High Noon

On the day the Marshall Will Kane (Gary Cooper) gets married, he also receives a message that Frank Miller, a murderer he helped put away, has been pardoned. The news gets worse: Miller will arrive in town on the noon train to take his revenge on Marshall Kane.

At first, he and his bride, Amy (Grace Kelly) get on a wagon to leave town. But on his way out of town, Kane decides he can't just "run", otherwise he'll be running for the rest of his life. So he comes back and tries to form a posse to help him face Miller. Unfortunately, no one in town is willing to help. Most feel that Kane has brought this on himself, as well as on their town. Furthermore, his bride is angry that he feels he has to stay, so she buys a ticket out of town, and tells him she's leaving with or without him.

The movie is in real time, as we await the arrival of the train at high noon. Minute by minute, we watch as Kane deals with his fear and the fact that he's on his own to face Miller's gang.

I love a good western. But his one just didn't do it for me. It was a little corny. Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly had absolutely NO chemistry as a couple. I couldn't even tell Kane liked Amy that much. He was pretty emotionless. The only thing he really conveyed well was fear. A very young Lloyd Bridges was in the movie as well - a major character, but really, a pretty useless one. It would have been the same movie without him.

I feel kinda funny being critical of such a classic film! I mean, if millions before me have dubbed this "classic, who am I to say it stinks? I just felt like the story had great potential in so many areas, but instead, it was just a good story with dry characters that had no connection. Even the scene where he comes face to face with Miller arrives and leaves us with hardly any dramatic climax.

Best dramatic part was the final drive-away scene. Those five seconds had more drama and power than the entire movie.

Singing In The Rain

This year I've got a goal- you could say it's a New Year's Resolution- to watch a lot of old classic movies. Never had any desire to, but for some reason, I've been wanting to. I also received a book (because I hinted heavily...) called "501 Must See Movies". The inside cover has a checklist so I can check each movie off as I see it. Of course, there were many I had already seen, so I checked those off. Then I set out to search the satellite TV guide for any movies on the list that might be showing currently. Thanks to the AMC channel, and the TMC channel, I found A LOT. I set them to record, and my movie watching has commenced!


Last night I watched Singing In the Rain. While I've seen the famous swinging-around-the-streetlight scene, I've never watched the actual movie!.

In case you're the other person in the world who hasn't seen it - the plot is this: Donald Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) are beloved silent film stars. When the film industry starts turning to "talkies", their studio wants in on that. The problem is that Lamont's glamourous reputation, does not fit her whiney nasal voice, or her dingbat personality. She also mistakes her on-screen romance with her co-star, for a real romance. Lockwood doesn't share those feelings, and constantly tries to convince her it's just acting! Furthermore, he's fallen for an aspiring actress (Debbie Reynolds), who has been hired to do voice-overs that will be secretly dubbed over Lamont's lines.

I LOVED IT!!!!

I felt like I had a smile on my face the whole time. It was quick-witted, funny, entertaining, and WOW - the dancing was incredible!

Donald O'Connor, who played Lockwood's best friend, Cosmo, was hilarious! He had funny lines and his physical comedy was awesome! My nine year old boy walked in during one of O'Connors dance/comedy scenes and stopped, watched and said, "Is he actually doing that?". It was a scene where he would walk up the a wall and do a back flip. It really was amazing! Debbie Reynolds was adorable and also pretty funny! I was also surprised at what a great dancer SHE was!


And Gene Kelly....what a babe! He looks a little like Ben Affleck, but in a more mature, classic, glamour-Hollywood sort of way!



I totally recommend this, even if you don't like old movies, and even if you don't like musicals! After this, I am totally looking forward to watching some more classic films!

The Graduate

I've never really been much of a "classic" movie buff. (I've never even seen Casablanca!) But I've recently had the desire to check out some more famous older films. So the other night, The Graduate was on.

I figured that's a pretty classic movie. It's got big name actors...it's been spoofed in a lot in other productions...the two hallmarks of a classic movie, right? Movies from Shrek to Wayne's World to Bee Movie have references to The Graduate. If you don't believe me, go here to see a list of references. From the seduction scene to the wedding scene, its a pretty classic film.

I wont worry about spoilers in this review, because I suspect I'm one of the last people to see this movie. But in case you haven't seen it, Dustin Hoffman plays Benjamin, a young man who has recently graduated, has come home, but doesn't really know what he wants to do with his life. He begins an affair with his father's partner's wife, Mrs. Robinson, played by Anne Bancroft. Complicating things, he begins to fall in love with the Robinsons' daughter, Elaine.

Surprisingly enough, this complicated premise make for a comedy. All these years, I had assumed this movie was a drama, and this misconception almost ruined it for me because as I began watching it with that presupposition, I was thinking what a cheesy movie it was. But as a comedy, the cheesiness is part of its charm. Hoffman is just as awkward as ever, which is what makes him so lovable in all his films. The quick flashes from Bancroft's naked body to Hoffman's frightened face would be almost ridiculous in a drama. And that's what the feeling is, that its trying to be a drama, but it's so ridiculous that you have to laugh. And the fact that that's what they're trying to do, makes it understandably a classic. At the end, Benjamin interrupts Elaine's wedding, and they run off together. At first, an oversimplification of the situation. But in that lingering final scene, as a look of doubt passes over Hoffman's face, it's really a very serious moment.

A couple of interesting bits of trivia - in the scene where Elaine comes to Benjamen's apartment and screams, causing the other tenants to come see what's happening - the young man who says "shall I get the cops? I'll call the cops..." is a young Richard Dreyfus. Another interesting fact is that Hoffman and Bancroft are only 6 years apart in real life.

And here's something that's kinda funny - In Hoffman's and Bancroft's first encounter in the hotel room, Bancroft didn't know that Hoffman was going to grab her breast. Hoffman decided off-screen to do it, because it reminded him of schoolboys trying to nonchalantly grab girls' breasts in the hall by pretending to put their jackets on. When Hoffman did it onscreen, the director, Mike Nichols, laughed out loud off-screen. Hoffman began to laugh as well, so rather than stop the scene, he turned away from the camera and walked to the wall. Hoffman banged his head on the wall, trying to stop laughing, and Nichols thought it was so funny, he left it in.

The final surprise is that it's rated PG. While the PG13 rating did not exist in 1967, parents nowadays might want to equate it to a PG13 movie due to the nudity, however brief (and ridiculous!) it might be.