Review: Woody Allen's "SLEEPER" is Comedy Gold and a Sci-Fi Classic

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 53 of 2023 (No. 1942) by Leroy Douresseaux

Sleeper (1973)

Running time:  87 minutes (1 hour, 27 minutes)

MPAA –  PG

DIRECTOR:  Woody Allen

WRITERS:  Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman

PRODUCER:  Jack Grossberg

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  David M. Walsh (D.o.P.)

EDITORS:  Ralph Rosenblum, O. Nicholas Brown, and Ron Kalish

COMPOSER: Woody Allen

COMEDY/SCI-FI

Starring:  Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, John Beck, Mary Gregory, Don Keefer, John McLiam, Bartlett Robinson, Chris Forbes, Mews Small, Peter Hobbs, and John Cannon (voice)

Sleeper is a 1973 science fiction-comedy film directed by Woody Allen.  The film focuses on a store owner who is revived from a cryogenic state into a future world in which the United States has been transformed into an oppressive government that forces its citizens happy and content.

Sleeper opens in the year 2173.  The American Federation, a police state (of sorts), has replaced the United States of America, which was destroyed long ago.  The government is oppressive, but it keeps its citizens happy by giving them good jobs, plenty of food, mood-altering drugs, happiness via mind alteration, and a device called the “orgasmatron” to keep them sexual satisfied.

There is, however, an underground rebellion determined to take down the government and its mysterious “Leader.”  Towards that end, the rebels revive Miles Monroe (Woody Allen), a jazz musician who also owned of the “Happy Carrot” health food restaurant.  In 1973, Miles went in for a routine operation, which managed to go wrong, and the result was that he was cryogenically frozen.  The rebels illegally revive Miles and plan to use him as spy to infiltrate and derail the government because he would be the only member of this society without a known “biometric identity.”

As someone from the distant past, Miles is considered by the current government to be an “alien.”  If caught by the police, he will be brainwashed into a complacent member of society.  The success of Miles' spy mission and his hope of remaining free of brainwashing rest in an idle socialite and poet, Luna Schlosser (Diane Keaton), who may be too self-indulgent to become a rebel.

Coup de chance, the film Woody Allen says will likely be his final directorial effort, was released in France in September (2023).  Because of the controversies surrounding Allen the last few decades, especially the last five years, the film may not get a U.S. theatrical release.  In anticipation of somehow seeing Coup de chance, I have decided to watch the recent Woody Allen films that I missed, such as the 2015 film, Irrational Man.

I also decided to review Allen's 1973 classic film, Sleeper, because this year (2023) is the fiftieth anniversary of its original theatrical release (specifically December 17, 1973).  I have seen the film twice before, but I have previously not written a review of it.

Because Woody Allen has become such a controversial and, in recent years, such a toxic figure in American cinema and culture, people may have forgotten what a charming cinematic figure he was for at least three decades.  They may also be unaware that Allen is also an accomplished clarinetist as one can discover in Sleeper's lively Dixieland-style jazz soundtrack, which features Allen performing with “The Preservation Hall Jazz Band” and “The New Orleans Funeral Ragtime Orchestra.”

Sleeper is certainly an excellent parody of the science fiction films of its time, and it is a sharp satire of pseudo-intellectuals, pretentious artists and their patrons, self-indulgent poets, and other assorted poseurs.  The film expertly references such then current science fiction films as 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), A Clockwork Orange (1971), and THX 1138 (1971).  [Douglas Rain, who provided the voice of “HAL 9000” in 2001: A Space Odyssey, also provided the voice of the medical computer in Sleeper.]

However, Sleeper is a showcase of Wood Allen's immense comedic talents, both as writer and as an actor possessing impeccable comic timing.  His skill at physical comedy is also quite impressive and reveals the influence of great performers such as Charlie Chaplin, Bob Hope, and Groucho Marx, and I would add the work of the great master of silent films, Buster Keaton.  Allen uses facial expressions and the rapid delivery of dialogue, which transforms this slightly built man into a comedy force of nature.  Allen uses his body like a prop, something to abused so long as it stirs a the barrel of laughs.  The result is a winning and lovable character in Miles Monroe.

Sleeper also proves (at least for me) that Diane Keaton is the perfect comic foil and partner for Woody Allen.  Obviously, she has serious dramatic chops, but Keaton is also pure magic and sparkly delight as a comedic actress.  I could watch another hour of her and Allen in this scenario.  Sleeper may seem a bit dated in some aspects, but its leads are eternally pleasing.  Sleeper is a clever satire as well as a witty spin on dystopian science fiction.  Other than Mike Judge's 2006 satirical sci-fi comedy, Idiocracy, there is nothing like it.  Still, the treat in Sleeper is an energetic Woody Allen and an equally smart and savvy Diane Keaton.

8 of 10

A

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Friday, December 15, 2023

The text is copyright © 2023 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site or blog for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "American Graffiti" is Still Crusin' to Rock 'n' Roll 50 Years On

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 45 of 2023 (No. 1934) by Leroy Douresseaux

American Graffiti (1973)

Running time:  110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)

MPAA – PG

DIRECTOR:  George Lucas

WRITERS:  George Lucas and Gloria Katz & Willard Huyck

PRODUCERS:  Francis Ford Coppola and Gary Kurtz

CINEMATOGRAPHERS:  Jan D'Alquen (D.o.P.) and Ron Eveslage (D.o.P.)

