the irritating early style. Don't let the nauseatingly sweet hospital scene at the beginning turn you off. This is a nasty film with vicious emotional impact. The major weakness is the failure to present the internal conflict between the two personalities. One of them is always in complete control. Dr. Jekyll.. comes in at 96 minutes and, according to Maltin, a butchered 82 minute. Note: If you look very closely, you can catch (barely) the reflection of a crew man. I won't make it easy by telling you where but interestingly my wife and daughter both caught it, and my son and I didn't. We generally mispronounce Jekyll. The e is long.

For a treat, read Stevenson's story. Terse, brutal, chilling, and believable with little overlap with the film. Stevenson's thesis is internal conflict and moral dilemma. How will Jekyll react when confronted with the possiblilty of enjoying without risk all the fruits forbidden him by society? Hyde supplies the potential mechanism. Ultimately, morality loses, and Jekyll becomes like a junkie who rationalizes the next fix and the actions of his altered self while lamenting his predicament. (4-19-93) Beginning

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) (**1/2, horror) (D.-Victor Fleming, Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, Lana Turner, Donald Crisp, Ian Hunter, Barton MacLane, C. Aubrey Smith, Sara Allgood) This movie violates the rule: In the absence of anything new to say, remain silent. While this is adequate, well acted, and occasionally visually interesting, it follows the 1932 version almost exactly down to much of the dialogue. However, in keeping with Stevenson's story, Hyde here is not ugly physically, although he does reek of evil. Tracy's part minimizes the goody-goody character of the '32 Dr. Jekyll. However, as with other versions, it is with the malevolent Hyde that actors blossom. Hyde is such a plum rolea part to die for. Tracy is never as electrifying as was March's Hyde. Bergman holds her own as Ivy, but adds nothing new. Also, the cinematography never rises to the visually stunning level of the 1932 version. If you have never seen the 1932 release, you will probably enjoy this version but I recommend going directly to the 1932 version. Stevenson's story has yet to be told Stevenson's way. For gifted budding young film makers, the definitive Dr. Jekyll awaits you. (9-5-93) Beginning

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) (****+, satire, war, drama) (3-33-99) (11-18-08)(D.- Stanley Kubrick; Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Slim Pickens, Keenan Wynn, James Earl Jones) One of Kubricks earlier black and white works. This is one of the funniest and most savagely satirical antiwar works since Chaplin's The Great Dictator. Even in this day of the breakup of the Soviet Empire, the views of government, the military, and human nature are still consistent. If you saw this movie when you were young, you very likely missed much of the subtle wit and insights; see it again. The movie is loosely based on the deadly serious book Fail Safe, which was also made into a movie by the same name. As an antiwar statement, Strangelove is the best.

The plot revolves around the launching of a nuclear first strike against the Soviets by Colonel Jack D. Ripper (Hayden) of Burbpulson Air Force Base. Peter Sellers has 3 parts (mad scientist, US president, and RAF officer). Slim Pickens has one of the most memorable "rodeo" rides in history. George C. Scott as the gung ho AF officer is priceless while he is bragging about our technology being so good that it (whoops!) guarantees the end of the world. As any good satire, you find yourself laughing, stop short, and ask "My God, how can I be laughing at this?" Especially the end. When it first showed audiences literally walked out stunned and in a daze. Numerous Academy Award nominations. World SciFi Society Hugo Award. A MUST SEE. (10-23-95)

Additional Material (11-18-08) I just showed Dr. Strangelove to Monroe Hill Resident College. It had an extremely good turnout and a very enthusiastic crowd. My only regret was that most of the students had seen it before. It is a film that deserves, nay demands, a new audience. It is timeless and one of my top 10 films. I showed the Special Edition DVD, which had the documentary The Art of Stanley Kubrick from Short Films to Strangelove and Inside the Making of Dr. Strangelove. These alone would be worth the price of the DVD

