PULP CATHOLICISM #158

You Only Live Twice (1967)

Genre

Action | Thriller

Director

Lewis Gilbert

Country

UK | USA

Cast

Sean Connery, Akiko Wakabayashi, Mie Hama, Donald Pleasence, Tetsurō Tamba, Tsai Chin, Teru Shimada, Karin Dor, Bernard Lee, Charles Gray, Burt Maxwell, Lois Maxwell, Desmond Llewelyn, Ronald Rich

Storyline

When an American space capsule is swallowed up by what they believe to be a Russian spaceship, the British Government suspect that other powers are at work as the spacecraft went down near Japan. The only hope to prevent World War 3 is James Bond (Sean Connery) who must find and stop the true mastermind behind the space jackings.

Opinion

After taking a year off after the release of "Thunderball", James Bond returned under the direction of Lewis Gilbert. A quite tough challenge for the British director because after four solid films it's not easy to live up to people's expectations. Unfortunately, the pressure got the better of him.

Still very enjoyable and entertaining, "You Only Live Twice" works as an action flick, but lacks tension and James Bond's charm.

Most of the flaws have to be imputed to the screenplay. The plot is pretty illogical and silly: the abduction of space shuttles belonging to the United States and Russia in the hope of provoking a war between these two major powers is rather bizarre, even more if behind the manipulation there's the SPECTRE organization. It has been made clear that they are doing it for the money, but it still is one of the most ridiculous ideas ever! Also, most of the lines Bond has to deliver are worst than ever. 

For the first time Blofeld steps in as chief villain - the guy with the cat just in case you didn't know it already. He is probably the most iconic villain and stands out in the series with his unforgettable sinister look, and he is a good reason to watch the film.

The action is more abundant than the previous films, we get car chases, explosions, and many fist fights but most of them don't contain much excitement.

The theme song is memorable: Nancy Sinatra does a great job with the title song, but it is John Barry's work that stands out. The string section is what makes the song stuck in your head.

If most of the flaws come from the screenplay, the other big one is Sean Connery. He looks completely uninterested, visibly aged - maybe he put on some weight too - and exhausted. Also, he doesn't deliver the lines as he usually does. When it comes to acting they may not be the best actresses on the planet, but both Akiko Wakabayashi as Aki and Mie Hama as Kissy deliver the Japanese beauty, and the first also has a good chemistry with Connery. Donald Pleasence does a good job as Blofeld despite the limited screen time.

Thursday Movie Picks: Valentine's Edition: Star-Crossed Lovers

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks, a weekly series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves where you share three movies to fit the theme of the week each Thursday.

This week's theme, first of a four week Valentine's Edition series, is Star-Crossed Lovers. I'm no expert in romance related things, so I had to google it, and I found out that all relationships doomed to fail due to external forces fall into this category. So here's my picks:

Boys Don't Cry (1999)

Brandon's doing great at life, and gets even better when he starts dating Lana. The two of them fall in love, and they are happy like they're never been before, but he has forgotten to mention one important detail: he was born a woman, and when his best friends discover this, Brandon's life is ripped apart. With a terrific performance from Hilary Swank, it is an heart-breaking, eye-opening film about transgender people that everyone should see.

Titanic (1997)

Rose, a seventeen-year old aristocrat, falls in love with Jack, a kind but poor artist. As if their social statuses weren't already a big obstacle, Rose is supposed to marry her rich, snob fiancé Cal who finds out about the romance and locks Jack away. But that's not all, the ship hits an iceberg, Rose must find Jack only to see him freezing to death in the cold water. There's not much to say about this one that hasn't been told already. Simply amazing. A classic.

A Walk to Remember (2002)

Despite being two different people, Landon and Jamie start a relationship, much to the chagrin of Landon's popular friends and Jamie's reverend father. Eventually they fall in love only for Landon to find out Jamie is dying. It's quite hard to admit it, but I actually loved this film, and I was pleasantly surprised because it's Nicholas Sparks. 

