Dogs Bark

Not Ranging Free - - Caged (1950, USA, B/W, 96 min) - - 23 May 2019

Recommended. Caged may be the only example of the ‘women in prison’ genre that crosses over into legitimacy. Primarily, this is because of its solid film-noir style; however, Caged is also the only WIP pic that was nominated for an Oscar . . . three Oscars, no less! Best Actress candidate Eleanor Parker (Detective Story), shines going from naif to hardened con, mostly thanks to the the brutal cell-block matron played by the other nominee, Hope Emerson (Westward the Women). In 1951, Parker was competing with Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard and Bette Davis in All About Eve; seat belts couldn't help her. Virginia Kellogg’s (White Heat) story, scripted by Bernard C. Schoenfeld (There’s Always Tomorrow) was also nominated. An excellent cast is completed by Betty Garde (Call Northside 777), a young Ellen Corby (The Waltons), and Jan Sterling (Ace In The Hole). Agnes Moorehead (Citizen Kane) plays the sympathetic - - but feckless - - warden.

Could You Hear? - - If Beale Street Could Talk (2018, USA, Color, 119 min) - - 13 May 2019

Recommended - - This is a borderline call. There are some wonderfully lyric moments in If Beale Street Could Talk, a movie that relies nicely on faces and not so much words. This is odd  . . . considering the narrative pyrotechnics of James Baldwin’s writing. But movies are another thing. Regina King’s (Jerry McGuire) Oscar-winning performance was very good but not really overwhelming. Overall, the nonlinear, languid pace dragged. Nothing really seems to happen in this story. The big reveal in the middle that neatly - - and literally - - encumbers the protagonist seems only nasty and not surprising. However, the thing that really bothered me was the score, also shockingly Oscar nodded. As a piece of music it might be wonderful but in a soundtrack it was overbearing to the point of incomprehension. In many parts of the movie key dialogue was wiped out by the bips and boops of Nicholas Britell’s (Moonlight) music.

Call Your Mother - - Diane (2018, USA, Color, 95 min) - - 9 May 2019

Recommended. It’s not true that there are no parts for older actresses. It’s just that they only appear in supporting parts or as Diane Keaton’s best friend. There are very few films about older women with any meat on them. And speaking of Diane, Diane is one of them. This woman on the verge of being under the influence was created for the spectacularly under-utilized Mary Kay Place (The Big Chill) by director/writer Kent Jones, having never before directed a dramatic picture. Nevertheless, Jones was spot on with Place. She’s simply spectacular as the clichéd self-sacrificial mother who - - in this case - - is individualized by a guilty secret. My only hesitation is that this story might be  very depressing, even though I think there is a redeeming ending. The cast includes  Estelle Parsons (Bonnie & Clyde) another early bloomer who, in her early 90’s, refuses to stop being just . . . brilliant.

Fill Your Hand, You Son Of A Bitch! - - True Grit (1969, USA, Color, 128 min) - - 5 May 2019

Strongly recommended - - True Grit was shown as part of the 2019 TCM Big Screen Classics series and that might suggest it to be an essential. But many consider the Coen Brothers remake to be the better movie. The Brothers were certainly more true to the excellent Charles Portis book, reproducing Portis’s 1968 linguistic reconstruction of an indignant 1903 spinster narrating a story from her 1870’s youth. That’s why everybody talks so weird and similar. Of course, no one tells John Wayne (Red River) how to talk. And so, he came up with his own unique characterization . . . one of his best. Beyond the Duke, the movie drops slightly but it’s still one of director Henry Hathaway’s (The Lives of a Bengal Lancer) best. Elsewhere, I’ve spoken about the fascinating battle of wills between hard-assed traditionalist Hathaway and Dennis Hopper (The Sons of Katie Elder). Amazingly, this was their third collaboration.

Settle Down - - Red River (1948, USA, B/W, 133 min) - - 27 April 2019

An essential - - Red River was the feature film at the TCM Backlot at Empire Ranch event organized by the Desert Hollywood chapter. Hopefully, this will be an annual event . . . complementing the fall, Empire Ranch Foundation, Western movie at Tucson's Loft Theater. Red River was an excellent movie to kick things off; several scenes were filmed at the ranch. This movie and The Searchers include John Wayne’s (Stagecoach) finest and most complex roles. And in this Howard Hawks (To Have And Have Not) helmed film, we get two actresses mouthing his signature style of female soliloquy. This may be the explanation for - - what some critics call - - an ‘awkward’ ending. Joanne Dru’s (Wagon Master) intervention has been labeled a “deux ex machina” but Hawks believed in the power of a dea to civilize macho stupidity. Note also the many things he borrowed from this movie to reuse in Rio Bravo.