ALPHAVILLE is a whacked-out Cold War/ Nuclear paranoid flick that can best be described as someone’s bad dream. I’m sure Mr. Lynch must have been influenced by this French/American effort. Absolutely mesmerizing!
BULLITT. The best chase sequence ever filmed combined with Steve McQueen’s very on-edge cop. A wild ride from beginning to end !
COTTON COMES TO HARLEM. The very end of the ‘60s into the early ‘70s was the era of “Blaxploitation” films. Most were crud, but a few were in intriguing views into a culture most White Americans were barely familiar with if at all…true, there is exaggeration and nonsense in this movie, but it still stands as a great cop film if nothing else.
DAVID AND LISA explores the issue of autism before most people were aware of what it was… its really a love story set in an exclusive mental hospital. It is far more realistic than RAINMAN and, I think, more powerful as well.
IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT is a special movie and, as it came out in ‘67 , may have helped start the Black-oriented flicks that would follow . Set in an era of racial tension, this movie makes good use of fine acting and a whodunit plot that is well-written and paced.
LITTLE BIG MAN. I have written elsewhere about the death of the Western a genre which used to be a staple of Hollywood fare and now only exists as an occasional exercise in screen art. This movie is one of the nails in the lid of the Hollywood Western’s coffin. It is a revisionist view of the post-Civil-War West culminating with the destruction of part of the 7th Cavalry under Lt. Col. Custer by a combined force of Northern Plains Indians. Everything Hollywood held up so dear about that place and time is lampooned which makes it a lot of fun…nothing escapes the satire: Native Americans, gunslingers, pioneers…they all get blasted to wondrous effect. A long movie, but a romp nonetheless !
LOVE WITH A PROPER STRANGER. Natalie Wood and Steve McQueen in a rare, non-action role. A romantic comedy with dramatic overtones…very well done, very gritty and ,speaking of coffin-nails, one of the nails in the Breen Office’s coffin.
GOLD FINGER is the second and one of the best of the James Bond movies. Mr. Broccoli and his people got it together and right for this one. Great bad guy, great photography and gorgeous women…and the man who really brought the character to the screen, Sean Connery.
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN is one of the later, “big” Westerns. The myth is alive and well in this star-strewn film and it delivers excitement and heart in huge measures. Yule Brynner as a gunslinger? It could happen ! And it does. Based on the Japanese classic, THE SEVEN SAMURI, the ensemble effort not only made a memorable full-color feature but gave us a great theme song as well.
PATTON. Well, yes, there’s been some rewriting of history here, especially about the Sicilian Campaign and how the general managed to get himself into the doghouse bigtime, though the essentials are factual enough in that the old boy did manage to berate some poor slobs (one of whom had actually performed heroically until he snapped and another who had important family connections in Washington) in not one but several aide stations and hospitals…. Even back in North Africa because he refused to consider psychological trauma as a medical condition. He had a running fight with the staff physicians about this matter for years. It was inevitable ALPHAVILLE is a whacked-out Cold War/ Nuclear paranoid flick that can best be described as someone’s bad dream. I’m sure Mr. Lynch must have been influenced by this French/American effort. Absolutely mesmerizing!
BULLITT. The best chase sequence ever filmed combined with Steve McQueen’s very on-edge cop. A wild ride from beginning to end !
COTTON COMES TO HARLEM. The very end of the ‘60s into the early ‘70s was the era of “Blaxploitation” films. Most were crud, but a few were in intriguing views into a culture most White Americans were barely familiar with if at all…true, there is exaggeration and nonsense in this movie, but it still stands as a great cop film if nothing else.
DAVID AND LISA explores the issue of autism before most people were aware of what it was… its really a love story set in an exclusive mental hospital. It is far more realistic than RAINMAN and, I think, more powerful as well.
IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT is a special movie and, as it came out in ‘67 , may have helped start the Black-oriented flicks that would follow . Set in an era of racial tension, this movie makes good use of fine acting and a whodunit plot that is well-written and paced.
LITTLE BIG MAN. I have written elsewhere about the death of the Western a genre which used to be a staple of Hollywood fare and now only exists as an occasional exercise in screen art. This movie is one of the nails in the lid of the Hollywood Western’s coffin. It is a revisionist view of the post-Civil-War West culminating with the destruction of part of the 7th Cavalry under Lt. Col. Custer by a combined force of Northern Plains Indians. Everything Hollywood held up so dear about that place and time is lampooned which makes it a lot of fun…nothing escapes the satire: Native Americans, gunslingers, pioneers…they all get blasted to wondrous effect. A long movie, but a romp nonetheless !