EDITORS:  Verna Fields and Marcia Lucas

Academy Award nominee

DRAMA/HISTORICAL/MUSIC

Starring:  Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, Wolfman Jack, Bo Hopkins, Manuel Padilla Jr., Beau Gentry, and Harrison Ford

American Graffiti is a 1973 coming-of-age, music-driven, comedy and drama film directed by George Lucas.  Lucas, who co-wrote the screenplay with the husband and wife team of Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, based the story on his experiences in the cruising, and street-racing, and rock 'n' roll cultures of his youth.  American Graffiti focuses on a group of teenagers and their adventures over the course of one summer night in 1962.

American Graffiti opens in the Summer 1962.  The location is California's central valley, apparently in and around the city of Modesto.  There, through a series of vignettes, we watch as a group of teenagers enjoy the last evening of their summer vacation.

For recent high school graduates and friends, Curtis “Curt” Henderson (Richard Dreyfuss) and Steve Bolander (Ronny Howard), this is their last night in town before they board a plane the next day and go “back east” for college.  Steve doesn't believe that he can achieve the goals his wants by staying home, even if leaving means parting from his girlfriend, Curt's sister, Laurie (Cindy Williams).  However, Curt, who has recently received scholarship money from a local business group, isn't sure that he wants to leave.  Besides, tonight, he wants to chase the mystery woman who has caught his eye, a blonde driving a white Ford Thunderbird.

Curt and Steve's two friends are also having a big night.  The first is John Milner (Paul Le Mat), the central valley drag-racing king.  He has just learned that someone wants to challenge him for his crown, a confident ladies' man named Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford).  Meanwhile, the second character is the unpopular, but well-meaning Terry “The Toad” Fields (Charlie Martin Smith), who has just come into possession of Steve's car.  He is supposed to protect it until Steve returns from “back east” for Christmas.  Tonight, however, Terry hopes the car will help him land a date.  Meanwhile, in the background, the popular disc jockey, Wolfman Jack (himself), plays an array of rock 'n' roll hits.

As “DVD Netflix” prepares to shutdown, I've been racing to catch up on certain films that I have never seen or have not seen in a long time.  I recently decided to sample some films in which 2023 is the fiftieth anniversary of their original theatrical releases.  That includes such films as Walt Disney's Robin Hood, (hopefully)Woody Allen's Sleeper, and the Bruce Lee classic, Enter the Dragon.

As a kid, I was aware of American Graffiti long before I ever saw it.  I was and still am a huge fan of American Graffiti director, George Lucas's most famous film, Star Wars (1977).  So, as a kid, I read every article I could find about Star Wars, and they often mentioned his two earlier feature-length films, THX-1138 (1971) and American Graffiti.  [I also vaguely remember the release of the sequel, More American Graffiti.]

I also knew that a few film and television stars that I liked had starred or appeared in American Graffiti, specifically Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, and Harrison Ford.  Besides that fact that American Graffiti was a George Lucas movie, Ford was the other reason I most wanted to see the film.

I finally first saw American Graffiti on television, and though my memory is hazy on the facts, I'm sure I saw it at least a few years after the release of the sequel.  I remember liking it, enough that I planned on watching it again.  Decades later, this recent viewing is the first time that I've seen the film since that first viewing.

I still like it a lot.  I'm still a fan of Ford, Howard, and Dreyfuss, and along the way, I became a fan of some of its other young stars, including Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, and the recently-deceased Bo Hopkins (1938-2022).  The truth is that I'm crazy about the Hollywood icon, Harrison Ford, and, as for as I'm concerned, any movie with Ron Howard and Charles Martin Smith as actors is cinematic porn.  [Both Howard and Smith are also film directors.]

Watching the film this time, I was initially annoyed by Lucas' method of telling this story in a series of vignettes that constantly moved from one character to the next.  The film essentially has four plots that revolve around one of four characters, Curt, Steve, John, or Terry.  It took me nearly half the film to realize that the vignettes allow Lucas to depict and to reveal each one of these four young men's goals, conflicts, and fears.  This depiction of their inner selves makes them more interesting to me.  Not only did I root for them, but I also wanted to know more about them.  I wanted to know what was going to happen to them, both in the immediate and far future.

American Graffiti apparently helped launch a wave of nostalgia for and interest in the culture and times of the 1950s and early 1960s or at least an idealized, trouble free, white-washed version of it.  The film apparently renewed the ABC network's interest in what would become one of its most popular sitcoms, “Happy Days” (1974-84).  That long-running and popular television series also presented an idealized, trouble free, white-washed version of the 1950s and early 1960s.

