JWaite Reviews

Detour (1945)

A chance to see the controversial actor, Tom Neal

[6 July 1999]

The 1945 version of "Detour" is a good movie.

But, as far as I'm concerned, the main interest of the film is the chance it provides us to see the controversial actor Tom Neal at work.

I don't know whether there are better prints of this film in existence than the one I saw, but the print I saw had such an awful soundtrack that at times it was extremely difficult to follow the dialog.

I understand that this movie was made in six days.

Perhaps the production values were simply so low that the original sound and picture quality were just awful(?).....that would seem to be the case, from the print I got to see.

The star of this movie, Tom Neal, was an ex-boxer in real life.

He later served time in prison on a murder conviction.

He was best known because of the fact that he beat actor Franchot Tone so severely that he broke Tone's nose and gave Tone a brain concussion.

Strangers on a Train (1951)

The Movie Is A Major Improvement Over The Book

[10 April 1999]

Usually, it is the other way around, but in this case, the movie is a major improvement over the original book.

I had seen this wonderful movie at least a dozen times, before I managed to find a copy of the book it was taken from....the book has the same title and was written by Patricia Highsmith.

I scoured the used bookstores for years, before I finally found a copy, and because the movie was SO good, I could not wait to begin reading the story in its original version.

I was never so disappointed!

Not because the book is unreadable...but because Hitchcock made such vast improvements over the book that the book simply does not come close to measuring up to the movie version.

That said, let me now comment on Robert Walker's amazing performance as Bruno Antony.

This was Robert Walker's last completed performance...he died while shooting his final film, "My Son John," in August, 1951.

This role as Bruno was the performance of his career!

Perfect in every way.

The movie has been around now for nearly half a century. I see it every time it is shown on television, and I also watch the tape I have of it occasionally.

Robert Walker's performance only seems to improve with each new viewing.

I can not recommend this movie highly enough.

If Hitchcock and Robert Walker can read me, up there in heaven, let me congratulate them both on an absolutely superlative job!

Nosferatu (1922)

This is one of the best - and scariest - horror movies I have ever seen.

[20 March 1999]

Don't miss this one!Max Schreck, who plays the vampire, could scare a person half to death - just by his appearance, alone!

This is a silent film. Therefore, the fact that it was made in Germany is neither detrimental nor distracting to its enjoyment, by anyone, no matter which language the viewer happens to speak.

Apologies to Bela Lugosi, but Max Schreck really frightens the viewer, rather than simply making him laugh at camp antics.