Movie Review: It Started in Naples
Year of Release: 1960
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Melville Shavelson
Cast: Clark Gable, Sophia Loren, Vittorio De Sica, Marietto Angeletti
Plot outline: An American lawyer trying to settle his bohemian brother's affairs in Italy falls for one of the man's in-laws (IMDb).
It Started in Naples was Clark Gable's penultimate movie and it is really his swansong as a romantic leading man. Gable began his career playing opposite stars like Greta Garbo and Norma Shearer, he would end it with Sophia Loren and Marilyn Monroe. He and Loren work wonderfully together, despite the age difference. Yes, men were - and still are for that matter - allowed to age much more slowly than women on the big screen. Loren does a sexy rendition of "Americano" wearing just a man's dress shirt and her panties. She also demonstrates a great flair for comedy. Gable is great as always. He exudes a gruff self-confidence, which is one of the sexiest assets a man can have. He also seems like he would have made a wonderful grandfather. But, still it is Marietto Angeletti as the precocious Nando Hamilton who easily steals the show. He delivers most of the pathos and laughs with his exuberant mix of world-weariness and innocence. Though the plot may be a bit rusty, It Started in Naples is an enjoyable movie for many reasons. One that I must mention is the scenery. Shot completely on location, the island of Capri is presented as a great place to visit, an exotic, decadent enclave of nonstop parties, with a racially and sexually diverse group of citizens. This provides the perfect setting for romance and culture shock. (EN)
My judgement: **1/2 out of 4 stars
Movie Review: Run Silent Run Deep
Year of Release: 1958
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Robert Wise
Cast: Clark Gable, Burt Lancaster, Jack Warden, Brad Dexter
Plot outline: Officers on a WWII submarine clash during a perilous Pacific tour (IMDb).
Run Silent Run Deep is an underwater testosterone in which Burt Lancaster pulls off a stunning upset of Clark Gable. Gable was getting on in years, and the bourbon had taken most of its toll, so while he's intense he never quite smoulders like he could. His performance is good all around, but he's most effective when he's acting ill. While Lancaster plays right with him, through that weird antagonistic/respect/subservient buddy thing that can only occur in military flicks. U-boats, you know, submarines, and a formidable foe before they even start in on each other. I like the shots of exploding water a lot, and Robert Wise manages to sustain an entertaining intensity while refusing to deviate from the reality of a group of men stuck together in a big tin box beneath the surface. (CT)
My judgement: **1/2 out of 4 stars
Movie Review: Teacher's Pet
Year of Release: 1958
Country of Origin: USA
Director: George Seaton
Cast: Clark Gable, Doris Day, Gig Young, Mamie Van Doren
Plot outline: A tough city editor assumes a fake identity to study journalism with a lady professor who's criticized his work (IMDb).
Teacher's Pet is an overlong but enjoyable romance revolving around a seemingly mismatched pair. Though the movie is essentially a prototypical romantic comedy (the fake breakup is usually a dead give-away), it's hard not to get wrapped up in this simple, effective little story. The sassy 34 year old Doris Day was sexy (quite different from the later "professional virgin" roles that she became famous for). But, with Clark Gable at 57 (just 4 years before his death), it's a bit of a stretch to think these two could be a match. Gig Young, playing Erica's comedically perfect boyfriend (he's won the Nobel Prize, can dance professionally, and plays a bongo!), steals every scene he's in. Gable delivers an expectedly charismatic, hilariously deadpan performance. It's clear that the movie would have benefited from the removal of a few needless subplots, though this is a relatively minor complaint for a movie that is otherwise breezy and likeable. (DN)
My judgement: **1/2 out of 4 stars
Movie Review: Mutiny on the Bounty
Year of Release: 1935
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Frank Lloyd
Cast: Charles Laughton, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone
Plot outline: On the HMS Bounty, Fletcher Christian leads a revolt against the ruthless Captain Bligh (IMDb).
Based on the true story of HMS Bounty in 1788, Mutiny on the Bounty has been remade twice, in 1962 and 1984, and neither can hold a candle to the original production. Director Frank Lloyd had a hard time getting MGM to back the story, getting a resounding “no” from Louis B. Mayer but finally getting producer Irving Thalberg to convince Mayer the story was marketable. The movie cost $2,000,000 depression-era dollars so you can imagine what it would cost today. Two full scale ships were built and sailed to Tahiti and back. Two of the biggest stars of the day were given the leading roles, Charles Laughton as Captain Bligh and Clark Gable as Fletcher Christian, first officer on the Bounty. Both stars had to be persuaded to take their roles: Laughton because he feared the implacable character of Bligh would typecast him; it did - and Gable because he felt the knee breeches and pigtail would make his millions of fans think he was a pansy; it didn’t. Adding to the cast, Franchot Tone played the idealistic young officer, Mr. Byam, and the crew was handpicked from the legendary MGM stable of supporting actors. Laughton as the tyrannical Captain Bligh makes one of the greatest screen villains of all time. He is competent and wicked and there is hardly a shred of weakness in him. He is the type of monster you have nightmares about. Of course, Gable is manly and his scenes with Tehani are heart throbbing. Both Laughton and costars Clark Gable and Franchot Tone were nominated for Best Actor, the only time that three actors from a single movie were nominated. Mutiny on the Bounty is a bona fide masterpiece; it contains the right mix of action, character development, and humor and makes the 132 minute running time see short. (GC)
My judgement: ***1/2 out of 4 stars
Movie Review: Mogambo
Year of Release: 1953
Country of Origin: USA
Director: John Ford
Cast: Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly
Plot outline: Victor Marswell, the owner of a big game trapping company in Kenya, becomes involved with the new wife of his guest (IMDb).
All your favorite African animals make cameo appearances. Lions, elephants, leopards, giraffes, zebras, hippos, rhinos, crocodiles, impalas. Even the secretary bird is a bit player, so Gardner can crack a joke about a female secretary ducking the advances of a male executive. Clark Gable is too old for the role, Victor Marswell, even though he was the lead in the successful original version, Red Dust (1932). But they say that power attracts, and certainly Gable is the big man on campus. For the crime of letting a panther escape, rather than tear off his limbs, Gable punches his less reliable white assistant, who naturally goes down for the count. Assault is less likely to solve his greater problem, whether to go blonde or brunette. In this case, the brunette is more fun, but the blonde burns with an intense heat. Through it all, the odd man out isn't really Gardner, who gets to spar with all concerned while playing the role of heartbroken but chin up second choice lover. The sap is Kelly's husband, Nordley, who chalks up her refusal to sleep with him as a disinclination for African camp life. When he's out of the way, Kelly exchanges torrid glances with Gable, but doesn't go much further because she's a good girl at heart, and there were no "R" rated movies in 1953. Even in Africa, it's a white man's world. Blacks are servants, scouts, laborers, hunters, and warriors. But they certainly aren't equals, and none appear to speak even broken English. However, Gable and his two fellow white trappers speak any native language fluently, regardless of which tribe they are obliged to exploit. A good script, a famous cast, a legendary director. All the ingredients are there, but the recipe for greatness proves elusive once again. It's not just the use of animals as props and atmosphere, or Gardner's ceaseless badgering of whatever living being is closest to her (she needs a dog!) The problem comes back to the premise. This 1953 version of Clark Gable isn't such a great catch. Couldn't Ford have cast his buddy John Wayne instead? (BK)
My judgement: **1/2 out of 4 stars
Movie Review: Gone With the Wind
Year of Release: 1939
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Victor Fleming
Cast: Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland
Plot outline: The epic tale of a woman's life during one of the most tumultuous periods in America's history (IMDb).
Adapted from Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel of the same name, Gone With the Wind is perhaps the most successful movie of all time. The story, and the characters, have become a part of American cultural heritage. The story begins in Georgia, just prior to the Civil War. Beautiful and spoiled Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) schemes to win the love of the honorable Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard), who is engaged to his saintly cousin Melanie (Olivia de Havilland). Scarlett fails in this effort, but wins the admiration of dashing scoundrel Rhett Butler (Clark Gable). Ashley marries Melanie, then goes off to fight the Civil War. Scarlett moves to Atlanta to be with Melanie and wait for Ashley's return. Eventually, Union troops siege and capture Atlanta, forcing Scarlett, Melanie, and her newborn baby to flee to Scarlett's home at Tara, which has been impoverished by looting Federal troops. After much humiliation and unethical behavior, Scarlett rebuilds Tara and becomes a wealthy businesswoman. She marries Rhett and has a daughter, but her marriage is stormy. Is Gone With the Wind pro-slavery? In the pre-war scenes, the blacks seem content with their lot, and show devotion to the white "masters" who control their lives. Pork (Oscar Polk) is a shuffling, slow-talking stereotype. Prissy (Butterfly McQueen) is described by Rhett as a "simple-minded darky". But to its credit, Gone With the Wind has two very strong and positive roles. The