Thus, as much as I enjoyed this viewing of American Graffiti, and as much as I'm interested in its characters, I done with it.  I'm not done with its lovely soundtrack – played in the background so that both the characters and audiences can hear these early classics of rock 'n' roll.  These musical recordings make this special night in the summer of 1962 really special.  Still, American Graffiti is an ode to George Lucas' memories.  It is a cinematic dream he fashioned from the varied experiences of his privileged youth.  I don't really relate to it the way I do other films that are also far from my experiences – such as The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) or Licorice Pizza (2021).

I wouldn't call American Graffiti a great film, so much as I'd call it a unique and important American film.  Why is it important?  Well, American Graffiti is a prime example of the fantasies that the Hollywood dream factory can make of real moments in time.  It's George Lucas' story – his story – presented as a fairy tale about one unforgettable night that will never be repeated.

8 of 10

A

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Thursday, September 28, 2023

You can buy the American Graffiti film and soundtrack at AMAZON.

NOTES:

1974 Academy Awards, USA:  5 nominations: “Best Picture” (Francis Ford Coppola and Gary Kurtz), “Best Actress in a Supporting Role” (Candy Clark), “Best Director” (George Lucas), “Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced” (George Lucas Gloria Katz, and Willard Huyck), and “Best Film Editing” (Verna Fields and Marcia Lucas)

1975 BAFTA Awards:  1 nomination: “Best Supporting Actress” (Cindy Williams)

1974 Golden Globes, USA:  2 wins:  “Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” or “Most Promising Newcomer – Male” (Paul Le Mat); 2 nominations: “Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” (Richard Dreyfuss) and “Best Director - Motion Picture” (George Lucas)

1995 National Film Preservation Board, USA:  “National Film Registry”

The text is copyright © 2023 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: Walt Disney's "ROBIN HOOD" is the Non-Classic Disney Classic

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 44 of 2023 (No. 1933) by Leroy Douresseaux

Robin Hood (1973) – animation

Running time:  83 minutes (1 hour, 23 minutes)

MPAA – G

PRODUCER/DIRECTOR:  Wolfgang Reitherman

WRITERS:  Larry Clemons; based on story and character concepts by Ken Anderson

EDITORS:  Tom Acosta and Jim Melton

COMPOSER:  George Bruns

Academy Award nominee

ANIMATION/FANTASY/FAMILY

Starring:  (voices) Brian Bedford, Phil Harris, Roger Miller, Peter Ustinov, Terry-Thomas, Monica Evans, Andy Devine, Carole Shelley, Pat Buttram, George Lindsey, and Ken Curtis

Robin Hood is a 1973 animated musical-comedy and fantasy-adventure film produced and directed by Wolfgang Reitherman.  It is also the twenty-first feature-length animated film from Walt Disney Productions, part of a line also known as the “Disney Classics.”  The film is based on the English folklore character, Robin Hood, and the stories that have grown around the character.  Disney's 1953 Robin Hood film depicts the legendary outlaw and the cast of characters around his legend as anthropomorphic animals (animals that talk and act like humans)

Robin Hood opens with the story's narrator, Alan-a-Dale – The Rooster (Roger Miller), saying that there are many stories of Robin Hood, but that the one he is about to tell takes place in the world of animals.  He introduces Robin Hood – A Fox (Brian Bedford) and Little John – A Brown Bear (Phil Harris).  They are outlaws and live in Sherwood Forest.  They rob from the rich in order to give gold coins to the overtaxed citizens of the town of Nottingham.

The Sheriff of Nottingham – A Wolf (Pat Buttram) tries to catch the two, but he fails every time.  The sheriff's failure to capture the outlaws irritates Prince John – A Lion (Peter Ustinov).  John is the “Prince Regent” of England while his older brother, King Richard – A Lion (Peter Ustinov), is out of the country fighting in the Third Crusade.  Prince John and his advisor, Sir Hiss – A Snake (Terry-Thomas), plot to end the nuisance of Robin Hood.  Prince John also demands that the Sheriff tax the poor townsfolk of Nottingham excessively, driving many to abject poverty.

Meanwhile, Robin's attention is not entirely focused on robbing the rich.  He wishes to reunite with his love interest, Maid Marian – A Vixen (Monica Evans), who is also the niece of King Richard.  And Prince John's latest plot to catch Robin Hood may just reunite Robin and Marian.  Can their love survive an increasingly enraged Prince John?

As “DVD Netflix” prepares to shutdown, I've been racing to catch up on certain films that I have never seen or have not seen in a long time.  I recently decided to sample some films in which 2023 is the fiftieth anniversary of their original theatrical releases.  That includes such films as Woody Allen's Sleeper, George Lucas' American Graffiti, and the Bruce Lee classic, Enter the Dragon.

Walt Disney's Robin Hood is one of those films celebrating a 50th anniversary, and it is one of the Disney animated classics that I had never seen prior to now.  I am a fan of Robin Hood films, especially the 1991 Kevin Costner vehicle, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.  I also like Ridley Scott's 2010 film, Robin Hood, starring Russell Crowe in the title role.  I found some enjoyment in Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse, a 2012 direct-to-DVD film.  [Robin Hood makes a small appearance in director Richard Thorpe's “Best Picture” Oscar nominee, Ivanhoe (1952), which I have seen a few times on Turner Classic Movies.]

