[7] In one of his better westerns, Errol Flynn leads a ragtag team of Confederate soldiers west to do Robert E. Lee’s bidding. Along the way, he rescues a damsel in distress from marauding Indians, only to learn she’s betrothed to a Union officer whose troops are on the lookout for her. Think Lifeboat on a mountainside. I enjoyed the relationships between the Union and …
[6] A secret civilization is dying of a mysterious disease, so they start kidnapping women to repopulate! Lex Barker swings into action in his second outing as Tarzan, determined to rescue Jane (Vanessa Brown) and a lustful, headstrong nurse (Denise Darcel) from the kidnappers. Cheeta the Chimp’s antics are thankfully kept to a minimum (though he does get drunk in a scene) and Darcel’s performance …
[6] This movie version of Irving Berlin’s musical is chintzy fun kept afloat by cartoonish performances from leads Betty Hutton and Howard Keel. Watching the movie at this end of the feminist movement can be frustrating. While Annie Oakley is presented as a strong, brutish character, she ultimately stifles herself to win the love of Frank Butler (Keel). The film is also considered racist for …
[6] This Rudyard Kipling adventure stars young Dean Stockwell in the title role, playing a sneaky street-wise kid who spies for British Intelligence in colonial India. The adventure is a little more episodic than I prefer, bringing Kim into contact with several supporting players, including an older spy named Red Beard (an underutilized Errol Flynn), a curt hypnotist (Arnold Moss), and a holy man (Paul …
[4] Errol Flynn clings to the last few years of his good looks in Montana, before his opium and alcohol addictions sent him to an early grave at the age of 50. Montana seems unintentionally silly to me — it’s all about cattle herders vs sheep herders, a sort of West Side Story for the northern plains. Alexis Smith plays Flynn’s love interest (making you …
[10] In this darkly comic noir masterpiece from Billy Wilder, a struggling Hollywood screenwriter (William Holden) moves in with a delusional silent film star named Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) who wants him to write the script for her big comeback. But when the writer strikes up a relationship with a younger woman (Nancy Olson), the eccentric diva goes dangerously insane with envy. Sunset Boulevard is …
[10] Bette Davis revived her sagging career and writer/director Joseph L. Mankiewicz continued an Oscar streak with All About Eve. Davis stars as Margo Channing, an aging broadway star who takes a sympathetic, aspiring ingenue under her wing. Anne Baxter plays the ingenue and title character, Eve Harrigton. Over the course of the film, Eve ingratiates herself to Margo’s friends and acquaintances, who include a …
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