LOVE WITH A PROPER STRANGER. Natalie Wood and Steve McQueen in a rare, non-action role. A romantic comedy with dramatic overtones…very well done, very gritty and ,speaking of coffin-nails, one of the nails in the Breen Office’s coffin.
GOLD FINGER is the second and one of the best of the James Bond movies. Mr. Broccoli and his people got it together and right for this one. Great bad guy, great photography and gorgeous women…and the man who really brought the character to the screen, Sean Connery.
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN is one of the later, “big” Westerns. The myth is alive and well in this star-strewn film and it delivers excitement and heart in huge measures. Yule Brynner as a gunslinger? It could happen ! And it does. Based on the Japanese classic, THE SEVEN SAMURI, the ensemble effort not only made a memorable full-color feature but gave us a great theme song as well.
PATTON. Well, yes, there’s been some rewriting of history here, especially about the Sicilian Campaign and how the general managed to get himself into the doghouse bigtime, though the essentials are factual enough in that the old boy did manage to berate some poor slobs (one of whom had actually performed heroically until he snapped and another who had important family connections in Washington) in not one but several aide stations and hospitals…. Even back in North Africa because he refused to consider psychological trauma as a medical condition. He had a running fight with the staff physicians about this matter for years. It was inevitable that ,at last, he’d probably step on the wrong toes, but the main reason he was relieved of command and put in limbo was because ,in Sicily, he had offended the Allied Command…that is ,he had tweaked British Field Marshal Montgomery’s nose as well as the fact that he had disregarded the Allied battle plan almost entirely. Scott’s Oscar winning portrayal is genius.
YELLOW SUBMARINE. Not great animation, but the colors….the colors ! Seriously, the music, the voicing by the Fab Four and the graphics are stunning. The best pop music of that age.
was relieved of command and put in limbo was because ,in Sicily, he had offended the Allied Command…that is ,he had tweaked British Field Marshal Montgomery’s nose as well as the fact that he had disregarded the Allied battle plan almost entirely. Scott’s Oscar winning portrayal is genius.
YELLOW SUBMARINE. Not great animation, but the colors….the colors ! Seriously, the music, the voicing by the Fab Four and the graphics are stunning. The best pop music of that age.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
MORE BOOMER YEARS FAVORITES
A CHRISTMAS CAROL with Alestar Sim as Scrooge is the best Dickens adaptation and , I think, the best of the retellings of this classic story.
PSYCHO is ,basically, a slasher movie, but so well-written and directed that what would be gratuitous violence in the ‘80s(which even had a remake as well as sequels to this movie) comes off here as a study in madness.
PLANET OF THE APES is ,in the first rendition of this novel-based movie, clever, well-conceived and brilliant . The ending is a classic! The impact of that one scene, especially given the fact that a lingering fear of just such a thing was something we lived with constantly, makes this the best telling of what probably was more of a sci-fi fable than anything else.
WHAT A WAY TO GO not only highlights the star’s many talents, but also features some of the top male leads of the era. Just a lot of fun from beginning to end!
IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD is a romp! Featuring the mid- ‘60s funniest comedians, this hilarious comedy adds, of all people, Spencer Tracey into the mix! What’s not to like?
PSYCHO is ,basically, a slasher movie, but so well-written and directed that what would be gratuitous violence in the ‘80s(which even had a remake as well as sequels to this movie) comes off here as a study in madness.
PLANET OF THE APES is ,in the first rendition of this novel-based movie, clever, well-conceived and brilliant . The ending is a classic! The impact of that one scene, especially given the fact that a lingering fear of just such a thing was something we lived with constantly, makes this the best telling of what probably was more of a sci-fi fable than anything else.
WHAT A WAY TO GO not only highlights the star’s many talents, but also features some of the top male leads of the era. Just a lot of fun from beginning to end!
IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD is a romp! Featuring the mid- ‘60s funniest comedians, this hilarious comedy adds, of all people, Spencer Tracey into the mix! What’s not to like?