Disney's Robin Hood is an odd film.  First, it isn't an origin story, and takes place, apparently, well into Robin's career as an outlaw.  While Alan-o-Dale mentions “the Merry Men,” Robin's legendary band of outlaws, Little John is the only one that appears in this film.  Friar Tuck – A Badger (Andy Devine) does appear, but he seems to be purely the priest of Nottingham – more a beneficiary of Robin's outlaw activities than a participant.  For me, this makes the film seem under-developed, as if it we are getting half of the intended story.

Apparently, using the the American “Deep South” as a setting for this film was considered, but ultimately the chosen locale was Robin Hood's traditional English setting.  However, Roger Miller, who provides the talking and singing voice of Alan-o-Dale, is best known for his honky-tonk inflected country music and novelty songs, so much of Miller's performance here seems out of place.  Miller's Alan-o-Dale has the flavors of America's rural South, which somewhat clashes with the English setting.  Still, I tend to like Miller's narrating and singing in Robin Hood, although this film's best song is the Oscar-nominated “Love,” written by George Bruns and Floyd Huddleston.

To begin, Robin Hood feels muddled, and it really does not find its narrative flow until about 37 minutes into the film.  At that point, the characters really emerge as they take their places within the story.  The action turns lively, and the animation and animation effects start to stand out.  The voice performances overall are good, but not great – nothing that I would call memorable in the context of the great performances in other Disney animated classics.  Walt Disney's Robin Hood does not exactly miss the mark, but it does not hit the bullseye, either.

6 of 10

B

★★★ out of 4 stars

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

NOTES:

1974 Academy Awards, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Music, Original Song” (George Bruns-music and Floyd Huddleston-lyrics for the song “Love”)

The text is copyright © 2023 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "ENTER THE DRAGON" and Bruce Lee Are Still Kicking Ass 50 Years Later

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 43 of 2023 (No. 1932) by Leroy Douresseaux

Enter the Dragon (1973)

Running time: 102 minutes (1 hour, 42 minutes)

MPAA – R for martial arts violence and brief nudity

DIRECTOR:  Robert Clouse

WRITER:  Michael Allin

PRODUCERS:  Fred Weintraub, Raymond Chow, and Paul Heller

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Gilbert Hubbs (D.o.P.)

EDITORS:  Kurt Hirschler and George Watters

COMPOSER:  Lalo Schifrin

MARTIAL ARTS/ACTION

Starring:  Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Jim Kelly, Ahna Capri, Kien Shih, Bob Wall, Angela Mao, Betty Chung, Geoffrey Weeks, Marlene Clark, Peter Archer, Ho Lee Yan, and Bolo Yeung with Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yeun Wah

Enter the Dragon is a 1973 martial arts and action film directed by Robert Clouse and starring Bruce Lee (1940-1973).  An international co-production between the United States and Hong Kong, the film debuted one month after Lee's death on July 20, 1973.  Thus, August 19, 1973 was the fiftieth anniversary of the film's American release.  Enter the Dragon focuses on a Shaolin martial artist who travels to an island fortress to compete in a martial arts tournament and to also spy on the tournament's benefactor, a mysterious drug lord.

Enter the Dragon opens on the grounds of a Shaolin temple and introduces Lee (Bruce Lee), a highly proficient martial artist, martial arts instructor, and Shaolin monk.  Braithwaite (Geoffrey Weeks), a British intelligence agent, approaches Lee about spying on a crime lord and drug kingpin named Han (Shih Kien).  Braithwaite convinces Lee to attend the high-profile martial arts tournament that Han is holding at his private island fortress.  Attending the tournament would be a good cover as Lee has already been invited.  Before he leaves for Han's island, Lee learns that the man who murdered his sister, Su-Lin (Betty Chung), is Oharra (Bob Wall), one of Han's bodyguards.

While traveling to the island, Lee meets two friends who have also been invited to the tournament.  Both are martial artists and Vietnam veterans.  They are Roper (John Saxon), a white man who is deep in debt because of gambling, and Williams (Jim Kelly), a black man with deep ties to the martial arts in his community.

Once on the island, Lee begins to gather evidence of Han's drug trafficking, but Han is no ordinary criminal.  His tournament is no ordinary martial arts tournament, and Lee, Roper, and Williams are about to discover just how dangerous Han and his tournament are. 

Enter the Dragon is considered one of the most influential action films of all time.  The film's success contributed to the mainstream worldwide interest in the martial arts, and it continues to inspire filmmakers and storytellers to this day.  In addition to film, the influence of Enter the Dragon can be seen in television productions, video games, comic books, and Japanese manga (comics) and anime (animation).  It revolutionized the way Asians, Asian-Americans, and even African-Americans are portrayed on screen, especially in action and martial arts films.  The film also had an impact on mixed martial arts (MMA), including on the clothes and uniforms that MMA fighters wear.

Enter the Dragon is obviously a huge influence on the Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter video game franchises.  The original Mortal Kombat film, 1995's Mortal Kombat, borrows numerous story elements from Enter the Dragon, so much so that it would not be incorrect to call 1995 film a re-imagining of Enter the Dragon.