I’ll pull a few things from these extras. Peter Sellers did three roles: the President, Captain Mandrake, and Dr. Strangelove. He was also supposed to do Captain Kong. He was stressed out by the four roles and wanted to drop the fourth because of the Texas accent, but he did manage that. Unfortunately, during one of the rehearsals, he fell 15 feet from the bomb bay of their bomber model and broke his leg. Since the role required reasonable athletic activity, he had to pass on the part. The director had seen Slim Pickens in other films and decided he was perfect for the role. When Pickens, who was the Cowboys cowboy first came swaggering onto the English set in full western regalia, people commented that he had already gotten dressed for the part, not appreciating that this was Slim Pickens. His rodeo ride has become one of the most famous icons in filmdom.

The movie was scheduled to have a pie fight in the war room. However, they only had time for one take and the actors were clearly enjoying themselves too much for the mood the scene was supposed to set. It really wouldn't have worked anyway, but the clips on the short are a hoot. Incidentally, President Reagan wanted to see the War Room when he assumed the presidency only to find out that it was created for the movie and actually didn't exist. It certainly looks like it should.

The interior of the B-52 was entirely the designers creation. The Air Force wouldn't supply any information. When some military brass got a screening of the film, they went white when they saw the interior of the cockpit. Kubrick then told the designer that everything that he had used in its creation had better be unclassified or they were in serious, serious trouble.

The above photo is a composite of the first atomic explosion wth an anatomically correct hydrdogen bomb relative to the B-52. The photo of the atomic explosion was taken by amateur photographer Jack Aeby. This is the only known color photograph of the first atomic explosion. According to his daughter who wrote me several years ago, the photo I and everyone else uses is actually flipped. Without comparing the whole original against the desert landscape at Trinity Site there is no way to tell.

Note: Dr. Strangelove... was every bit as good as I remembered. I wanted to see it with college students and other young people and watch their reactions; it is, after all, a 1964 film and the cold war is all but gone. They loved it. At the time, Strangelove was considered very left wing and antiestablishment, which led to its poor showing at the box office. Perhaps it is some of these features that contribute to its timelessness and good playing today. It is certainly savagely, satirically antiestablishment. George C. Scott's performance as AF officer "Bucky" Turgidson has to be seen to be believed and is worth the price of admission. I never appreciated what a comic Scott was. He has a face like a large-type novel where you can read every syllable that he is thinking as he is thinking it. (10-30-95) Beginning

Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) (**1/2, classic, adventure, drama) (D.-John Ford; Henry Fonda, Claudette Colbert, Edna May Oliver, John Carradine, Jessie Ralph, Arthur Shields) Dated, but still entertaining film about Revolutionary War farmers in the Mohawk Valley. Crisp color photography, a charmingly offbeat cast, and an impressive climactic battle for the fort keep things moving along. Colbert, from a well-to-do Eastern family, marries Western farmer (Fonda). One can safely say that her first night on the old homestead leaves something to be desired, but her ultimate acceptance is believable. For many, having freedom, the direct reaping of one's own labor, and a spectacular new world is more than enough compensation for the sacrifices. (7-22-96) Beginning

Duck Soup (1933) (****, comedy) See Marx Brothers.Beginning

Duel (1971) (***, horror) (D.-Steven Spielberg, Dennis Weaver, Tim Herbert, Charles Peel, Eddie Firestone) Spielberg's directorial debut. A crisp, low budget TV thriller. Even in his first film, Spielberg demonstrates the elements that make his films so good: economy in all areas with skillful pacing and camera work all combined to produce a truly frightening atmosphere. Stylish and remarkably imaginative given the budget and constraints of the potential action. A businessman (Weaver) on an isolated desert road, a psychotic truck driver, and an imagined slight trigger a vicious duel to the death. Much like a medieval dragon, our monster is a foul, grim encrusted, smoke belching implacable behemoth--a decaying gasoline tank truck whose only recognizable humanity is in a flammable sign and the plates. Terror comes from the sudden conversion of the pedestrian, the almost unnoticed, into a fearsome instrument of destruction. Rightly, the truck driver remains faceless; he is like an Old Testament tool of punishment. Duel is good on its own terms, but a must see for anyone interested in Spielberg's evolution. Adapted by Richard Matheson from his story. According to Maltin, telecast at 73m, then released theatrically at 88m (1983). Review based on a cable TV, commercial laden version of uncertain actual length. (8-23-93) Beginning

