JULIET OF THE SPIRITS (1965, ITALY), SPIRITS OF THE DEAD (1969, ITALY)

Juliet of the Spirits

"Mr. Fellini is not trying to resolve a mystery. he is trying primarily to give you an exciting experience on the screen, generated by a bold conglomeration of visual an aural stimuli. And that he does, with becoming accretions of humor and poignancy."-Bosley Crowther, New York Times, November 4, 1965.

Ah, Fellini. He's either brilliant and awe inspiring or confusing and mind numbing. Fellini's Juliet of the Spirits has a simple basic plot of a middle-aged married woman's (frequent Fellini muse Guilietta Masina) suspicion that her husband might be having an affair. She experiences a search for incriminating facts and embraces new dimensions of self-awareness through dreams, mediums, psychics, witchcraft, mysticism and a more traditional private detective. I really have to be in the right mood to watch a Fellini film and maybe my mind wasn't totally engaged. However, I did appreciate the "bold conglomeration of visual and aural stimuli" upon reflection.

Spirits of the Dead

"Toby Dammit" the first Fellini film to be seen since Juliet of the Spirits is marvelous: a short movie but a major one. I would have never thought Fellini and Poe had much in common, but the Italian director has assimilated his source material in such a way that it has become a kind of postscript to "La Dolce Vita," the picture of an exhausted once beautiful person handing his soul over to the devil."-Vincent Canby, New York Times, September 4, 1969,

Spirits of the Dead features three short films loosely based on stories by Edgar Allen Poe. The first two films, from Roger Vadim and Louis Malle, set a pretty ethereal mood for the storytelling with differing degrees of success. Then we come to the Fellini portion (Toby Dammit) and it is nothing in tone like the other two. The film reminds me a bit of 8 1/2, with an actor replacing the director as the main character.. We also get the smorgasbord of Fellini characters that we have become accustomed to in the just mentioned Juliet of the Spirits and his subsequent Satyricon.

I don't know if I'll ever visit Mr. Fellini again, but I appreciate his original way of telling a story and his creativity. I can't say I get where he's going all the time, but I don't think I'm supposed to.

Federico Fellini (1920-1993)
Guilietta Masina (1921-1994)
Married from 1943-1993 (his death)

AMARCORD (1972, ITALY), 1900 (1976, ITALY), CINEMA PARADISO (1988. ITALY)

 Amarcord's resident tobacconist about to give an

awkward lesson in love

Lovesick Uncle Teo goes up a tree

to declare his needs (Voglio una donna!) to anyone who will listen

in Amarcord

The comical likeness of Mussolini in Amarcord

It has been thirty-four years since I last saw Fellini's Amarcord during a college course in film comedy before watching it today. I don't think of Fellini as a comedy filmmaker, though many of his other films certainly have funny moments. Amarcord is Fellini's nostalgic reminiscence of the Italian village where he grew up. Amarcord has many of Fellini's offbeat characters which he is know for and they are drawn out well. It's a lovely film with many comic highlights as well as some not-so-funny scenes of political oppression. I do have to admit the scene with the teenage boy and the ample-bosomed tobacconist is still my favorite. Crazy Uncle Teo is good for some laughs as well.

 Young Alfredo and Olmo tempt

fate in 1900

The adult Olmo and Alfredo in 1900

Olmo and Alfredo as grumpy old men

in 1900

Bernardo Bertolucci's 1900 is an epic story of growing up in twentieth century Italy seen through the eyes of two friends named Alfredo and Olmo, played by Robert De Niro and Gerard Depardieu. De Niro comes from the rich and influential family and Depardieu comes from the poor one. This multi-generational epic is a tale well told that has a lot to say about politics, changing of fortunes and loyalty. The version I watched was about four hours long, but the story was more than big enough to warrant the running time.

 Young Toto with his projectionist mentor Alfredo

 Teenage Toto falls in love with Elena

Older Toto reunited with Elena thirty years later

Cinema Paradiso is simply one of the most charming films ever made. A small boy named Toto in a small Sicilian town spends a lot of  his free time with Alfredo, the projectionist at the local movie theater. We also see Toto during his teen years when he is the Cinema projectionist and falls in love with a local girl named Elena. The final part has the grown up successful filmmaker Toto returning to his village thirty years later for Alfredo's funeral and concludes with his reuniting with Elena all those years later. The film works as nostalgia, a romance and as a film for anyone who has a love of cinema. 

