The Comic Critic Reviews "Woman in the Window"

The Woman in the Window is a classic Noir film. You have the hero, who is also the anti-hero because his actions press against the rules of society. You have the femme fatale, whose appearance apparently dooms the hero. You have no-nonsense dialogue that’s sometimes slangy but always has an edge of flirtation. And lastly, you have cinematography that is consistently clever in its use of stark, contrasting lighting and shadows. The Woman in the Window meets all of those qualifications. It also delves into a premise, set forth at the beginning of the film, on the moral selection that defines a killing as murder. From that point on, it’s easy for the story to bring down a wrath-from-god judgment on the offender of the commandment: Thou shall not kill. The femme fatale can be seen as the alluring Eve offering the forbidden fruit that would lead to the breaking of yet more commandments. Our would-be-innocent hero is stepping along the edge of propriety and suddenly finds himself entangled in more than an academic exercise. Now, all that he is is at stake. The actors and actresses in this film provide all that is desired. The in-the-know audience sees beneath the poker face of Edward G. Robinson’s character, and gets to enjoy the superb micro-gestures of his eyes and breath showing the stress his character is under. The Woman in the Window was directed by Fritz Lang, and he masterfully provides a double ending to the film.  Lang admits the old trick. He argued that it was a compromise to the studio to comply with the Hayes Code, and still have a way for him to show one of the endings he wanted. He was proud that its construction was not just palatable, but entertaining, too. Certainly a laugh is generated when another potential femme fatale is introduced. Such an occurrence is highly unusual in Noir.

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The Comic Critic Reviews "The Comedians"

François Duvalier, also known as Papa Doc, was the president of Haiti when this movie came out. His was an extremely oppressive totalitarian regime. The Comedians had to be filmed in The Republic of Benin, then known as Dahomey, because filming it on Haiti would have been impossible. The Comedians is a political drama meant to illuminate the ever-increasing desperate conditions imposed upon the Haitian people. It was also meant to poke at the inadequacies of embassy relationships with a dictatorship. And it also has a rocky love story woven into its tapestry. The movie was filled out with an all-star cast, including the legendary Lillian Gish. Amongst the cast were several African-American actors whose careers would only get larger. The title The Comedians comes from the concept that everybody is on a world stage where lines are being crossed not so much for the humor of those involved but for the gods. The theme of everybody’s life as a dark and ridiculous joke is a harsh sentiment that makes for a great novel, but it might have made it a challenge for a wider film audience. Critics might have found mild grievances with the story, but nearly everyone agrees the performances were superb. A short documentary titled The Comedians in Africa, chronicles the difficulties the cast and crew faced shooting a politically charged film in an alternative location. Watching both the movie and the documentary on DVD made up for my original experience, years before, of watching a heavily edited television version.

The Comic Critic's Review of "Topkapi"

If I were to approach a layman on the street and ask if Topkapi was a people, a country, or a skin condition, they would struggle at guessing the correct answer. And they would be wrong if they guessed among the options presented, as Topkapi is the name of a palace in Istanbul, Turkey. I don’t know how many people in the States knew this little fact back in 1964, but they certainly became familiar with it once Topkapi took off at the box office. The words “caper” and “heist” are often used to describe a sub-genre of crime films that focus on the planning, execution, and aftermath of a theft. I think there is a distinction to be had between “caper” and “heist.” The former has a more comedic air while the latter has more lethal connotation. Topkapi definitely uses humor as a primary driver. We are left wondering what events are planned and which ones will turn out to be a comedy-of-errors. Our hero walking this tightwire of doubt and confusion is a minor league grifter played by Peter Ustinov. He’s pulled in as an unwitting accomplice and finds himself embroiled with both police and criminals far above his pay grade. Ustinov captures audiences’ empathy so superbly that this film brought him his second Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Topkapi is a fun movie that will keep you guessing. It also has been the inspiration to many other caper, heist, and spy films with its use of acrobatic ropes and pulleys.

Won an Academy Award.

The Comic Critic Reviews "Buddy Buddy"

The chemistry of Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon was first discovered in The Fortune Cookie. With The Odd Couple a few years later, they were solidified as a marketable buddy team. Lemmon and Matthau would go on to do eleven films together. I have a soft spot for Buddy Buddy. For whatever reason, it’s a film I’ve seen many times. Buddy Buddy has that comfortable feel that lets you settle in to watch instead of clicking over to the next channel. I’ve always enjoyed its premise and story. Matthau plays a highly tuned, cool-headed professional hit man; Lemmon is a blindingly over-reactive husband whose world is turned upside down when his wife leaves him for a sex guru. I find Buddy Buddy visually unique in that while it was created in 1980 it has the look and feel of a movie from the 1960s. There’s a lot of 1970’s New-Age-hippie-pseudo-psychology that spills into the script and comes across as a little dated. The movie is cluttered with stereotypes offered up as comedic elements. Just another indicator that this movie was a vehicle for two things: Ham and Cash. But even with its faults, I still can’t help enjoying this movie.

