Movie Review: The Snake Pit
Year of Release: 1948
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Anatole Litvak
Cast: Olivia de Havilland, Mark Stevens, Leo Genn
Plot outline: Virginia Cunningham finds herself in a state insane asylum and can't remember how she got there (IMDb).
Brilliantly written and directed, this movie put the audience in the patient's shoes, so that we can see the world through her eyes and understand how it feels to be in her situation. Superbly acted by Olivia de Havilland as mentally ill Virginia Cunningham, the script seamlessly guides the audience through her ordeal and gradual recovery. The only reason Ms. de Havilland didn't win Oscar for Best Actress that year is because she had won the award two years previously for To Each His Own. Betsy Blair almost steals the show portraying lost and beyond help Hester. While Leo Genn provides comfort playing sympathetic and encouraging Dr. Mark Kik. Toward the end, the scene where they are all at the dance and a woman sings "Going Home" is genuinely and extremely touching. This movie is brave and ground-breaking for its time. A landmark! A delicate subject which is sensitively treated and brilliantly presented.
My judgement: *** out of 4 stars
Movie Review: Stalag 17
Year of Release: 1953
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Billy Wilder
Cast: William Holden, Don Taylor, Otto Preminger
Plot outline: When two escaping American World War II prisoners are killed, the German POW camp barracks black-marketeer, J.J. Sefton, is suspected of being an informer (IMDb).
This is the movie that popular TV series Hogan's Heroes got the inspiration from. Up until now I've always thought that Hogan's Heroes is nowhere near the truth, a complete spoof of POW camp barracks stories. But after I watched Stalag 17 and did some research over the Internet, prison camps for Allied soldiers were actually not that bad, compared to concentration camps for the Jews. The harshest punishment they had to endure is boredom! Being locked up in a crowded barrack with very little to do. And then suddenly, in the hands of skillful Billy Wilder, the story becomes realistic and the characters become real. They need to do something to keep themselves occupied: those who are humourous would start to perform some tricks to amuse themselves and others, those who are entrepreneurial would start to carry out business to make a profit, even if it means black-marketeering, and those who are not so talented would start to devise a plan to escape. And these apparently apply to the captors too. William Holden earns his first and only Oscar for Best Actor playing the cynical sergeant J.J. Sefton, the black-marketeer. But it is Robert Strauss and Harvey Lembeck who steals the show playing the comic antics 'Animal' Kasava and 'Sugar Lips' Shapiro. While Otto Preminger and Sig Ruman give delightful performance playing the antagonists Colonel von Scherbach - the camp commandant, and Johann Sebastian Schulz - the comic sergeant. Overall, the movie is a perfect combination of a tight plot, sharp dialogue and great characters.
My judgement: *** out of 4 stars
Movie Review: Oliver Twist
Year of Release: 1948
Country of Origin: UK
Director: David Lean
Cast: Robert Newton, Alex Guinness, Kay Walsh, Francis L. Sullivan, John Howard Davies
Plot outline: Based on the Charles Dickens novel, Oliver Twist is about an orphan boy who runs away from a workhouse and meets a pickpocket on the streets of London (IMDb).
After all these years and dozens of remakes, David Lean's Oliver Twist is still considered by many to be the definitive screen adaptation of the story. In most parts of the movie, he perfectly preserves the spirit of the story. Oliver Twist is actually a simple story, but it is the characters and the setting that make it interesting. The characters are eerily memorable - Bill Sikes, Fagin, Nancy, Mr. Bumble, Artful Dodger, etc. - brilliantly performed by talented cast, even the dog - the bull terrier named Bull's Eye - perfectly fits into its role. The setting, the depiction of London is surreally imaginative, this is accentuated by the good-looking black and white cinematography - cold and yet passionate, repulsive and yet attractive, with despair and hope live side by side. Just as Dickens with his masterful writing successfully delivers this melodramatic story, Mr. Lean with his masterful filmmaking successfully depicts the true spirit of the story.
My judgement: ***1/2 out of 4 stars
Movie Review: Oliver Twist
Year of Release: 2005
Country of Origin: UK, Czech Republic, France, Italy
Director: Roman Polanski
Cast: Barney Clark, Ben Kingsley
Plot outline: An adaptation of the classic Dickens tale, where an orphan meets a pickpocket on the streets of London. From there, he joins a household of boys who are trained to steal for their master (IMDb).
It's probably not a good idea to remake a movie of a story that has been made and remade into movies so many times before - with at least two of them are of the finest quality. So, unless the story or storytelling is considerably better or different than its predecessors, the movie would probably face some difficulties to grab and impress the audience. I think this is what happens with this new adaptation of Oliver Twist. It's beautifully made, well told and well acted, but somehow it doesn't spark our emotion. What's missing? I think maybe because the important parts of the story are left out, e.g. the story of Oliver's birth and origins, the story of a mysterious man named Monks and the fact that Mr. Brownlow is related to him. I think Mr. Polanski intentionally cut these parts out to shift the focus more toward Fagin and the issues of forgiveness and redemption. The overall feeling of this movie is like Oliver Twist with a substantial tone of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables - it ends with an emotional scene of Oliver Twist visiting Fagin in prison on the eve of his hanging.
My judgement: ** out of 4 stars
Movie Review: Family Plot
Year of Release: 1976
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Karen Black, Bruce Dern, Barbara Harris, William Devane
Plot outline: A phony psychic and her taxi driver boyfriend encounter a pair of serial kidnappers while trailing a missing heir in California (IMDb).
Family Plot is Hitchcock's last movie - he died in 1980. It's lighthearted suspense intertwined with comedy. This movie reminds me of his earlier work from 1955, The Trouble with Harry. The characters and the dialogue are not as rich and witty as those in the earlier work; nonetheless, the cast, especially Bruce Dern, give solid performances of their roles. Meanwhile, the musical score is unexpectedly dull; considering John Williams, the composer, had just won the Oscar for Best Original Score for Jaws the year before. It's often grouped among the less successful Hitchcock's movies; nevertheless, it holds your attention and keeps you guessing until the very end.
My judgement: **1/2 out of 4 stars
Year of Release: 1948
