[7] Seven religious children bury their dead mother in the rose garden and tell no one of her demise for fear they’ll be separated and put in orphanages. Relying on seances with their mother to guide them through difficult decisions, the children are able to survive on their own for a while. But when their estranged father (Dirk Bogarde) arrives, destroys their mother’s makeshift tabernacle …
[7] John Wayne and Robert Mitchum headline this Howard Hawks western about a gunfighter-for-hire (Wayne) who teams up with a drunk sheriff (Mitchum) to help a family protect their land from a rival rancher. The plot to El Dorado was a little hard for me to follow. So many characters are introduced in the first half hour and the way allegiances are formed is a …
[8] Dustin Hoffman plays Ben Braddock, an aimless college graduate who stumbles into an affair with the older Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft) before falling in love with a girl his own age… Mrs. Robinson’s daughter. The Graduate was groundbreaking for its provocative subject matter and sophisticated approach to comedy. Mike Nichols’ elegant, inventive direction earned him an Oscar, while Hoffman and Bancroft were nominated for …
[7] Paul Newman reunites with director Martin Ritt (Hud, The Long Hot Summer) for this ensemble Western based on the novel by Elmore Leonard. It’s an Eastwoodesque performance from Newman, playing a reticent loner raised by Apaches who ends up having to protect a stagecoach crew that initially thumb their noses at him. I don’t think the ending was particularly well executed, but the characters …
[4] An expedition team discovers the body of an ancient Egyptian prince, but when they bring it back to England, a mummy starts picking then off one by one. This Hammer horror sequel gets off to a shaky start with ten minutes of clunky narration and then falls into a tediously predictable revenge plot. Budgetary constraints, which Hammer normally overcomes with ingenuity and resourcefulness, get the …
[7] Sidney Poitier plays a black Northern detective who reluctantly aides a white Southern sheriff (Rod Steiger) in solving a murder case. The mystery itself is a bit thin, but it’s bolstered by good performances from the leads and a commendable handling of volatile subject matter. (Though the film takes place in Mississippi, the film’s crew decided to shoot no further south than Tennessee for …
[4] Also known as Quartermass and the Pit, this subdued sci-fi flick centers around a famous scientist, Bernard Quartermass (Andrew Keir), who is called to London to investigate a mysterious object and the strange effect it has on anyone who gets near it. I usually enjoy Hammer Films, but this one nearly put me to sleep. There’s some payoff, and a nice bleak ending, but …
[5] Burgess Meredith stars as Dr. Diabolo, a sideshow barker who gives daring patrons a glimpse at their untimely demises in this horror anthology flick from Britain’s Amicus Productions (ever the poor man’s Hammer Studios). The four featured tales include a mind-controlling cat, a secret society of androids, a killer piano, and dueling collectors of all things Edgar Allan Poe. I expected more from venerable …
[6] Julie Andrews stars in this 1920s madcap musical as the title character, a woman looking to land a job and a husband in the big city, but ends up embroiled with a nefarious white slave trader! Mary Tyler Moore is underutilized as the woman Millie has to rescue from slavery, but Carol Channing chews the scenery in a bizarre Oscar-nominated performance only she could …
[7] Director John Huston unites Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor for their only screen pairing in this adaptation of the perverse Carson McCullers novel. Brando plays a sexually repressed Army major who turns a blind eye to his wife’s (Taylor) extramarital affair while simultaneously finding himself drawn to a mysterious young cadet who spends his days running naked through the woods and his nights as …
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