Jack Carson

For one of the very first blogathons I participated in, I wrote about the Films of Dennis Morgan. Then, when the O Canada Blogathon was announced - hosted by Speakeasy and Silver Screenings, and I discovered that Morgan's frequent co-star and friend Jack Carson was Canadian, I decided to write about him.

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5

Unfortunately there is not a lot about Jack Carson online and I was unable to find any books that mentioned him in a significant way (aside from "co-starring Jack Carson"). Even frequent co-star Jane Wyman's biography barely mentioned him.

Jack Carson was born John Elmer Carson on October 27, 1910 in Carman, Manitoba, Canada. His father, Edward L. Carson was in insurance. Jack had an older brother named Robert, also an actor (mostly uncredited bit parts in movies and later as an extra in television programs - you can view his filmography here). The family moved to Milwaukee when Jack was four and he always considered it his hometown. Dennis Morgan was also from Wisconsin and the two even starred in a picture titled Two Guys From Milwaukee (1946).

Two Guys From Texas (1948)

Carson was in a vaudeville act for a while and then, in 1937, went to Hollywood, where he joined RKO as a bit player. Some of his uncredited work includes small parts in the films Bringing Up Baby (1938) and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). He gradually gained the status of character actor but was unhappy with all of the comedies, musicals, and westerns he was cast in. In 1941 he moved to Warner Brothers. It was while there that he began to be paired with the two co-stars he is most identified with: Dennis Morgan and Jane Wyman.

Carson and Morgan appeared in fifteen films together. They were "Warner Bros.' answer to Paramount's Bing Crosby and Bob Hope; a crooner and comic who traded wisecracks while sharing unlikely adventures and an easygoing rapport" - TCM.

Carson and Wyman were in five films together. I have seen all of them (listed below). You can read about them here.

Between 1943-1947, Carson had his own radio show. It "centered on Jack's hectic home life at 22 North Hollywood Lane and his encounters with a variety of strange relatives, friends and neighbors. As in their vaudeville days Dave Willock was the sidekick playing the part of Carson's nephew Tugwell." - source. You can listen to some of the shows on YouTube.

Tallulah Bankhead & Jack Carson performing "Baby It's Cold Outside."

                 

After Jack Carson died from cancer in 1963 (Jan. 2), Dennis Morgan became a national spokesman and fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.

Movies I have seen (films in bold are my favorite roles of Carsons):

Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941) - Robert Montgomery & Carole Lombard

The Strawberry Blonde (1941) - Dennis Morgan starred in the musical remake One Sunday Afternoon (19)

Love Crazy (1941) - William Powell & Myrna Loy

The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941) - James Cagney & Bette Davis

The Male Animal (1942) - Henry Fonda & Olivia de Havilland

Larceny, Inc. (1942) - Edward G. Robinson & Jane Wyman

Gentleman Jim (1942) - Errol Flynn & Alexis Smith

The Hard Way (1943) - Ida Lupino, Joan Leslie, Dennis Morgan, very depressing movie

Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943) - Eddie Cantor, Joan Leslie, Dennis Morgan & star-studded cast

Princess O'Rourke (1943) - Robert Cummings & Olivia de Havilland, Charles Coburn, Jane Wyman

Make Your Own Bed (1944) - first film to have Carson & Wyman top-billed

The Doughgirls (1944) - though the film starred Ann Sheridan & Alexis Smith, Carson & Wyman are the ones who stole the picture, the comedy was overdone and forced in this picture, Eve Arden's character was flat our embarrassing

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) - Cary Grant & Priscilla Lane, my first Carson film