Thursday, February 17, 2011
THE BABY BOOM YEARS MOVIES
The Baby Boom years of the ‘50 and ‘60s saw the explosion of Science Fiction themes, more grown-up Westerns and the relaxing of the Breen Office’s control over movie censorship. Remember, the Hayes and Breen Offices were imposed on the movie industry by the industry itself as an alternative to outside interference but groups like the Catholic League of Decency had put the fear into the movie moguls in the first place. Now, with the waning of that influence in a more secular age, the studios would replace the old censorship office with a new system, a rating system. This was the age in which that system was devised and ,eventually, came into being.
HIGH NOON is a tense, well-plotted, written and paced opus that not only helped take the Western into the TV era with an alternative to the kiddy, Hopalong Cassidy stuff which used to dominate the silver screen and now resided on the little screen, but also made it OK for “adult” Westerns to invade the little screen as well.
WAR OF THE WORLDS the best adaptation of H.G. Welles’ novel to date combines color, good writing and an ending which would make the atheist Welles turn over in his grave. Welles’ novel, to my thinking, is about how the best minds using the greatest technology may overlook something so small and basic as a virus and thus the entire enterprise is lost. Had the bulkheads in the bottom of the Titanic been just a little higher many more would have survived the accident and, perhaps, the entire ship could have been saved…but that detail was overlooked, the bulkheads were too low and thus the ship flooded rather quickly with great loss of life. The movie version, which makes good use of the scientists and their work, while it keeps the basic outline of the book, is more about humanity triumphing through a combination of faith and reason. The USA saw itself as achieving victory that way in WWII and we wanted to think that combination would carry us through our current COLD WAR.
Science Fiction also gave us THEM which helped usher in a new age of giant , radiation-induced mutant animals. The atom ended the War but gave us nightmares as a legacy. The man who played Santa Clause in the ‘40s, Edmund Gwyn , now is cast as a scientist in this thriller about giant ants. This is a movie that stands up even to the standards of today’s FX shenannigans!
I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE seems to connect to the perceived threat of Soviet infiltration during that era. “Real men, human men,” according to the doctor will put an end to the threat just as “real Americans” were expected to uncover and root out any who plotted with our great enemy. Wonderfully realized monsters and a good, solid script make this an enjoyable flick.
FORBIDDEN PLANET. Basically this is Bill Shakespeare’s THE TEMPEST with a metal Caliban and is wonderful to look at, fun to watch and ,yes, is Sci-Fi for grownups and ,in that way, is a forerunner of what would come on TV and in the movies in later years.
THE BODY SNATCHERS may , at first glance, seem to be a “red-scare” film. It is not…in fact, it’s something the opposite. The whole point is that the pods make everyone the same…sort of dull…they like canned “Muzak” and ranch-style frame houses and make no trouble for the authorities. In truth, the movie is a rebuttal to the current tend towards suburbanization of America during the Eisenhower administration. Corporate America wanted “normalization” and conformity, according to some, and the gist of this film is to speak out for human individuality.
THE LONGEST DAY. This stirring, totally interesting re-creation of D-Day, June 6, 1944 is one of the best historical movies, I think, ever. I’m sure not everything happened exactly like that, but the invasion of Northern Europe is an historic fact.
THE GREAT ESCAPE is another WWII effort only this one is fiction, though and through, but what a ride! Great cast, great script and believable plot make this a must-see for me, at least.
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS is a lavish remake and is stunning in scope and execution. Yes, it takes liberty with history both secular and Biblical, but itr does so with so much panache!
HIGH NOON is a tense, well-plotted, written and paced opus that not only helped take the Western into the TV era with an alternative to the kiddy, Hopalong Cassidy stuff which used to dominate the silver screen and now resided on the little screen, but also made it OK for “adult” Westerns to invade the little screen as well.
WAR OF THE WORLDS the best adaptation of H.G. Welles’ novel to date combines color, good writing and an ending which would make the atheist Welles turn over in his grave. Welles’ novel, to my thinking, is about how the best minds using the greatest technology may overlook something so small and basic as a virus and thus the entire enterprise is lost. Had the bulkheads in the bottom of the Titanic been just a little higher many more would have survived the accident and, perhaps, the entire ship could have been saved…but that detail was overlooked, the bulkheads were too low and thus the ship flooded rather quickly with great loss of life. The movie version, which makes good use of the scientists and their work, while it keeps the basic outline of the book, is more about humanity triumphing through a combination of faith and reason. The USA saw itself as achieving victory that way in WWII and we wanted to think that combination would carry us through our current COLD WAR.
