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Reviews
Who Is Erin Carter? (2023)
Odd mix
It's not a good sign when a story starts out with a big coincidence when two from her dark past just happen to rob the store she's shopping in. I tuned in for Douglas Henshall and he didn't disappoint as the best of the cast. Comical action sequences with the characters as human punching bags with android healing capabilities.
All the men are either dim, evil or too needy while the women just have be the bad "f"s even if it looks so over the top for both sexes.
Sad how suspense has been replaced by redundant action. Still, it's peppy enough to keep the less discerning viewing. The production is fine.
Restored by the Fords (2016)
Whiteout
Really? All she does is tear down walls and paint everything white.
Gypsy (1962)
Bad Choices for Great Material
Merman deserved to be put on screen and was denied her place in cinematic history. Roz is fine, to a point, but her singing voice and general flash over any subtle moves, both emotionally and musically, keeps her character at a very polished distance. Natalie is the real sore point. She's terribly miscast. The real Gypsy Rose Lee had a body and way about her that, even though she's a young girl through most of this story, made it almost her destiny to be onstage. She had a grittiness that Natalie could never pull off because she's from such a different background. It's like the stripper says about the mother after she leaves the dressing room -- she could have been a good stripper in her day. Well, no, not for Roz and certainly not for Natalie. This production is really overbearing. It has the heavy hand of a lot of money being poured into the visuals and as such you never feel the dust or greasepaint. There's also a stagey feel to the set pieces and this detracts from it being more of a cinematic journey. Still, there's that glorious score. Even though most of the songs are sung terribly, the brilliance of the music still shines. It's another one of those what could have been. Not only with better casting then, but, if they had waited about ten years, they could have used Angela Lansbury as Mama Rose in one of the most brilliant performances ever put on stage. You never hear much about it, but her performance rivaled, and perhaps even outshone Merman's. Bad timing all around.
Hollow Triumph (1948)
Mixed Bag
I've just seen this on TCM and the informative intro by Bob revealed that Henreid not only produced and acted in this film, but also directed it without credit when the assigned director was fired earlier in the picture because of the bad rushes. This was Henreid's first directing attempt and would become the first of many. The direction is fine. He attempts some interesting angles and sharp cuts. I didn't have as much a problem as some here with his casting. This wasn't a thug he was supposed to be portraying, but somebody with a brilliant, though warped brain. His accent (and he does have one) is the problem due to the contrivances of the plot. Somehow, he not only meets his exact double, but that double also has his accent. I know there is a scene were he tries to emulate the doctor's supposedly different voice, but in later scenes, he just speaks the same as always. Since this is the major conceit of the movie, it weakens the already iffy logic considerably. Later, when we're introduced to his brother, they do not share a similar accent. Although I'd usually chalk it up to one being raised somewhere else, this is never explained. And, the fact that it does crop up, just shows that his accent is a disadvantage instead of an asset. I enjoyed the movie, but it's not in a league with top-notch noir.
Roxie Hart (1942)
Uneven take on the play Chicago
There's still a lot of bite in this adaptation of the play, even some scenes are downright (and refreshingly) nasty. Overall, though, this is an uneven film. They haven't quite made the leap from stage to screen. I understand there were problems with the censors and this shows. The direction wavers from very good to awkward at best. Someone like Preston Sturges in charge would've been awesome. Ginger is miscast. Sorry, fellow reviewers. She's great when she gets to show her dancing feet, but she just can't talk trash and mean it. I think Alice Faye would've pulled it off nicely. She did a lot of girl gone wrong roles and there's talk she was actually a gangster's moll in her early days. George Montgomery is OK as the smitten journalist, but he can't quite pull off the hard-boiled, either. The musical outbursts are fun but also remind us of the wonky tone of the film. Again, probably because of the censors, Roxie's character doesn't make sense a lot of the time. Even her parents disown her, not surprised in the least that she may hang, and she's a pretty cold cookie even with Montgomery. SPOILER. This makes the tacked-on happy ending with Montgomery absolutely ridiculous. In the play she did it and got away with it. That inevitable fact is sorely needed to make this film succeed. Still, the film has its pluses and I wouldn't discount it completely.