The Comic Critic Reviews "The Black Swan"

I want to talk about the great actors in this film. In the title roles we have Tyrone Power, who’s flexing all of his muscles for the audience in the first ten minutes of the film, and Maureen O’Hara, who was often called “The Queen of Technicolor.” This movie would be worth viewing just for them, but we also have other huge talents involved. Laird Cregar strides forth as the legendary pirate, Henry Morgan. Cregar’s presence is very imposing; you half wonder if this film isn’t about him. A couple of villainous pirates are George Sanders as the oily Captain Leech, and Anthony Quinn as the one-eyed Wogan. In the role of Tommy Blue is Thomas Mitchell the great character actor. Mitchell became the first actor to receive the “triple crown” of acting awards (Oscar, Emmy, Tony). I could write at length about any one of these terrific performers. Most of them won Oscars, received stars on the Walk of Fame, and had terrific careers. To have them all working in a swashbuckling pirate movie, with model boat pyrotechnics, sets with garish details, matte-painted landscapes and spliced sunsets is a visual festival full of fun. The only way a modern movie could be this much fun is if they broadsided it with a CGI cannon. It’s well worth a viewing just to see how they did it back in the day.

The Comic Critic Reviews "The Thief of Bagdad"

"The Thief of Bagdad" was thirty years old the first time I saw it on television as a little kid. Both color and blue screen technology were relatively new technologies for the moving picture industry. The studios were bound and determined to get their money’s worth from the cost of the color film, so they painted everything in bright brilliant colors. Where else would you see a sultan’s palace that is bright pink? Sails on boats, the colors of the rainbow? Glorious grand vistas, extravagant fabrics, everywhere it is color, color, color! And the hats! I’d never seen such an array of turbans and fezzes in my entire life. I didn’t realize how much an impact those fezzes had on me until I watched it again a few days ago. A couple of years ago, I started a group in Tacoma called The CLAW. We decided that we would wear fezzes. I hunted the Internet until I found just the right shape and color for our fezzes. I was astonished to see that all of the fezzes in the film were the same shape and color as those that The CLAW uses. And this film did more than have a profound effect on just me. When you watch Disney’s “Aladdin,” you will find a lot of influences, starting with the character of Jaffar. If the actor who plays Jaffar looks familiar, it is because he was also in “Casablanca.” Unfortunately, his amazingly brilliant eyes were captured in color only in this film. Thankfully, they get several close-ups. This whimsical colorful fantasy with all of its strange creatures and characters captured my pre-pubescent heart. I guess it never let go. And it remains one of my all-time top-ten favorites.