Science Fiction also gave us THEM which helped usher in a new age of giant , radiation-induced mutant animals. The atom ended the War but gave us nightmares as a legacy. The man who played Santa Clause in the ‘40s, Edmund Gwyn , now is cast as a scientist in this thriller about giant ants. This is a movie that stands up even to the standards of today’s FX shenannigans!
I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE seems to connect to the perceived threat of Soviet infiltration during that era. “Real men, human men,” according to the doctor will put an end to the threat just as “real Americans” were expected to uncover and root out any who plotted with our great enemy. Wonderfully realized monsters and a good, solid script make this an enjoyable flick.
FORBIDDEN PLANET. Basically this is Bill Shakespeare’s THE TEMPEST with a metal Caliban and is wonderful to look at, fun to watch and ,yes, is Sci-Fi for grownups and ,in that way, is a forerunner of what would come on TV and in the movies in later years.
THE BODY SNATCHERS may , at first glance, seem to be a “red-scare” film. It is not…in fact, it’s something the opposite. The whole point is that the pods make everyone the same…sort of dull…they like canned “Muzak” and ranch-style frame houses and make no trouble for the authorities. In truth, the movie is a rebuttal to the current tend towards suburbanization of America during the Eisenhower administration. Corporate America wanted “normalization” and conformity, according to some, and the gist of this film is to speak out for human individuality.
THE LONGEST DAY. This stirring, totally interesting re-creation of D-Day, June 6, 1944 is one of the best historical movies, I think, ever. I’m sure not everything happened exactly like that, but the invasion of Northern Europe is an historic fact.
THE GREAT ESCAPE is another WWII effort only this one is fiction, though and through, but what a ride! Great cast, great script and believable plot make this a must-see for me, at least.
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS is a lavish remake and is stunning in scope and execution. Yes, it takes liberty with history both secular and Biblical, but itr does so with so much panache!
Monday, February 14, 2011
My Favorites of the Post-War Era
In the ‘40s there were three films which stand out to me. They all have what I call ”movie magic”. It is not special effects or a huge budget, but something akin to heart or whatever takes us out of ourselves for a little while and transports us to someplace else. The films I have mentioned earlier have that quality which continues with these four from the 1940s.
The first is the French classic fantasy, THE BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Yes, KING KONG was basically a re-telling of this tale but Malle told the old story with such verve and wonder that it would not be equaled until rendered as an animated feature years later..
The delightful Christmas classic, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE would be next . The storytelling which is superb rests upon the nature of uncertainty. Recall that this was a very uncertain era in history. The Second World War was over but it remained for people to pick up the pieces. The Atom……the mass revolts of colonial peoples, the Iron Curtain as well as rather dismal post-war housing and economic prospects . The “Post War Boom” had not yet happened, instead wartime factory jobs were evaporating, labor unrest was growing violent and what had been considered a war-time ally was now looking like ,if possible, an even worse enemy than The Axis. That’s what’s cooking underneath the plot of the story… which has a hopeful, warm ending.
MIRACLE ON 34th STREET, another fantasy has that same hopeful undercurrent and ending. The cynicism spawned by the War, is represented by the child’s refusal, a refusal fed by her mother, to believe in Santa Claus , is swept away by hope and hope fulfilled.
The fourth movie is an action-adventure with romantic overtones. Bogart and Hepburn going down the Congo River during WWI.. An odd couple ,if you will, or another form of Beauty and the Beast. Years later ,Miss Hepburn would reprise that role opposite John Wayne and set in the American West, but that was nothing compared to this grand effort. THE AFRICAN QUEEN rounds out our four post-war films .
The first is the French classic fantasy, THE BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Yes, KING KONG was basically a re-telling of this tale but Malle told the old story with such verve and wonder that it would not be equaled until rendered as an animated feature years later..
The delightful Christmas classic, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE would be next . The storytelling which is superb rests upon the nature of uncertainty. Recall that this was a very uncertain era in history. The Second World War was over but it remained for people to pick up the pieces. The Atom……the mass revolts of colonial peoples, the Iron Curtain as well as rather dismal post-war housing and economic prospects . The “Post War Boom” had not yet happened, instead wartime factory jobs were evaporating, labor unrest was growing violent and what had been considered a war-time ally was now looking like ,if possible, an even worse enemy than The Axis. That’s what’s cooking underneath the plot of the story… which has a hopeful, warm ending.