Obviously, Bruce Lee is magnetic in this film.  Decades after his passing and the arrival of this film, Lee still seems like a natural born movie star.  In this film, he is both subtle and graceful and over-the-top and explosive as needed, but yet he made space for the rest of the cast to shine.  John Saxon is both world-weary and witty as the underutilized Roper, and Jim Kelley, the first African-American martial arts film star, had enough screen time to turn this into his breakthrough role.

Rich in atmosphere, Enter the Dragon is at times odd and eccentric, and it would have been better served by another ten minutes of storytelling – at least.  However, those last twenty or so minutes of the film were like nothing ever seen in American films at the time, and today, still seem revolutionary.  Here, Lee is a coiled cobra, striking like lighting.  He is both time and lightning in a bottle, unleashing his energy while blowing the minds and expectations of the audience.  Fifty years after its original theatrical release, Enter the Dragon is ageless and timeless, and, while the earthly Bruce Lee is long since gone, the cinematic Bruce Lee is eternally youthful and alive and kicking.

10 of 10

Wednesday, September 13, 2023

You can buy a 50th anniversary 4K copy of ENTER THE DRAGON here at AMAZON.

NOTES:

2004 National Film Preservation Board, USA:  National Film Registry

The text is copyright © 2023 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: Vincent Price Does Killer Shakespeare in "THEATRE OF BLOOD"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 10 of 2022 (No. 1822) by Leroy Douresseaux

Theatre of Blood (1973)
Running time:  104 minutes (1 hour, 44 minutes)
DIRECTOR:  Douglas Hickox
WRITERS: Anthony Greville-Bell (based on an idea by Stanley Mann and John Kohn)
PRODUCERS:  John Kohn and Stanley Mann
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Wolfgang Suschitzky (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Malcolm Cooke
COMPOSER:  Michael J. Lewis

THRILLER/HORROR with elements of comedy

Starring:  Vincent Price, Diana Rigg, Ian Hendry, Harry Andrews, Robert Coote, Michael Hordern. Robert Morley, Coral Browne, Jack Hawkins, Arthur Lowe, Dennis Price, Milo O'Shea, and Eric Sykes

Theatre of Blood is a 1973 British horror-thriller and dark comedy from director Douglas Hickox.  The film stars Vincent Price as a scorned Shakespearean actor who takes revenge on his critics using the plays of William Shakespeare as reference for his diabolical methods of murder.

Theatre of Blood opens with a murder.  “Theatre Critics Guild” member, George Maxwell (Michael Hordern), is repeatedly stabbed by a mob of homeless people turned murderers.  Maxwell and his fellow guild members recently humiliated Shakespearean actor, Edward Kendal Sheridan Lionheart (Vincent Price).  He was thought to have committed suicide by jumping from the balcony of the guild's headquarters.  Instead, Lionheart was rescued by the very vagrants and homeless people that hehas  recruited to his cause – revenge against the critics who failed to acclaim his genius.

Now, Lionheart has targeted the eight remaining members of the Theatre Critics Guild, designing their deaths using murder scenes from the plays of William Shakespeare.  The police are trying to discover the identity of the killers, and even after they do, they still can't seem to stop him.  Only one of his targets, critic Peregrine Devlin (Ian Hendry), seems smart enough to foil Lionheart.  However, Devlin has no idea just how obsessed and focused Lionheart is.

Vincent Price (1911–1993) was an American actor and a legendary movie star, in addition to being an author and art historian.  Price was and still is best known for his performances in horror films, although his career spanned other genres.  Price appeared in more than 100 films, but he also performed on television, the stage, and on radio.

I am currently reading the wonderful comic book miniseries, Elvira Meets Vincent Price, which is written by David Avallone, drawn by Juan Samu, and published by Dynamite Entertainment.  The series will end shortly, and because I have enjoyed reading it so much, I decided to watch and review a Vincent Price movie.  The first Vincent Price movie that I can remember seeing was Theatre of Blood (known as Theater of Blood in the United States).  As I haven't seen it since that first time, I decided to watch it again.

I remember really liking this movie the first time I saw it, and I enjoyed it watching it again.  Theatre of Blood is both a horror-thriller and a dark comedy, something I did not get watching it as a youngster.  Truthfully, however, Theatre of Blood is a monster movie – a Vincent Price monster movie.

At first, I found myself enjoying Edward Lionheart's revenge and the games of death he plays with his enemies, the critics who would not give him the honor he believes he is due.  Then, I noticed that Lionheart's murderous crusade drags in an ever growing number of innocents and collateral damage.  At that point, I was forced to realize that the beguiling Lionheart is a deranged maniac and probably has been one for a long time.

After I accepted that Lionheart was neither hero nor anti-hero, but was instead a lunatic, I began to enjoy Price's not-quite-over the top performance, with its alternating layers of madness, subtlety, elegance, and maniacal glee.  By the time, I finished Theatre of Blood, I realized a few things.  One is that I need a regular dose of Vincent Price cinema in my life.  Another is that I will absolutely recommend this movie to you, dear readers.

