This being Thursday, it's time for another edition of Thursday Movie Picks, the blogathon run by Wandering Through the Shelves. I took last Thursday off because it was a TV edition where I couldn't think of three recent TV shows that fit the theme. But we're back to movies, so I'm up for the challenge. This week's theme is revenge, which as I was thinking about it is a theme in quite a few westerns. However, I didn't actually select any westerns this week. Indeed, the only issue I had was checking to make certain I hadn't used my choices recently, and a search of the blog says I haven't:
The Bad Sleep Well (1960). Akira Kurosawa's modern-day reworking of Shakespeare's Hamlet, this one has a man (Toshiro Mifune) marrying the boss' daughter in one of those large faceless Japanese conglomerates, in order that he can figure out who in the company drove his father to suicide. The movie starts off with a bang in a big wedding scene where the cake comes out to reveal... a model of corporate headquarters with the window where Mifune's father "jumped" to his death prominently marked. Talk about speaking now or forever holding your peace.
The Bride Wore Black (1968). I didn't intend to do a wedding-related theme, and the last movie doesn't fit anyway. This film, François Truffaut's homage to Alfred Hitchcock, stars Jeanne Moreau as a woman who in the film's opening, goes to a party where nobody knows her, and then pushes a man to his death! She then precedes to kill another, before with the third we find out why she's doing what she's doing. Apparently, on her wedding day, her huband was accidentally shot and killed, and she's getting back at the five men in the shooting party. Will she find them all?
Get Carter (1971). Michael Caine plays Jack Carter, a small-time gangster now in London who learns that his brother died in their home town of Newcastle-upon-Tyne under mysterious circumstances. Jack goes north to investigate and if possible get revenge on the people who killed his brother, and finds that the underworld up there really doesn't want him investigating. Why not? Caine is once again excellent in the title role, and the movie is interestingly violent.
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6 comments:
The Metrograph in NYC did a mini Truffaut retrospective last year and while I saw The Story of Adele H. for the first time (and loved it), I was really sad that I missed The Bride Wore Black. LOVE The Bad Sleep Well.
LOVED The Bride Wore Black! Jeanne Moreau was flawless in that. I liked Get Carter without loving it but its been a while, I should really revisit. I working my way (very) slowly through Kurosawa's work and haven't gotten to The Bad Sleep Well yet but just saw High and Low and though it was terrific.
As you said Westerns are rife with revenge plots but then so are film noir which is the direction I went in for mine, even the 30's Bette Davis film I chose is very noirish.
No Way Out (1950)-Shot during a robbery lowlife criminal Ray Biddle (Richard Widmark) and his brother Johnny are cared for by young black doctor Luther Brooks (Sidney Poitier) at the local hospital. Ray, a virulent bigot, protests loudly and when Johnny dies on the operating table (from an undiagnosed brain tumor) Ray becomes convinced it was murder and swears revenge. In frustration Luther and his mentor Dr. Wharton (Stephen McNally) turn to Johnny’s ex-wife Edie (Linda Darnell) to try and convince Ray of the truth. But despite being jailed Ray sends messages via another brother, the mute George (Harry Bellaver), to his gang and manages to incite the denizens of his ghetto-Beaver Canal-to attack the neighboring black community. Escaping Ray hunts Luther down leading to a nail biting face-off. Poitier’s first film, he’s good if a bit tentative, and overshadowed by Widmark and Linda Darnell both of whom give award level performances. Director Joseph Mankiewicz lead up to All About Eve is a brutal unfortunately still timely film about racial tensions.
Act of Violence (1949)-Frank Enley (Van Heflin) is regarded as a war hero in his small California town where he lives with his wife Edith (Janet Leigh) and young daughter but one day Joe Parkson (Robert Ryan) appears hell-bent on revenge and Frank’s life starts to spiral out of control. The truth is that Frank aided the Nazis during his interment leading to a thwarting of Joe’s escape and a crippling injury as well as the death of several others. Now Joe plans a deadly vindication. Tough, bleak noir.
Marked Woman (1937) - Mary Dwight (Bette Davis) and her four compatriots-Gabby, Estelle, Florrie and Emmy Lou-work as “hostesses” in a Manhattan nightclub that’s just been converted into a clip joint run by mob boss Johnny Vanning (Eduardo Ciannelli). Shortly afterwards they are pulled in by the crusading DA (Humphrey Bogart) and Mary takes the fall with assurances from Vanning that he will take care of her. But things go wrong and Mary’s innocent sister Betty is pulled into the web and ends up dead. When Vanning tries to weasel out of responsibility Mary tells him that she’ll get her revenge “Even if I have to crawl back from my grave to do it!” In response his thugs disfigure her which only strengthens her resolve to even the score.
Haven't seen any of these, but I really need to see Get Carter. I've been meaning to for years.
Ughh...I have not seen any of these but would love to see the film with Jeanne Moreau as I love tha actress. Get Carter is one film I have been meaning to see..add it to the long, long list
I've never see The Story of Adele H.
Joel: Is Marked Woman the one that that TCM shows in the Star of the Month piece on her where she's saying that she knows all the angles and is smart enough to stay one step ahead of us? The movie sounds familiar. And your other two selections are definitely worth watching.
Ted: Yep that's the one. It was her first film back at Warners after her big contract battle for better scripts. She lost the case but Warner realized that she did it because she was serious about her career and from that point on she was queen of the lot for a dozen years.
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