LA DOLCE VITA (1960), ITALY) INHERIT THE WIND (1960), LA DOLCE VITA (1960, ITALY)

1960

Innocence in La Dolce Vita

Partygoer: Will you be writing about the stupid and corrupt aristocracy?

Marcello, the journalist: First, I write about other things. Second, you aren't that interesting.

The above quote really sums up Fellini's three hour marathon on the decadence and emptiness of the rich and famous and those paparazzi (This film invented the term) that follow them. Opinions on this movie differ. Bosely Crother of the New York Times said it was "a brilliantly graphic estimation of a whole swath of society in sad decay and, eventually a withering commentary upon the tragedy of the over civilized." Film guru Gerald Mass was less impressed, "La Dolce Vita is a sterile thematic exercise, an overstated contrast of Sensuality vs. Spirituality."

Personally, I feel there is an awful lot there- Fellini's potpourri of characters, engaging performances, and symbolism that is almost always thought provoking...but  at almost three hours, the film is also way too long. My favorite scene is the miracle of the Madonna section, which was apparently largely improvised. The final image of innocence (above) that contrasts the main character's frivolousness  is reminiscent of Truffaut's 400 Blows.

The Age of Rocks vs. The Rock of Ages in
Inherit the Wind

A different type of movie that is one of my favorites from this year is Stanley Kramer's Inherit the Wind, which I've probably seen a dozen times. It is a fictional account of the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925. It's as straightforward as you can get and though some of it may be a tad overdone upon honest reflection, it is still a powerful piece overall. In fact,  the scene where Spencer Tracy (as Clarence Darrow stand-in Henry Drummond) interrogates the pompous Frederic March (as Williams Jennings Bryan stand-in Matthew Harrison Brady) is still one of my favorite scenes from any film...But the 1001 book doesn't include Inherit the Wind on the sacred list. It would certainly be on mine.

Like Inherit the Wind, there are many films from 1960 that are not on the 1001 list. Here are a few of those that I have seen before.

1. The Magnificent Seven 

First of all, this remake of Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai certainly has many fans, but isn't in the same ball park as its predecessor no matter what my brother thinks! The Magnificent Seven does have a great cast and dramatic opening theme and certainly many fine moments, so it is worth seeing. Okay...Let's see if I can name the seven...Yul Brenner, Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughan, James Coburn, Charles Bronson, Horst Buchholz and Brad Dexter...I admit that I had to look up Brad Dexter.

The Magnificent Seven...Brad Dexter is third from the right

2. The Bad Sleep Well

Kurosawa's movie from this year has elements borrowed from Hamlet and is an interesting film, but is definitely second tier Kurosawa. Of course, second tier Kurosawa is still better than most.

3. Cinderfella

Boy, I saw this Jerry Lewis vehicle forty years ago. The title tells all in that it's a gender role reversal featuring the ever mugging Mr. Lewis re-enacting the fairy tale. I had thought a young Connie Stevens was in this film, but after further review, I was clearly thinking of another Lewis film, Rock a Bye Baby. We regret the error.

4. Elmer Gantry

Burt Lancaster won an Oscar for this well respected film adaptation of Sinclair Lewis's novel. Definitely one I'd like to revisit.

5. Little Shop of Horrors

I much prefer the musical remake to this original American-International release. Though the original does boast a great scene from an extremely young Jack Nicholson as a masochistic dental patient.

Jack Nicholson gritting his teeth in  Little Shop of Horrors

6. House of Usher

The first and maybe the best of The Roger Corman adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe stories (Usually with Vincent Price). I was thinking my favorite of the group was The Conqueror Worm, but then looked up to find that that film was not even based on an Edgar Allan Poe work! First I get confused about Connie Stevens, now about Poe...My memory is slipping. Where's my medication!

7. The Last Voyage

I remember watching this movie about a sinking ocean liner on television while I was staying at my Aunt's house in the late 70's. I remember liking it, but am a little foggy on the details. I do remember Robert Stack was the star and there was a pretty cool scene with Stack trying to avoid a piano falling on his head...as I look at what I just described, it might not be as cool as I remember.

 
8. Let's Make Love

One of Marilyn Monroe's last films and I remember it didn't make a big impression on me.

9. The Lost World 

No relation to the movie of the same name about dinosaurs based on the Michael Crichton book. Though this one was also based on a book by a famous author (Arthur Conan Doyle) and also had dinosaurs in it! It also isn't to be confused with the silent movie The Lost World, which is also based on the Doyle story! Did I get all that right?