8 of 10
A

Wednesday, March 2, 2022


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#28DaysofBlack Review: Pam Grier Does It for Herself in "COFFY"

[African-American actress Pam Grier has had a long career, one that few Black women of her generation have had.  Some of her most memorable work came in a period during the 1970s when she usually played what was basically a “one-chick hit-squad.”  That character type first came to life in writer-director Jack Hill's Coffy.]

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 10 of 2021 (No. 1748) by Leroy Douresseaux

Coffy (1973)
Running time: 90 minutes (1 hour, 30 minutes)
MPAA – R
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Jack Hill
PRODUCER:  Robert A. Papazian
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Paul Lohmann (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Charles McClelland
COMPOSER:  Roy Ayers

ACTION/CRIME

Starring:  Pam Grier, Booker Bradshaw, Robert DoQui, William Elliott, Allan Arbus, Sid Haig, Barry Cahill, Lee de Broux, Ruben Moreno, Carol Locatell, Linda Haynes, John Perak, Mwako Cumbuka, Morris Buchanan, Karen Williams, and Bob Minor

Coffy is a 1973 action and crime film written and directed by Jack Hill.  A blaxploitation film (black exploitation film), Coffy focuses on an African-American nurse who turns vigilante against a ring of heroin dealers.

Coffy introduces sexy Black nurse, Flower Child Coffin, better known by the nickname, “Coffy.”  She is distressed that her 16-year-old sister, LuBelle (Karen Williams), is staying at a juvenile rehabilitation center because she is addicted to heroin.  As the story begins, Coffy kills “Sugarman” (Morris Buchanan), the pusher who sold heroin to LuBelle.

After speaking with a her long time friend, Carter Brown (William Elliot), a police officer, Coffy decides that if she wants to stop people from getting heroin, she will have to go to the source.  That means the drug pusher and pimp, King George (Robert DoQui), and his supplier, Arturo Vitroni (Allan Arbus).  Going undercover as a Jamaican prostitute looking to work for a big player, Coffy quickly infiltrates the supply chain.  However, someone close to her is also close to the drug dealers.

Exploitation films are generally low-budget films (but not always), and are generally considered “B-movies” with stories belonging to certain genres (action, crime, horror).  They feature lurid content of a violent and/or sexual nature, and they may even exploit current trends in pop culture or in the wider culture.  Black exploitation films, now known as “blaxploitation films,” were exploitation films aimed at African-American audiences and emerged in the early 1970s.  The heroes or protagonists of blaxploitation films were generally anti-heroes, vigilantes, and criminals.  Sometimes, the heroes of such films were ordinary citizens who became vigilantes and used criminal methods to fights criminals and corrupt public officials and law enforcement.

Coffy is a pure exploitation film and is quintessential blaxploitation.  It is lurid, and it exploits the social, political, and racial states of affair of its time.  I could not help but notice how often the actresses in this film, white and black, had their breasts exposed.  Clearly this is sexual exploitation, but in the spirit of being non-hypocritical, I have to admit that I am a big fan of the breast-types exposed in Coffy.  So, yeah, I enjoyed seeing the breasts … even knowing that some or all of the actresses were forced to expose themselves.

It is easy to call Coffy trash, but I won't.  I am in love with Pam Grier the movie star.  Coffy is conceptually interesting, but the plot and narrative are executed for efficiency and speed more so than for storytelling.  The production values are low, although the costumes are … interesting.  Without Grier, this would be a D-list movie.

With Pam Grier, Coffy seems like something special.  In the past, film critics have criticized the Jamaican accent she uses in this film; one called her delivery of her lines stiff.  When Pam Grier speaks out loud in one of her classic blaxploitation films – and they are indeed classics – she probably makes some men experience a certain kind of stiffness.  Grier is not just a movie star; she is a radiant movie star.  Every moment that she is on screen, Pam Grier lifts mere elements of exploitation into riveting, two-fisted, crime fiction cinema.  I could have watched at least a half hour more of this film … as long as Pam Grier was in it.

Writer-director Quentin Tarantino, who wrote a film for Pam Grier (1997's Jackie Brown), called her the first female action movie star.  This may be true, and Grier made Coffy her first calling card, her notice of arrival as the leading lady of blaxploitation action films.  Now, I need a cigarette.

8 of 10
A

Monday, February 8, 2021


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Review: "The Wicker Man" is Still a Creepy Masterpiece (Remembering Christopher Lee)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 147 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux (support on Patreon)

The Wicker Man (1973)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  UK
Running time:  88 minutes (1 hour, 28 minutes)
MPAA – R
DIRECTOR:  Robin Hardy
WRITER:  Anthony Shaffer (based upon the novel, Ritual, by David Pinner)
PRODUCER:  Peter Snell
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Peter Waxman (director of photography)
EDITOR:  Eric Boyd-Perkins
COMPOSER:  Paul Giovanni

HORROR/DRAMA/MYSTERY with elements of a musical

Starring:  Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Diane Cilento, Britt Ekland, Ingrid Pitt, Lindsay Kemp, Irene Sunter, and Geraldine Cowper

The subject of this review is The Wicker Man, a 1973 British horror and mystery film from director Robin Hardy.  The film was inspired by the 1967 British horror novel, Ritual, by author David Pinner.  The Wicker Man follows a devout Christian police sergeant who goes to a remote Scottish island to search for a missing girl and runs up against pagan islanders.