Hollywood Canteen (1944) - as himself

One More Tomorrow (1946) - Dennis Morgan & Ann Sheridan, Jane Wyman

Two Guys From Milwaukee (1946) Dennis Morgan & Joan Leslie, S. Z. Sakall

Joan Leslie remembered: “Carson and Morgan were like a couple of kids at play. When they worked, they would tease each other, play jokes on each other all the time.  A lot of times, they would take off for lunch and go over to Lakeside Golf Club, which is just across the way [from Warners], and maybe they would tee off or maybe they would have lunch.  They’d dawdle over lunch, and sometimes they wouldn’t come back at the end of the hour.  The director [David Butler] would say, ‘Do you know where they are?’  I’d say, ‘No, I don’t know where they are!’  And they would call Lakeside—and they would say, ‘No, they’re not here,’ and after two hours, they came in the big soundstage door, eating ice cream cones—’Oh! Were you looking for us?!’  That’s the kind of thing they did, and who could get mad at that?  Who could fire the two movie stars when they come walking in like that, being so darn cute!  I think that happened more than once!” - source

Romance on the High Seas (1948) - Doris Day's first picture, she and Carson dated briefly between 1950-51

Day singing "It's Magic." Carson comes on at the very end.

          

It's a Great Feeling (1949) - Dennis Morgan & Carson play themselves, they try to help Doris Day's character break into pictures, lots of star cameos. Here's a great post on Carson and Day and their three films.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) - Paul Neman & Elizabeth Taylor, Burl Ives

Other notable films I have yet to see:

Mildred Pierce (1945) - Joan Crawford

A Star is Born (1954) - Judy Garland

Trivia:

Nicknamed "King of the double-take."

Was married four times.

Was a pilot. He volunteered to join the U.S. Army Air Corps but was rejected due to his height. He was turned down by the Army because he had flat feet.

During the 1940s, he would often disappear from Hollywood for weeks at a time. Only his wife knew where he went, and she (Kay St. Germain Wells) would tell no one. Years later Carson revealed the secret: he had joined the Clyde Beatty circus as a clown and was traveling with their show. Audiences never knew it was him; "They loved me and my routines," he said.

Had two children with his second wife, Kay.

Dick Powell also died of cancer on the same day as Carson.

 



People will always laugh at somebody else's discomfort. But they only laugh because they have suffered the same indignity themselves or known darn well how it feels. Being a comedian is almost like being a doctor--the more troubles you discover and understand, the more gladness you can bring to an audience.

TV RECAP: "Agent Carter: Season 2 - Episodes 3 & 4"

Well. Needless to say my plans to get back on track for weekly updates didn't go exactly as planned, though I'm sort of glad of that. Episode 3 ("Better Angels") felt a bit lackluster, falling back on elements that have been the least interesting part of the season so far in order to let subplots of later importance (Whitney Frost discovering she can kill with a touch thanks to her Zero Matter infection, Jason Wilkes being a "living ghost" thanks to a blast from the same) handle their setup.

Episode 4, on the other hand? Much better - and the immediate payoff to the aforementioned subplots made them retroactively more compelling. I still feel like the dye is already cast that this just isn't going to be the dynamo that Season 1 was, but maybe still solid in its own right.

What I'm liking already is that, after threatening to overwhelm the narrative in Episode 3, The Arena Club (aka Clearly-HYDRA-But-Somehow-Not-Noticeably-So-By-Organization-Founded-Specifically-To-Fight-HYDRA) seem to be receding into the background to make room for Whitney Frost (aka Madame Masque) to be the true heavy of the season, though since the whole "HYDRA is actually an Inhuman-worshiping interplanetary death-cult" thing is the direct lead-back to AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D this season I imagine they'll still be a big reference point... or maybe just popping in at the end to make goo-goo eyes at Arnim Zola and Doctor Faustus as a "how S.H.I.E.L.D got infiltrated" stepping-stone.