MIRACLE ON 34th STREET, another fantasy has that same hopeful undercurrent and ending. The cynicism spawned by the War, is represented by the child’s refusal, a refusal fed by her mother, to believe in Santa Claus , is swept away by hope and hope fulfilled.
The fourth movie is an action-adventure with romantic overtones. Bogart and Hepburn going down the Congo River during WWI.. An odd couple ,if you will, or another form of Beauty and the Beast. Years later ,Miss Hepburn would reprise that role opposite John Wayne and set in the American West, but that was nothing compared to this grand effort. THE AFRICAN QUEEN rounds out our four post-war films .
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Late '30s Films I Really like
The ‘30s was a great time for the American film industry. And no doubt many of the fine movies made then deserve some recognition but my purpose here is to relate my all-time favorites. These are movies I never tire of seeing again. Yes, the first several are all in the spooky/weird vein. So?
These are the ones I really like and though may appreciate a movie like PUBLIC ENEMY, I really don’t care if I ever see it again. But, in the late ‘30s a burst of wonderful movie-making gave us some films which h are not spooky but are worthy of repeat viewing.
SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARVES was Disney’s first full-length feature animation and still ranks as one of the best. Taken from the pages of Grim’s , this beautiful rendition of the old tale has exceptional art-work and a simple, but compelling story. At another time I will discuss SNOW WHITE and two other fairy tales which are related in a surprising way, but here I will only say that Disney touched something of magic here and by “magic” I do not mean deception or illusion.
WUTHERING HEIGHTS is a re-telling of a great ,well-written novel. Yes, it does depart somewhat from what Miss Bronte wrote, but given the constraints of film the changes are honorable and well-conceived. In other words, they got it and that’s all that matters. Dark, moody and doomed in many ways using what would develop as Film Noir ,this film as an aura about it that cannot be denied. Even Olivier’s tendency for overripe emoting is useful in telling this dark-hued tale.
GONE WITH THE WIND. The best film ever devised! This is the zenith of the craft and is without equal. Based on the best-selling novel to which it is generally faithful which helped to account for its length, the acting, writing and visual presentation is incomparable.
WIZARD OF OZ based on the books of that name, this glorious film has song, color and fun. We used to watch this as a family every Easter on TV(before we had color, too!) great, great movie which should be a part of every collection.
These are the ones I really like and though may appreciate a movie like PUBLIC ENEMY, I really don’t care if I ever see it again. But, in the late ‘30s a burst of wonderful movie-making gave us some films which h are not spooky but are worthy of repeat viewing.
SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARVES was Disney’s first full-length feature animation and still ranks as one of the best. Taken from the pages of Grim’s , this beautiful rendition of the old tale has exceptional art-work and a simple, but compelling story. At another time I will discuss SNOW WHITE and two other fairy tales which are related in a surprising way, but here I will only say that Disney touched something of magic here and by “magic” I do not mean deception or illusion.
WUTHERING HEIGHTS is a re-telling of a great ,well-written novel. Yes, it does depart somewhat from what Miss Bronte wrote, but given the constraints of film the changes are honorable and well-conceived. In other words, they got it and that’s all that matters. Dark, moody and doomed in many ways using what would develop as Film Noir ,this film as an aura about it that cannot be denied. Even Olivier’s tendency for overripe emoting is useful in telling this dark-hued tale.
GONE WITH THE WIND. The best film ever devised! This is the zenith of the craft and is without equal. Based on the best-selling novel to which it is generally faithful which helped to account for its length, the acting, writing and visual presentation is incomparable.
WIZARD OF OZ based on the books of that name, this glorious film has song, color and fun. We used to watch this as a family every Easter on TV(before we had color, too!) great, great movie which should be a part of every collection.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Early '30s Favorites
In the Sound era of the early ‘30s,novels which I have never considered to really have been that well written ,DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN, did form the basis for some wonderful movies. Bela Lugosi as the title character in the movie DRACULA gave us another iconic image and ,though nowhere near as creepy as the earlier NOSTRATEAU , endures as the best re-telling of the tale so far. Atmospheric and paced, the movie has a certain Continental languor. It is not so much a tale of horror per se but of decadence as represented by the refined, worldly Count.
