Dogs Bark

Carrickfergus - - Belfast (2021, UK, B/W mostly, 98 min) - - 20 November 2021

Strongly recommended. Belfast, written and directed by Kenneth Branagh (Henry V), is taken almost whole cloth from his difficult childhood, a working-class Protestant living the horror and the sadness of strife-driven migration. From what I saw or was told, it’s spot-on. Some might find it a bit sentimental, i.e., everything was perfect . . . pre-Troubles. But Belfast is clear that Northern Ireland was far from idyllic in 1969 and those economic woes exploited religious intolerance. Buddy (newcomer, Jude Hill) has a warm relationship with his parents, played by a gorgeous pair, Caitriona Balfe (Ford v. Ferrari) and Belfast boy Jamie Dornan (Fifty Shades Of Gray). He also has grandparents (Judi Dench, Philomena and Ciarán Hinds, also Belfastian, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) that edge towards twee but redeem themselves by the end. The score (Van Morrison, born in Belfast) is beautiful and illuminating. The excellent cameraman - - Haris Zambarloukos (Thor) - - isn’t Irish at all.

Whatever Happened to Strother Martin? - - The Lusty Men (1952, USA, B/W, 113 min) - - 16 November 2021

Recommended. The Lusty Men is an excellent film, despite the unfortunate title. It’s a prime example of cowboy noir . . . movies that find the protagonist morally unhorsed in an indifferent world, their Code of the West, an anachronism. Like the hard-boiled detective, this horseman rides alone, sometimes stumbling over a good-hearted cowgirl. Other examples would be Kirk Douglas in Lonely Are The Brave, Clark Gable in The Misfits, or Steve McQueen in Junior Bonner. And, of course, the three lead actors - - Robert Mitchum (Cape Fear), Susan Hayward (I Want To Live), Arthur Kennedy (High Sierra) and director Nicolas Ray (In a Lonely Place) - - all traditional noir pros, have seen this rodeo before. Mitchum literally plays an old bronco buster tutoring the younger Kennedy and lusting after Hayward. Arthur Hunnicutt (El Dorado) puts in a surprisingly restrained performance. The camera work, by Lee Garmes (Shanghai Express) also provides a few noirish shadows.

Nostalgia Never Was What It Used To Be - - Last Night In Soho (2021, UK, Color, 116 min) - - 6 November 2021

Not recommended. For slightly more than thirty minutes, Last Night in Soho is about as winsome as its heroine, Eloise - - cleverly played by Thomasin McKenzie (JoJo Rabbit) - - and as vibrant as Eloise’s swinging alter ego, Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy, Emma). Eloise is a wanna-be designer intoxicated with imaginations of mid-60’s London. She’s also a bit mad, each night dreaming herself upon Sandie, an aspiring entertainer of the time. This continues until - - as Sandie - - she becomes disillusioned by the period’s underbelly . . . way before the Me-Too come-uppance. The dramatic interplay between McKenzie and Taylor-Joy is captivating. The late Diana Rigg (The Avengers), Rita Tushingham (A Taste of Honey), and Terence Stamp (Modesty Blaise) appear, one assumes to lend Carnaby Street authenticity. But showing up is all they do, particularly Stamp. Unfortunately, the story veers off into a murder mystery/ghost story, with more loose ends than Jean Shrimpton’s bangs. The ending is particularly silly.

What The World Has Made Me - - On Dangerous Ground (1951, USA, B/W, 82 min) - - 2 November 2021

Recommended. If you are a fan of Bernard Herrman (Vertigo) - - and what serious movie buff isn’t - - you should watch On Dangerous Ground for that reason alone. Understand, it’s not a bad picture, regardless of the music. The story is a bit hokey but director Nicholas Ray (Rebel Without A Cause) manages to transcend the melodrama with a curious performance by noir icon Robert Ryan (The Wild Bunch). His crazy disillusioned cop, Jim Wilson, foreshadows his deliciously evil performance as Master of Arms John Clegg in Billy Budd . . . amazingly, his only Oscar nomination. Redeeming such a lost soul as Wilson would seem trite in other hands, but Ryan nails it. Ida Lupino’s (High Sierra) intensity is rather wasted as a blind woman who triggers his redemption. But what of Mr. Herrman? If you admire his compositions in Hitchcock’s movies - - principally North By Northwest - -  you’ll hear them all again in this film.