Police Sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward) travels to the remote Scottish island of Summerisle where he’s been mysteriously called to investigate the disappearance of a young girl, Rowan Morrison (Geraldine Cowper).  However, he immediately finds the locals uncooperative, and the community is nothing like he expected.

The devout Christian detective finds the islanders openly reveling in wanton lust, often having sex in public.  The pastoral community is led by Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee) in the practice of a religion that recognizes the “old gods” and the islanders also recreate various rituals practiced by the Druids.  Offended by what he believes is pagan blasphemy, Sgt. Howie is blind to how dangerous this secret society actually is to him.

Director Robin Hardy and writer Anthony Shaffer’s The Wicker Man is one of the most popular cult films from Great Britain.  In fact, one of the film’s stars, Christopher Lee, calls it one of the 100 best British films ever made.  Although its shock ending (and it’s a doozy) would mark the film as a horror movie, in many ways, The Wicker Man is a melodrama – one with a highly usually subject matter for a mainstream film, but a melodrama, nevertheless.  Early on, The Wicker Man almost becomes a musical because the first half of the film is filled with the villagers in song (singing tunes written by Paul Giovanni, the film’s composer, and Gary Carpenter).  These Celtic folk song-like ditties (about pagan festivals and with an emphasis on ritual, metaphor, and fertility) add to the movie’s surreal air without making the film seem wholly implausible.

Ultimately, questions about the plausibility of The Wicker Man will decide how viewers receive it.  Granted, there are holes in logic, and some incidents in the movie just don’t make sense (There is also a 100-minute director’s cut that provide more explanations into the various concepts in the film.), but sometimes the movie seems like a weirdo documentary about an actually island of pagan hippies.  While the performances and filmmaking is generally good, it’s this touch of realness that makes the film so eerily… real?  The movie makes the viewer ask:  “Could this happen” or “Is this based on a real story,” and that makes The Wicker Man haunt you long after you watched it.

The film drifts in the middle of the second act and early in the third act.  However, the final ten minutes or so may leave the viewer shivering and feeling a strong sense of dread, fear, and maybe shock and confusion – just like a good horror flick should.

7 of 10
B+

Thursday, July 13, 2006

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Review: 1973 Version of "The Three Musketeers" Retains its Comic Charm

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 84 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux


The Three Musketeers (1973)
U.S. release: 1974
Running time: 107 minutes (1 hour, 47 minutes)
MPAA – PG
DIRECTOR: Richard Lester
WRITER: George MacDonald Fraser (based upon the novel by Alexandre Dumas père)
PRODUCERS: Alexander and Ilya Salkind
CINEMATOGRAPHER: David Watkin (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: John Victor Smith
COMPOSER: Michel Legrand
BAFTA nominee

COMEDY/HISTORICAL

Starring: Michael York, Oliver Reed, Richard Chamberlain, Frank Finlay, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Geraldine Chaplin, Charlton Heston, Faye Dunaway, Christopher Lee, Simon Ward, Raquel Welch, Spike Milligan, and Roy Kinnear

The Three Musketeers is a 1973 swashbuckling comedy film from director Richard Lester (A Hard Day’s Night). This film is based upon Alexandre Dumas père’s 1844 novel, also entitled The Three Musketeers. This is also the first of a two-part film series, the other being The Four Musketeers (1974).

The film opens on young d’Artagnan (Michael York), a country bumpkin trained in the art of the sword by his father. D’Artagnan arrives in Paris with dreams of becoming a king’s musketeer – hopefully with the help of an old acquaintance of his father’s – but he is turned away. He meets and quarrels with three men: Athos (Oliver Reed), Porthos (Frank Finlay), and Aramis (Richard Chamberlain), each of whom challenges him to a duel. After discovering that the three men are real musketeers, d’Artagnan joins them in a brawl with the guards of Count Richelieu (Charlton Heston). Appreciative of d’Artagnan’s efforts, the three musketeers take him on as a kind of musketeer-in-training.

Meanwhile, the Duke of Buckingham (Simon Ward) has slipped into France to see French Queen, Anne of Austria (Geraldine Chaplin), with whom he is having an affair. Richelieu conspires to use the affair to bring down the Queen so that he can have more power over the King, Louis XIII (Jean-Pierre Cassel). Richelieu employs his spy and secret agent, Milady de Winter (Faye Dunaway), to help him.

D’Artagnan has an affair with Constance Bonacieux (Raquel Welch), a married woman who is an aid to the Queen. At her insistence, d’Artagnan decides to help the Queen. Soon the young musketeer wannabe joins Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, as they also seek to oppose Cardinal Richelieu at every turn.

It has been so many years since I read The Three Musketeers that I don’t remember much about it, although the film apparently adheres closely to the novel. I do remember this movie, though. I watched it and its sequel several times when I was a child and I loved it – love is the right word to use. Before I watched it again recently, I wondered if I’d still like it. It turned out that I still love this movie.