Still, Frost is a more interesting villain so I'm glad to see her getting the focus. The cross-cutting of her and Carter's respective childhoods was a nice touch and kept the proceedings interesting, along with being pretty "real world dark" as this series goes. It's a bit of a letdown to realize that we're getting another bad guy whose conception is "Bad Version of Peggy" (Dottie was "evil lady-spy," Frost is "evil rebellious-tomboy") on the other hand, and while the backstory involving Carter's brother was nicely executed I feel like eventually they're going to need to find something to motivate her actions other than the example-setting sacrifices of male loved ones (Captain America in Season 1, Jason Wilkes and her brother in Season 2).

Speaking of Wilkes (who's based off an inversion of an obscure early Marvel scifi story), he's getting more interesting as the invisibility story continues and his relationship with Peggy is compelling (of course she's into him, he's basically a Black Nerd Steve Rogers); but I'm glad to see that they're getting right to the point of the "Zero Matter is Dark Force is Dark Dimension" business as he's concerned. I still wish they hadn't gone and spoiled that that was the deal before the show started, since it'd be more fun to figure this stuff out organically: the clear implication of Wilkes being "pulled" to hallucinations of a rift like the one that's growing behind Frost's scar is that she (Frost) is acting as a human portal to the Dark Dimension, which is a cool premise.

The main angle that still isn't working for me at all is the Red Menace stuff with Kurtwood Smith's evil FBI guy. It feels perfunctory, as though they felt they had to do communist-witchhunt subplots because it was the 50s now, and it just doesn't seem to jibe as naturally with the material as Wilkes and Frost's respective "brilliance overlooked because of race/gender" stories do alongside Carter's fight for respect. It's possible that there's a bigger "thing" coming that we can't see yet (the proto-Black Widow and Faustus stuff came out of nowhere in Season 1) but as of now every time this storyline shows up it feels like wasted space.

I'd also like them to maybe dial back the comedy whenever Jarvis and Peggy are on a joint mission - a little of that goes a long way, and by now I think everyone "get's" that Jarvis is fussy and fidgety despite his hypercompetence otherwise; so you don't need to keep reminding us. The Season has room to grow yet, and this is something that should be addressed sooner than later.

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

Genre

Drama

Director

Elia Kazan

Country

USA

Cast

Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, Mickey Kuhn, Peg Hillias, Rudy Bond, Nick Dennis, Karl Malden, Wright King, Edna Thomas, Richard Garrick, Ann Dere

Storyline

Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh), a fragile, neurotic and disturbed woman, moves in with her sister Stella (Kim Hunter) in New Orleans and is tormented by her brutish brother-in-law (Marlon Brando) while her reality crumbles around her.

Opinion

Given the great reputation that precedes the film, I went into it with high hope, and I was left disappointed.

While it wouldn't be fair calling it awful, I can't even say it is great. "A Streetcar Named Desire" indeed is a fine, but uneven drama, at times very interesting, at times very dragged on and boring.

I haven't had the pleasure - or displeasure - to see Tennessee William's play, but the way Kazan turned it into a movie didn't make the story particularly interesting for me, and never managed to impress me. 

The slow-moving and neurotic plot makes it hard to pick someone to root for. Everyone seems to be the "bad guy", and just when you start feeling something for one of the characters they let you down. One is probably supposed to sympathize with Blanche against the rude Stanley, but I didn't feel anything for any of the characters, not until the end, when, even though Blanche's mysterious history emerged, I couldn't help but feel commiseration for her.

Also it seems a bit too dated. I'm sure nothing could have been done differently because of the time's censorship, but 60 years later the film really suffers from that as it diminished the intensity in some scenes, and the powerful shocking value the story seems aiming for lacks completely.

What makes the film worth watching are the performances. While Vivian Leigh gives a tremendous performance as the emotionally fragile Blanche, and really convinces with her descent into madness, Marlon Brando stands out. The power of his presence is obvious, and his portrayal of Stanley Kowalski is sensational. The supporting cast could have done a better job, but I guess they have been overshadowed by the leads.

Green Room Trailer

Punk band trapped in a backwoods club with an army of white-supremacists looking to kill them for witnessing a murder. Finally coming out after a big impact on the festival circuit. Looks intense: