Movie Review: They Drive by Night
Year of Release: 1940
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Raoul Walsh
Cast: George Raft, Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino, Humphrey Bogart
Plot outline: Two brothers struggle as wildcat truck drivers; one comes to harm, the other is accused of his friend's murder (IMDb).
They Drive by Night is generally regarded as George Raft’s best Warner Brothers movie. But, the truth is that Raft probably comes off the least effective among his co-stars. The beautiful Ann Sheridan was allowed the most memorable, snappy dialogue, which she delivered as only Sheridan could; Ida Lupino was finally given the chance to display her acting range as the murderess; and Humphrey Bogart got the opportunity to shed his patented B-picture tough guy in a brief yet compelling scene where he expresses his bitterness both at his injury and having to accept what he perceives as his brother’s charity. Raft, on the other hand, maintains his tough yet cool composure throughout and is not afforded a single scene to match the dramatic intensity of Lupino or Bogart. Perhaps his shining moment comes when he trades punches with a pugnacious fellow trucker. Critics and fans have noted that the movie succeeds best as a straight trucker drama and loses momentum once its focus shifts to Lupino’s determined and unbalanced infatuation with Raft, a plot device borrowed from Bordertown (1935), starring Paul Muni and Bette Davis. At that point the wisecracking Sheridan becomes less visible while Bogart disappears almost completely from the movie, only to pop up briefly in the courtroom and in the final scene. An almost painfully trite addendum to the obligatory happy ending. (SO)
My judgement: **1/2 out of 4 stars
Movie Review: The Public Enemy
Year of Release: 1931
Country of Origin: USA
Director: William A. Wellman
Cast: James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods
Plot outline: A young hoodlum rises up through the ranks of the Chicago underworld, even as a gangster's accidental death threatens to spark a bloody mob war (IMDb).
The Public Enemy is the movie that made James Cagney a star. Gifted at swaggering, tough guy roles, he was at the same time very appealing. This had the unwanted side effect of glamorizing crime lords, but it is doubtful that studio executives lost much sleep over this. As well they shouldn't have, as these movies all have the moral that crime doesn't pay. Contrary to popular opinion, the best moment in the movie isn't when Cagney shoves a grapefruit in his girlfriend's face, but when he and his buddy Matt Doyle (Edward Woods) hear that one of their own is dead, not by a rival gangster, but from being thrown off his horse. Even when they march into the stable in a welter of cold fury, you don't quite believe they're actually going to execute the horse, and yet they do. In a movie that begins and ends with high-toned messages about the evil hoodlums do to society, this was likely originally intended to illustrate the rapacious inhumanity of these gangsters (a horse?), but there's no denying its intrinsic black comedy. Studio-imposed moralizing aside, this is a movie with a wicked sense of humour - witness the scene in which a swishy haberdasher feels up Cagney's bicep while measuring him for a suit - that makes up for an occasionally stale plot. (BK, CB)
My judgement: ***1/2 out of 4 stars
Movie Review: Sahara
Year of Release: 1943
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Zoltan Korda
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Bruce Bennett, J. Carrol Naish, Lloyd Bridges, Rex Ingram
Plot outline: An American sergeant leads a group of allied soldiers on a retreat across the North African desert during World War II (IMDb).
Humphrey Bogart may have top billing, but Sahara is basically an ensemble movie. The various allied soldiers are all well written, especially Rex Ingram as a Sudanese soldier, and everyone gets a moment to shine. The Germans on the other hand, are a bit more one-dimensional.Nevertheless, Sahara celebrates valor and sacrifice, and also goes beyond many war pictures in weighing exigencies of war against moral regard for the life of an enemy soldier, in balancing patriotism with cooperation among soldiers of various nationalities against a common enemy, and in a theological dimension that more than once indicates whose side God is on. There’s a humorous discussion between Ingram (the Sudanese muslim) and Bennett (the Texan): After listening to the muslim’s defense of polygamy, the Texan comments laconically that his wife wouldn’t like such an arrangement; whereupon the muslim admits that it’s the same with his own wife! The well-done action scenes and the somewhat somber third act make Sahara hold up well over time. Of course, having Bogart in the cast doesn’t hurt either. (SG, FML)
My judgement: *** out of 4 stars
Movie Review: A Streetcar Named Desire
Year of Release: 1951
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Elia Kazan
Cast: Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden
Plot outline: A fading southern belle tries to build a new life with her sister in French quarter in New Orleans (IMDb).
Based on the play of the same name by Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire is a superbly crafted drama. Vivien Leigh gives the penultimate performance of her career, ironically as another southern belle. In this movie, however, she is far more tragic. While Marlon Brando gives the most intensely riveting, sexually explosive performance in movie history. The line most vividly remembered is screamed by Brando: "Stellaaaaa ... !!! ", but the best line is spoken by Leigh - as she is taken to a rest home: "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." Still this brilliant movie belongs to Brando. He received the first of four consecutive Best Actor nominations and became an instant international sensation. Along with Montgomery Clift and James Dean, Brando completely revolutionized American movie acting. The term 'method' became a part of the language of cinema. Elia Kazan directs with purpose and authority. He wound up with a movie that raised the ante on the level of naturalistic acting in film. The movie is highly verbal and is paced leisurely, but for the patient viewers the payoff is huge! (P)
My judgement: **** out of 4 stars
Movie Review: The Maltese Falcon
Year of Release: 1941
Country of Origin: USA
Director: John Huston
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet
Plot outline: A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette (IMDb).
There have been better detective movies, better mysteries; Chinatown, for example. But, no other movie defines the genre as well as The Maltese Falcon. All of the stereotypes are there. The fast-talking tough guy detective, who can size up a situation quicker than anyone. His loyal Girl Friday, willing to obey orders no matter how outlandish. The femme fatale, beautiful but duplicitous. The money, the slang, the cops, the guns, the hit men. Evening is eternal. And colourful bad guys, all too ambitious and greedy to avoid their fate either in prison or the morgue. Its greatness comes in gathering all the elements of its style with such forcefulness. And the cast is outstanding. Could it have been made without Humphrey Bogart in the lead? Sure, but it wouldn't have been as good. Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet - all lend their inimitable Hollywood personas to their memorable characters. John Huston's crackling dialogue and confident direction aspire to greatness. Like all things, however, the movie is not perfect. The editing is below the usual Warner Bros. standards, and the climatic scene of Greenstreet discovering the true nature of the black bird is marred by an anonymous voice over. The line "Fake! It's a phony! It's lead! It's lead! It's a fake!" is clearly not delivered by any of the actors present in the room. Such flaws are trivial, of course, and don't reduce the pleasure one receives from viewing such a great movie. If anything, they are like a beauty mark on the face of a lovely model, which confirms her true identity as her style is changed by varying attires. (BK)
My judgement: **** out of 4 stars
Year of Release: 1940