Lester and screenwriter George MacDonald Fraser inject a lot of humor into the story. In fact, the film emphasizes comedy over character, although the script gives each character a personality that is important in the context of the role he or she plays. The cast, which is composed of mostly veteran and talented actors and movie stars, makes the most of the material. For instance, Charlton Heston’s stout turn as Richelieu allows the character to be a villain, but an impeccable sense of timing also allows Heston to make the character menacing or mischievously funny, as necessary.

The Three Musketeers also tweaks the conventions of the swashbuckling movies of the 1940s and 50s. The film does the kind of lavish sets and art direction and sumptuous costumes that would make a 1940s MGM period film proud. However, director of photography David Watkins shot this movie with an eye for period detail, so he captures a squalid, more impoverished, and earthier reality as equally as he captures splendor. This makes the movie loose and energetic, rather than stiff and formal.

The Three Musketeers’ fight scenes are not fancy fencing duels like something out of an Errol Flynn movie. Rather, these fights are staged as brawls with the combatants using fists and knees as much as swords. In fact, furniture, food, sticks, and any objects at hand (even wet laundry) sometimes assist or replace swordplay.

When I first saw The Three Musketeers, I was too young to understand the bawdy humor and double entendres. Now, I see how Michael York strikes the perfect tone as d’Artagnan and also how the strikingly handsome Oliver Reed made the most of what is basically a supporting role. Raquel Welch as Constance and Faye Dunaway as Lady de Winter are devastating scene stealers; there could have been a movie built around just the two of them. The Three Musketeers is a childhood favorite that doesn’t disappoint the adult me.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
1975 BAFTA Awards: 5 nominations: “Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music” (Michel Legrand), “Best Art Direction” (Brian Eatwell), “Best Cinematography” (David Watkin), “Best Costume Design” (Yvonne Blake), and “Best Film Editing” (John Victor-Smith)

1975 Golden Globes: 1 win: “Best Motion Picture Actress - Musical/Comedy” (Raquel Welch); 1 nomination: “Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy”

Friday, October 21, 2011

Review: George Romero's "The Crazies" Mocks Bureaucracy

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 57 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Crazies (1973)
Running time: 103 minutes (1 hour, 43 minutes)
DIRECTOR/EDITOR: George A. Romero
WRITERS: Paul McCollough and George A. Romero
PRODUCER: A.C. Croft
CINEMATOGRAPHER: S. William Hinzman (director of photography)

ACTION/MILITARY/THRILLER

Starring: Lane Carroll, W.G. McMillan, Harold Wayne Jones, Lloyd Hollar, Lynn Lowry, Richard Liberty, Richard France, Harry Spillman, and Will Disney

The Crazies is a 1973 satirical drama and military thriller from director George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead). The film, which has some elements from the horror genre, takes place in a small Pennsylvania town. There, the military is trying to contain an outbreak of a manmade virus that causes death or permanent insanity in those it infects.

The Crazies has two major storylines. One focuses on how politicians and the military try to contain the outbreak, and the other focuses on the civilians who try to stay alive during the chaos, in particular a quartet led by two former serviceman. The action takes place in and around the small town of Evans City, Pennsylvania. Apparently, a few weeks before the story begins, an army plane crash-landed in the hills near the town. The plane was carrying a biological weapon – a top-secret virus codenamed Trixie.

Heavily-armed U.S. troops (clad in white NBC suits) arrive in Evans City and declare martial law. In an attempt to contain Trixie and see which citizens are infected, the military begins to gather the citizens in a central location, but as the military sets up a quarantine perimeter outside of town to stop the virus from spreading, chaos ensues. Two Vietnam veterans who are now firemen, former Green Beret, David (W.G. McMillan), and infantryman, Clank (Harold Wayne Jones), hatch a plan to leave town. With them are David’s pregnant girlfriend, a nurse named Judy (Lane Carroll); Kathie Fulton (Lynn Lowry), a teenager; and her father, Artie (Richard Liberty). Their escape attempt may be too late for some, as the madness caused by Trixie begins to set in.

Many viewers probably consider The Crazies to be a horror movie, especially because it is directed by George Romero. Much of the film, however, is a pointed satire of military and political bureaucracies, focusing on the intractability of the decision and policy makers and also the general disorganization of institutions that are supposed to be quite organized. This satire is certainly interesting, but it slows the narrative, sometimes to a crawl. Still, Romero’s sly wit and blunt commentary occasionally give birth to some good scenes (like the standoff between the military and the local law).

The best parts of the film involve the quintet trying to escape the madness. These five people exemplify the character traits, personalities, and actions that are typical of characters in Romero films that are trapped in some kind of doomsday scenario. The actors’ good performances bring freshness to these familiar Romero types. W.G. McMillan as David and Lane Carroll as Judy have excellent screen chemistry and seem like a real couple. The Crazies reflected the chaotic times in which it first appeared, but McMillan and Carroll are still the heart of this film. Their characters’ trials and tribulations add drama to this film and make it seem like more than just pointed satire.

6 of 10
B

Monday, July 26, 2010

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