Everything That Dies, Some Day Comes Back

Back in 1978 I made the terrible decision to go see ‘The Swarm’, now generally reckoned to be one of the worst films ever made.  It was an Irwin Allen production and this may explain why I’d never got around to catching two of his earlier, more successful films, this one and ‘The Towering Inferno’.  But I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this potentially quite silly story about a luxury liner that gets turned upside-down by a giant wave. To be fair to Mr Allen he brought a lot of talent to bear on this adaptation of à best seller. The cast includes no less than five Oscar winners:  Gene Hackman (who won his first Oscar during filming), Shelley Winters, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Albertson and (checks notes) Red Buttons.  They form the backbone of the small group of survivors trying to make their way up (or do I mean down?) the stricken vessel.  They are joined by Roddy McDowell (sporting a dodgy Irish accent), three actresses who all ...

This film starts off with Josey (Clint Eastwood) in the unlikely role of a farmer whose wife and child are killed by a marauding gang.  It’s during the Civil War so naturally Josey’s immediate response is to practise his firearm skills and join the Confederate army. Fast forward to the end of the War and Josey refuses to take the amnesty on offer from the victors, which is a good decision because it's a trap set by the nasty Union soldiers who are going to massacre Josey’s comrades. Cue some unconvincing action as Josey gets to a Gatling gun and fights fire with fire. The upshot of all these preliminaries is that Josie is now a wanted outlaw with a price on his head, pursued by (in an unlikely coincidence) the guy who led the gang that killed Josey’s family, Captain Terrill. So far so fairly humdrum, and we seem set up for a straightforward revenge narrative. But that’s not what we get at all.  Instead it’s more like a ‘Mosey with Josey’ hangout movie where Josey ambles t...

This is an Australian Western set in the late nineteenth century which, as one might expect given that it is written by Nick Cave, combines moments of brutality and rage with more meditative and melancholic interludes. The plot centres around three criminal brothers headed up by psycho Arthur (Danny Huston in fine fettle).  The youngest, Mikey, is what can only be described as simple-minded. Caught between them is relatively sane and likeable Charlie (Guy Pearce).  Ray Winstone is Captain Stanley who has the challenging job of keeping law and order in what seems like a very primitive society.  Having captured Charlie and Mikey he comes up with the imaginative idea (or proposition) that Charlie should bring Arthur to justice within nine days in order to save Mikey from the gallows. It’s a daft idea but perhaps the incessant heat has got to Stanley’s brain. An obvious flaw in Stanley’s cunning plan is that Charlie and Arthur might team up to rescue Mikey, which indeed is wh...

This 1952 British comedy film is an adaptation of a 1911 comic novel by Arnold Bennett.  The adaptation was written by Eric Ambler, a surprising choice in that Ambler is best known as a writer of thrillers.  The plot of the film follows that of the novel closely, and it is set in Edwardian England rather than being brought into the present-day. Alec Guiness is rather old for the part but otherwise is perfect as Denry, the upwardly mobile son of a washer woman.  He starts off as a legal clerk but when he is put in charge of sending out invitations to a ball held by the Countess of Chell (Valerie Hobson) he seizes the opportunity presented to invite himself, and not being backward in being forward he dances with the Countess, the start of a friendship which will benefit him later. His dancing teacher, Ruth Earp, is played by Glynis Johns, who gives the outstanding comic performance on view, as someone adept at using her feminine charms to get her way, particularly spending ...

This was to me an obscure film from 1944 made by an obscure director, John M Stahl.  But Scorsese rates it very highly and Gene Tierney, the lead actress, got an Oscar nomination out of it, so I gave it a go. It’s one of those films where the bulk of the story is told in flashback. In this case this is done to set up a mystery (why was Cornel Wilde’s character sentenced to two years in prison?) which helps to keep us interested during the early scenes which are, it’s fair to say, undramatic to the point of being dull. Wilde plays a successful author, Richard, who meets and immediately falls in love with Ellen,   played by Tierney.  Studio boss Darryl F Zanuck is quoted in Wikipedia as saying that she was “unquestionably, the most beautiful woman in movie history“.  No doubt there was a certain amount of self interest in this statement about a star of his studio but when we and Richard first set eyes on her one can see where Zanuck was coming from even if her loo...

This 1982 film is the second outing for Peter Ustinov as Agatha Christie's famous detective, Hercule Poirot, following 'Death On The Nile' in 1978. Although the original 1941 novel is not one of Christie's most celebrated, Poirot is presented with a satisfyingly perplexing problem in that all the possible murderers seem to have a watertight alibi.  Screenwriter Anthony Shaffer (who also adapted 'Death On The Nile') has the good sense not to tinker with Christie's clever solution whilst making a lot of changes around the edges in order to both streamline the novel and to enhance its commercial appeal, for example moving the location from a hotel in Devon to a hotel on a small Mediterranenan island. Shaffer also adds a lot of humour which I am sure is not in the original novel.  Ustinov's portrayal of Poirot is of course very droll, but in addition we get the comedic pleasure of Maggie Smith as the owner of the hotel. James Mason is probably the biggest na...