Duel at Diablo (1966) (***, Western) (D.-Ralph Nelson, James Garner, Sidney Poitier, Bibi Andersson, Dennis Weaver, Bill Travers, William Redfield, John Crawford, John Hubbard) A fine pony soldier-Indian shoot em up with a hard revisionist edge. Good and bad are gray, and survival or victory at any cost is the order of the day. Garner is a scout leading a cavalry troop with ammunition wagons through bleak Western country while renegade Indians try to capture wagons to support their rebellion. Garner is also hunting the murderer and scalper of his Indian wife. Throw in a few other side plots and you have an adrenaline pumping evening with more than the usual level of discussion of ethics and characterization afterwards. Both the Indians and troopers are believably brave, resourceful, and ruthless. Garner's scene with the sheriff has a nasty believable Dirty Harry feel to it. And yes, the title actually fits. (5-13-94) Beginning

Duellists, The (1978) (*** drama) (D-Ridley Scott; Keith Carradine, Harvey Keitel, Albert Finney) The Duellists is based on Joseph Conrad's story "The Duel". Carradine and Keitel are two French officers in Napoleon's army. Keitel is a hair-trigger psychotic and a minor incident leads to a long standing (multiyear, multiwar) feud between the two. The plot is interesting and adequate, but suffers from a lack of depth and inadequate character development. How does one define honor and how flexible is this definition? How does one handle a disturbed mind with a bizarre sense of honor? In a society where a slight could easly lead to a duel to the death, these are not academic issues. In spite of the plot shortcomings, Scott (Bladerunner) is a master at creating alternative worlds. A home run in Napoleonic France! The Duellists is one of the most visually stunning atmosphere movies you will ever see. Numerous scenes would look fabulous framed on your wall. The attention to historical details was apparently excellent. Cavalier officers of the period did wear braids down the sides of their head to help soften a weak saber blow. Note also the Celtic music played in the tavern. Bagpipes are indigenous to parts of both France and Spain. As an aside, the last scene is of a sun rise over a river valley. Yes, your eyes do not deceive you. The valley, as well as the entire area, was in full flood and the instant the take was finished the film crew packed up and raced out of the area through the last unflooded road. Recommendations: See in the theater or letterboxed on the largest TV around. 10-26-92) Beginning

Duplicity(2009) (***, crime, romance, thriller) (10-14-09) (DW-Tony Gilroy; Clive Owen, Julia Roberts, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Giamatti) If you have seen the trailers, you get what you see in a satisfying package. The film begins when Ray (Owen) and Claire (Roberts) have a meet cute. Only it isn't an accident but subterfuge. Their work is clandestine (CIA and MI6) and after a very sexually charged night, one is left with the very short end of the stick and strong desire for revenge. Years later, now freelancing as industrial spies, they are forced to work together. Oil and water does not do justice to the mismatch. The sexual and antagonistic chemistry between Owen and Roberts is palpable and the dialogue entertaining. Even as they flirt, their past and the very nature of all their training conspires to distance them. The film has numerous plots and twists as they maneuver their way through the thicket of industrial shampoo espionage with low lifes at every turn (the principals, of course, excluded). The competing CEO Howard (Wilkinson) and Richard (Giamatti) are a hoot as blood enemies trying to best the other. To say more would spoil the fun. The film is perhaps too convoluted for its own good, but it does keep your interest. Beginning