10. The Time Machine

One of my favorite science fiction movies and would definitely be on my 1001 list. H. G. Wells (Rod Taylor) travels thorough time in his homemade time travel contraption to meet the evil* Morlocks and the complacent tribe of blondes including the lovely Weena (Yvette Mimieux). It's a rousing adventure and thought provoking.

*It is open to debate whether the Morlocks are actually the evil ones here. The hotness of Yvette Mimieux is not open for debate.

I think traveling 800, 000 years into the future
to meet Yvette Mimieux is a great use of a Time Machine

11. Midnight Lace

I guess this was kind of a thriller (If you can even call a movie with Doris Day a thriller) that I watched with my mother. I have a rule on this blog that I don't criticize movies I watched with my mother as a kid...moving on.

12. Pepe

Cantiflas was a legendary movie star in his native Mexico. He is best known in the U. S. for his role in the popular Around the World in 80 Days. His follow up American film, Pepe was not successful despite cameos from Zsa Zsa Gabor, Ann B. Davis and Jay North of Dennis the Menace! A 2014 Mexican film about the actor's life (simply titled Cantiflas) received greater critical acclaim than Pepe.

13. Two Women

Sophia Loren was one of the first in a long line of screen beauties playing a non-glamorous role on her way to an Oscar.

14. Where the Boys Are

Forerunner of beach movies of the 60's that became popular a few years later. This one had Yvette Mimieux, Connie Francis, Paula Prentiss And Frank "The Riddler" Gorshin in it for some laughs. When Where the Boys Are '84 came out, I thought there was a rule that this movie would be remade every twenty-five years of so. When Where the Boys Are '08 or '09 never materialized, I gave up on that theory.

15. The Virgin Spring

Oscar winning Ingmar Bergman film that apparently isn't held in high regard by Bergman himself, as well as the 1001 book, since it isn't on the list. I think it's one of his best films...so there!

There's about to be trouble in The Virgin Spring

There's no debating that 1960 was a most interesting year for movies.
...Until next time then

NIGHTS OF CABIRIA (1957, ITALY) A FACE IN THE CROWD (1957)

1957

Nights of Cabiria

Nights of Cabiria is Fedrico's Fellini's sad tale of a small village hooker (I actually hate to label her that since the movie is appropriately subtle about it) who goes through a series of bad relationships as she tries to find ways to escape her life and fall in love. That description doesn't really do the plot justice, since the films subtleties doesn't lend itself to simple plot synopsis. It may be something to see for people that think 8 1/2 is too over the top, yet still want to see a Fellini film that won't make them too crazy. And Giulietta Masina is perfect in the lead role.

A Face in the Crowd

Speaking of perfect in the lead role...If Andy Griffith hadn't later become the Sheriff of Mayberry in the iconic series The Andy Griffith Show in the 60's, he really could have had a career as a dramatic movie star...if things had panned out in that direction. This is one of Elia Kazan's movies that certainly has its fans and admirers, but few put it on a level of On the Waterfront or A Streetcar Named Desire. A Face in the Crowd is the story of Lonesome Rhodes a ne'er do well country boy groomed by Marcia (Patrica Neal) to become a radio star. Rhodes is a natural and soon grows to have a national falling. But with his rise, his ego takes over and...well things eventually go awry. There's a lot here (script by Budd Schulberg) about money, fame, advertising, promotion, and the gullibility of the public. It would definitely make my 1001 book, though it didn't make the actual book.

That being said, I'm glad Andy Griffith became Andy of Mayberry, and he did later show his dramatic chops in later 70's TV movies, including the rather campy Pray for the Wildcats...but I digress.

For more on Mr. Griffith, you might want to check out the recent book

Andy and Don: The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American TV Show by Daniel de vise.

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Like A Face in the Crowd, Here are a few movies from 1957 that didn't make the 1001 list that I have seen at some point in my life.

Desk Set-Tracy and Hepburn are always worth seeing together, but as a librarian myself, the most exciting part of this movie is watching librarians be librarians!

Librarians in action in Desk Set

The Delicate Delinquent-Jerry Lewis's first solo movie. Even seeing this as a kid, I thought it really seemed that Darren McGavin was basically just filling in for Dean Martin.