The Comic Critic's Review of "A New Leaf"

A New Leaf has always been one of my favorite films. I first saw it when I was a tween in the early seventies. The summer of love was in the past but the social effects of the ‘revolution’ were leaving their mark on all levels of society. Long hard was being accepted in the mainstream, as was the environment and social responsibility. In this atmosphere of steps being taken to the obvious change required, I was becoming aware that society had never been in a fixed state, it had always been fluid. This breaking away from the mindset that everything is as it always was provided me with a new lens to observe the world. I began to enjoy dark comedy. Hypocrisy delivered straight on levels both low and high, subtle and obvious. It might have been this new mindset that led to my viewing of A New Leaf remaining so fixed in my mind. I remember smiling all the way through the picture. What I especially love is the levelness of delivery by the actors, the sets, and the unhurried speed of the storyline’s movements. The slapstick that occurs isn’t merely for slapstick sake. The hidden social commentary isn’t working on an obvious agenda so much as it was merely peeling back a veneer to reveal what was underneath. There is an interesting story that is occurring underneath the obvious storyline. There’s another hidden layer of commentary underneath the obvious hidden social commentary. A New Leaf starts off with a character as shallow as a plate. He’s aware of his shallowness and is in no way offended or disturbed by it. What does disturb him is that he must stop being idle if he is to have any hope of retaining a lifestyle of idleness. Walter Matthew is cast as a young wealthy playboy. His lumpy mug hardly fits the stereotype of a rich playboy. But apparently, that doesn’t matter in the circles in which he travels. Raised rich and well groomed he knows the rules etiquette of those born into money. Being rich is ingrained in his identity that the concept of his being broke takes more than a little while to sink in. Again, it’s the pacing that is wonderful. He doesn’t flap around like a fish out of water. His movement into action is one of calm as if his circumstance never required the need to learn how to act frantically. It’s a brilliant portrayal of the character. Elaine May’s character is an extremely shy, clumsy and awkward rich heiress who is naively being taken advantage of by her lawyer and household staff. While her fortune might be vast the audience sees her true riches are innocence and kindness. She’s also a walking catastrophe. Elaine May directed and was one of the writers of the story. She knew her character was the pivoting point for the whole movie. She also knew that the introduction of her character should not disrupt the pace of the story. Again, we have some masterly conducted acting. When A New Leaf was released it won high praise from critics and the audience. It received various award nominations. But it’s performance at the box office wasn’t extraordinary and it didn’t walk away with any of those awards. It briefly was out of the public’s eye once it left the theater. Thankfully, its quality made it an easy selection for television and cable viewing. That’s where I discovered it. Now A New Leaf is considered a classic film gem deserving of viewing by cinephiles.

The Comic Critic Reviews "That Hamilton Woman"

By all accounts, Emma Hamilton was quite an interesting person. A daughter of a blacksmith who died when she was two, she was a girl of the 1700s who had limited options. So she pushed past these limitations by pushing aside convention. At the start of That Hamilton Woman, the audience is teased with her history, a history presented so colorfully and cheerfully that we think it must be a tall tale or outlandish gossip. In reality, it barely touched on the truth. This whole movie barely touches on the truth. But it does a good job of providing the audience a sense of the deep, unrelenting love between two people whose combined remarkable talents were drawn upon by their country, and feel the sorrow of the tragedy that befalls even the most common of people. While the movie may not accurately reflect what actually happened, viewers can empathize with its dramatization as well as they can empathize with the secret lives unknown to history.

The Comic Critic Reviews "Northwest Passage"

Northwest Passage is one of the lesser-known great Epic pictures. Its budget was larger than the previously more costly epic, Ben-Hur. They would have spent more money, but the studio pulled in the reins. Northwest Passage was based on the book written by Kenneth Roberts in the ‘30s. It competed strongly with “Gone with the Wind” for the best-seller slot, but never managed to dethrone “Gone with the Wind.” MGM decided to cash in on the book’s popularity. Originally two movies were planned. The first movie, or “Book 1,” would cover Rogers’ Rangers’ various skirmishes at the time of the French and Indian war. “Book 2” would cover Rogers’ Rangers as they searched for the Northwest Passage. Kenneth Roberts accurately portrayed the thoughts and feelings of the settlers towards the Indians. It’s not pretty in the book and it’s not pretty on the screen. Even by 1940s’ standards, the racist stereotypes in Northwest Passage were a bit over the top. Roberts thought the fix was in for not making a sequel because one key character to both stories was left out of the movie. He was also very unhappy with how the movie was adapted. Maybe the fix was in, or maybe it became clear to MGM that Northwest Passage was not going to have a strong enough return to merit a second movie. Regardless, what we have is a grand epic that is an embarrassment to the populace that would like to think of itself as culturally sensitive—and a misleading title because the only mention of the Northwest Passage is at the end of the movie. So, if you can stand a grand Hollywood epic which depicts a massacre of Indians in outrageous Technicolor, this is the film for you.