characters listen with respect to Mammy (Hattie McDaniel), whose straightforward comments make for sage advice. McDaniel won Best Supporting Actress, an outstanding achievement during an era of segregation. Big Sam (Everett Brown) shows great courage rescuing Scarlett from grave danger. The story does sag once or twice, but only in comparison with its best parts. The movie peaks midway, during the siege of Atlanta. The best action scenes are here, and the devastation war is clearly demonstrated by the horrific hospital scenes and acres of wounded soldiers. The movie picks up again during a postwar sequence loaded with suspense. Scarlett has narrowly escaped an attack on her by lowlifes in a shantytown. A dangerous vigilante action is then taken by the men in Scarlett's life, while their wives wait anxiously for their return. Scarlett O'Hara, the central character, is shrewd, manipulating, and selfish. She is despised by most of the other female characters. Yet she is presented to the audience clearly as a heroine. Women identify with her determination, and she shows positive traits helping Melanie to deliver her baby, and saving and rebuilding Tara after the war. Rhett Butler is a self-proclaimed scoundrel, but he keeps performing heroic actions that contradict what he says, just as his love for Scarlett shows despite his frequent cruelty to her. Although he enjoys adventures apart from Scarlett, one of the movie's recurrent themes is his return to her, and his determination to have her love him more than Ashley. One wonders at first viewing why Melanie is so nice to Scarlett, who constantly schemes to steal Ashley from her. But Melanie does not view Scarlett as a threat, and perhaps she loves her more than Scarlett loves Ashley. Of course, Gone With the Wind is a costume epic and a soap opera. Because of its genre, and its strong appeal to women (the story is told through Leigh's character), there are naysayers (mostly men) who dislike the movie. But there is no doubt that it is an outstanding movie. If the costumes, the cinematography, and the script aren't enough to convince (which they certainly should be), the leading characters are extremely interesting and well defined. (BK)
My judgement: **** out of 4 stars
Movie Review: It Happened One Night
Year of Release: 1934
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Frank Capra
Cast: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert
Plot outline: A newspaperman tracks a runaway heiress on a madcap cross-country tour (IMDb).
There are few serious moments in this movie, and if there is a welter of improbable incidents these hectic doings serve to generate plenty of laughter. The pseudo suspense is kept on the wing until a few seconds before the picture ends, but it is a foregone conclusion that the producers would never dare to have the characters acted by Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert separated when the curtain falls. It Happened One Night is a good piece of fiction, which, with all its feverish stunts, is blessed with bright dialogue and a good quota of relatively restrained scenes. Although there are such flighty notions as that of having Ellie running away from a marriage ceremony when the guests - and particularly King Westley - had expected to hear her say "I will "; or those depicting Warne volleying vituperation over the telephone at his city editor; there are also more sober sequences wherein Warne and Ellie spread cheer to the audience, notwithstanding their sorry adventures with little or no money. Gable is excellent in his role. Colbert gives an engaging and lively performance. Walter Connolly is in his element as Ellie's father. Roscoe Karns affords no little fun by his flirtatious conduct on board a bus, and Alan Hale gives a robust portrayal of an artful owner of a flivver. (NYT)
My judgement: ***1/2 out of 4 stars
Movie Review: San Francisco
Year of Release: 1936
Country of Origin: USA
Director: W. S. Van Dyke
Cast: Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, Spencer Tracy
Plot outline: Leading up to the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake, a Barbary Coast saloonkeeper and a Nob Hill impresario are rivals for the affections of a beautiful singer, both personally and professionally (IMDb).
Sixty years before James Cameron set a love story against the backdrop of the Titanic disaster, W. S. Van Dyke tackled the same challenge with the same results, if not better. San Francisco has a great deal of interesting story, real and fascinating characters, excellent performances, beautiful cinematography, meticulous and authentic sets and superb special effects (yes, special effects!). Blackie Norton (Clark Gable's best role of his career) is a marvelous example of the duality of human nature, a bad guy who does good deeds in secret - just like a good guy who does bad deeds in secret; Father Mullin (Spencer Tracy's first Oscar nominated performance) is a minor yet important supporting role, Blackie's best friend and conscience of the movie, giving good male bonding chemistry between Blackie and him; while Mary Blake (Jeanette MacDonald) is a magnificent opera singer, a preacher's daughter tormented between two lovers. Please don't overlook her part ... her singing was incredible! Many times I was stunned by her voice, it accentuates the movie at several key moments. You get so wrapped up in the story that you even forget that there's an earthquake coming ... until it hits, and right in the middle of the human drama. The special effects are very well done, considering the time the movie was made, with crashing walls, tumbling buildings, cracking ground and the inevitable fire. Meticulous and authentic. But the story takes precedence over the special effects and when the special effects do come, they are in service to the story. Unfortunately, the ending is rather theatrical, but I can forgive that.
My judgement: *** out of 4 stars
Year of Release: 1960