Jailhouse Rock, Lovin’ You-More Elvis movies. Jailhouse Rock might be the one to see if you just want to experience one Elvis movie.

The King of Rock and Roll in Jailhouse Rock

Fear Strikes Out-I liked this story with Tony Perkins as troubled baseball star Jimmy Piersall when I first saw it. I have a feeling it might not date very well.

A King in New York-Charlie Chaplin on A King in New York: There are funny gags in it…yet even these seem too elaborate to me now, I feel a little uneasy about the whole film.

Me on A King in New York: Charlie’s review of the film and its limitations seems right. I did enjoy seeing Charlie do a scene from Hamlet. It made me think that he might have been a pretty good Shakespearean actor in films if he had been so inclined. The moral to this one is King Charlie, who is visiting New York, will return to the States only when all this Communist witch hunt hysteria dies down. The real life exiled Charlie Chaplin did return to the States in 1972 to receive an honorary Oscar. (See the Richard Attenborough/Robert Downey Jr. film Chaplin for a dramatic and moving recreation of this event.)

The King of Comedy in A King in New York

The Lower Depths-Another interesting adaptation from Akira Kurosawa, this time of Maxim Gorky play. 

Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?-I saw this comedy with Tony Randall and Jayne Mansfield so many years ago but I do remember liking it. I remember laughing at the fact that the main character had the same name as a professional wrestler active at the time. That point doesn't seem all that funny now, but there you have it.

Tony Randall! Jayne Mansfield! Boy what a pair!

Man of a Thousand Faces-I have a hunch this biopic with James Cagney as Lon Chaney Sr. might be in The Fear Strikes Out category of seeming better when I first saw it than it would appear today. Or maybe not.

The Monolith Monsters-Another one that's been so long since I've seen that I had to look up the picture here to see what The Monolith Monsters looked like. I'm sure if you had giant rock thingees coming at you in real life it would be horrifying, but for a movie they appear about as scary as the killer bunnies in Night of the Lepus.

Big, scary rocks coming at you in The Monolith Monsters

Old Yeller-Anyone got a tissue I could borrow? 

The One That Got Away-The only German P.O.W. that ever escaped from a allied camp successfully. Wasn't that what it was all about?

The Strange One-This film about students facing a challenge at a military school may be worthy of a revisit.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin-Famous Made for TV version of the classic fairly tale and starring Van Johnson is something I must have seen at some point. I do know for sure I read the story in my Reader's Digest Book of Fairy Tales, the greatest book of fairy tales ever!

The Pied Piper from The Reader's Digest Book of Fairy Tales

 

The Three Faces of Eve-Joanne Woodward wins the Academy Award for the her depiction of someone with multiple personalities. Years later, she plays the doctor of a patient with multiple personality disorder in the mini-series Sybil and starring Sally Field. Ms. Field won the Emmy for that role.

Witness for the Prosecution-I confess that the main reason I watched this movie recently is because I recently played a supporting part in a local theatrical production of it. It’s most interesting to see the workings of the British legal system, though I do find the ending a bit much.

Zero Hour!-This is that 50's film that Airplane! is based on. Have fun watching it in through that lens!

It is impossible to watch this scene from Zero Hour! without
shouting at the screen..."Have you ever seen a grown man naked?"
or "Do you like movies about gladiators?" I bet you can't do it!

I also watched I was a Teenage Werewolf for the first time recently. Peter Biskind's book Seeing Is Believing: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Fifties sees a lot of the films released during this time politically. You have your right-wing films, your left-wing corporate films or your pluralistic films that cut it closer to the middle ideologically. It's an interesting read, even if you can watch most of these films and not detect any politics whatsoever. Biskind labels Werewolf as more of a right wing film because the teenage protagonist trusts the establishment head shrinker whose experiments turn him into a freakin' werewolf! Don't you think this kind of thing might be what led us to hippies in a few years? And the mad doctor at the end of this ideological horizon is Dr.Timothy Leary! Politics aside,  I watched the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version of Werewolf. Their take was less on politics and more on Michael Landon's obsession with milk throwing. One of the funnier episodes from one of my favorite series.

 Michael Landon makes the mistake of believing Dr. Whit Bissell

In I Was a Teenage Werewolf

Old Yeller wasn't the only dog from 1957 that should
bring a tear to your eye. Here's to Laika, the Sputnik dog,
who died in orbit in 1957...I think I'll just move on to
1958 next week, before I get too verklempt.
Another tissue, please!