FRANKENSTEIN is not about the Monster as it is about the title character or , rather, family.Dr. Baron Von Frankenstein and his son,are men so consumed by their ambition as to be absolutely blind to all other considerations. IT is not their creativity which is evil….man, created in the image of The Creator, must himself be creative. It is the MISUSE of creativity that brings down destruction . Not only on the House of Frankenstein in the three movies: FRANKENSTEIN, THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN and THE SON OF FRANKENSTEIN, which form a trilogy of great story-telling and images which stand even to this day, but on the hapless , pathetic creatures they build and bring to life as well as on ordinary folks, young and old, who get in the monster’s way.
There is also an original screenplay which I hold to be another great movie…KING KONG. Again, a very creative person, a movie-maker, Denham, brings down destruction because of his thoughtless exploitation not only of the Beast, but of all who land in its path. Again, single-mindedness leads to evil…odd this lesson should fill the screen in the era of great single-minded dictators like Stalin and Hitler and their ilk all of whom conspired to bring the world horrific war.
FRANKENSTEIN is not about the Monster as it is about the title character or , rather, family.Dr. Baron Von Frankenstein and his son,are men so consumed by their ambition as to be absolutely blind to all other considerations. IT is not their creativity which is evil….man, created in the image of The Creator, must himself be creative. It is the MISUSE of creativity that brings down destruction . Not only on the House of Frankenstein in the three movies: FRANKENSTEIN, THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN and THE SON OF FRANKENSTEIN, which form a trilogy of great story-telling and images which stand even to this day, but on the hapless , pathetic creatures they build and bring to life as well as on ordinary folks, young and old, who get in the monster’s way.
There is also an original screenplay which I hold to be another great movie…KING KONG. Again, a very creative person, a movie-maker, Denham, brings down destruction because of his thoughtless exploitation not only of the Beast, but of all who land in its path. Again, single-mindedness leads to evil…odd this lesson should fill the screen in the era of great single-minded dictators like Stalin and Hitler and their ilk all of whom conspired to bring the world horrific war.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
In the silent era,my favorite films would have to be two from Germany,which,at that time was the most imaginative film-making nation.Well,things were pretty much gone to the dogs over there in all other facets of life,so they (as Americans would in The Depression)clung to their was term Epressionism and ,in its purer forms,I was never attracted to it,but the influence on the two films from that era which I like is undeniable.
The first was NOSFRATEAU which was a rip-off of Brom Stoker’s poorly written by very well-imagined novel DRACULA.The movie departs from the book,actually improving the story,especially in its ending which is more satisfying than the one Stoker devised for his book.
Like the book’s vampire, there is nothing attractive about Max Shreck’s title character. Nor is there a back story or anything remotely sentimental about the monster.he is a selfish,remorseless killer,but he is also super-focused and once he gets our heroine in his sights will stop at nothing to gain her and thereby seal his own destruction. Great moral and,considering Germany’s soon-to-be realized history,quite prophetic. Atmospheric and creepy,this film, which I saw in a bastardized version at about age 10 on TV,was the first horror movie to really give me shivers.
Then there was METROPOLIS,which also was a harbinger of what was soon to pass in The Fatherland. The scenes set in the underground,”Workers’ City” are the best and the Maria robot,especially when she is clothed in flesh(the eyes are amazing), is iconic..in metal ,also. Oddly enough both the hero and the human Maria are bland,but Rotwang and his metallic creation are the stuff of legend!
The first was NOSFRATEAU which was a rip-off of Brom Stoker’s poorly written by very well-imagined novel DRACULA.The movie departs from the book,actually improving the story,especially in its ending which is more satisfying than the one Stoker devised for his book.
Like the book’s vampire, there is nothing attractive about Max Shreck’s title character. Nor is there a back story or anything remotely sentimental about the monster.he is a selfish,remorseless killer,but he is also super-focused and once he gets our heroine in his sights will stop at nothing to gain her and thereby seal his own destruction. Great moral and,considering Germany’s soon-to-be realized history,quite prophetic. Atmospheric and creepy,this film, which I saw in a bastardized version at about age 10 on TV,was the first horror movie to really give me shivers.
Then there was METROPOLIS,which also was a harbinger of what was soon to pass in The Fatherland. The scenes set in the underground,”Workers’ City” are the best and the Maria robot,especially when she is clothed in flesh(the eyes are amazing), is iconic..in metal ,also. Oddly enough both the hero and the human Maria are bland,but Rotwang and his metallic creation are the stuff of legend!
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