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How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965)
One of the better films in the series
How to Stuff a Wild Bikini is one of the later installments in a series of teen films produced by American International Pictures that used a number of recurring cast members and themes, starting with Beach Party in 1963 and ending with Thunder Alley in 1967. Despite the negative reviews, I feel like this is one of the better installments in the series, and it made me laugh more than most of the other films. It was also directed by William Asher, the same man who directed some of the most beloved films in the series, like Beach Party and Beach Blanket Bingo.
Buster Keaton is adorable as Bwana, the witch doctor. This is my favorite role of his in the beach party universe. Harvey Lembeck's Eric Von Zipper may be starting to get a little old, but he still has a number of great gags, like the scene where he enters North Dakota Pete's club as "the boy next door." Speaking of North Dakota Pete, Len Lesser is hilarious in the role. Dwayne Hickman is charming, and Annette Funicello, who was pregnant during filming, radiates a sense of grace and maturity, something a little different from previous entries in the series.
Frankie Avalon's role is pleasantly more substantial than expected. Some have referred to it as a cameo, but his part is pretty important to the plot, and he gets enough screen time that it feels like a proper "Frankie & Annette" movie.
Overall, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini recycles the same formula from previous films in the AIP series, but still manages to provide new laughs. In my opinion, it is one of the better films in the series, sporting a fantastic motorcycle action sequence and amusing appearances by Mickey Rooney and Brian Donlevy.
Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)
A thrilling ride I would experience again
Sorry, Wrong Number is a 1948 film by Anatole Litvak starring Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster with supporting roles from Ann Richards, Wendell Corey, Harold Vermilyea and Ed Begley. Barbara Stanwyck plays the character of Leona Stevenson, the ill and bed-ridden wife of businessman Henry Stevenson, played by Burt Lancaster. One evening, Leona overhears two men discussing a horrible murder plot on the telephone, triggering a shocking series of events.
The character of Leona Stevenson is so helplessly needy and self-centered that I found myself disliking her for the most part. The sound of her prattling on the phone was nearly unbearable. However, I realized that the annoyance I felt about her was a testament to Barbara Stanwyck's fantastic performance. She plays the part completely convincingly and displays a great range of emotion, especially during the later half of the movie when her desperation and fear seem real.
Burt Lancaster's performance was also impressive. I had just seen some of Lancaster's earlier films like The Killers, Brute Force, and I Walk Alone. In those, Lancaster played straightforward tough guy roles. He was solid, convincing and charismatic but lacked range and emotion. Here, Lancaster showcases his ability to play more complex and vulnerable characters, pulling off scenes like compromising to please his sick wife and nervously trying to cover up a lie.
This is a suspenseful movie with a surprisingly nihilistic ending. The plot feels quite daring for its time. This must be one of the earliest phone thrillers, something akin to later films like When A Stranger Calls, Black Christmas and Someone's Watching Me. Also, the business the villains were in was also quite taboo for the time, and I'm surprised that made it into the film, considering the production code. It is also amusing to see evidence that the source of this story lies in a radio play, because there are nail-biting crescendos throughout the movie that feel like they were specifically written to happen right before a cut to commercials.
Overall, even though I felt like there were some dull moments, Sorry, Wrong Number is thoroughly enjoyable as a whole. I cannot bring myself to say that this is anything but a great film, regardless of its weaker points. It is a thrilling ride I would gladly experience again.
Nightmare Alley (1947)
A chilling performance by Tyrone Power
Nightmare Alley is an unconventional film noir in that it is set mostly among the travelling carnival. As such, it sometimes feels closer to Freaks than it does to Double Indemnity. However, that is one of Nightmare Alley's many charms, and it certainly contains enough elements of film noir to fall into that category, including perhaps one of the coldest femme fatales in noir history.
The incredibly charming Tyrone Power starts off as a simple carnival barker before hitting it big as a mentalist in a fancy club and then as something of an evangelist in the headlines. The last point was perhaps the most interesting section of the movie for me, as it reminded me of another film I love on the subject of evangelism, Elmer Gantry. However, Nightmare Alley is much less forgiving on the subject; whereas the character of Elmer Gantry is somewhat sympathetic and his level of deception and lack of faith is more ambiguous, Tyrone Power's character, Stanton Carlisle, on the other hand, is downright chilling in his level of deceit, manipulation and irreverence. Coleen Gray's character, Molly, gives a powerful and memorable speech on the subject.
Another highlight of the movie is Helen Walker, who's character, Lilith Ritter, is perhaps one of the coldest and most calculating femme fatales in film noir history. Power and Walker's chemistry is a sight to behold, and I was immediately compelled to re-watch their first meeting together because of how spellbinding a scene that is.
The only fault I could give this movie is regarding the final act. Stanton Carlisle's breakdown and subsequent downfall is a little too forced and choreographed. I can't help but feel like Carlisle was too smart and cunning to have been so easily deceived, and that he wasn't the type to let himself be trapped by fate. I love the ending, but the lead-up to it could have been better.
That said, Nightmare Alley is still an essential rise-and-fall story and an exceptionally satisfying film. I, for one, will never forget Stanton Carlisle's cold, chilling stare.
Human Desire (1954)
Competent film noir but poor ending
In Fritz Lang's Human Desire, Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame are together again following the very good The Big Heat a year earlier, although this time the result isn't nearly as interesting. Grahame as the femme fatale is the high point of the movie for me, and Glenn Ford certainly doesn't disappoint, but I was never truly impressed by Broderick Crawford, although his performance here is apt.
These back-to-back movies by Fritz Lang starring Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame remind me of Lang's earlier works, The Woman in the Window and Scarlet Street, both starring the wonderful Edward G. Robinson and Joan Bennett. I can't help but compare the ending of The Woman in the Window to the ending of Human Desire. The former's ending was tragic, suspenseful and pure genius considering the limitations of the production code at the time.
In contrast, the ending of Human Desire is utterly disappointing. It feels as though the last few pages of the script went missing. What's even stranger is how this ending relates to the production code. Suffice to say, the bad guy gets away with it in this one, although this doesn't help to make the ending feel remotely satisfying.
Regardless of the poor ending, Human Desire is still worth the watch and is a good example of later film noir.