Film Dictionary

May 17, 1970

Une Manche et la belle (1957) ***

Prawdziwy koniec wielkiej wojny (1957) ***

Musical numbers:

“I Didn't Know What Time It Was” *
“There's A Small Hotel”
“Zip” **
“I Could Write A Book”
“The Lady Is A Tramp” **
“Bewitched Bothered And Bewildered” **
“My Funny Valentine” *
“What Do I Care For A Dame” *

The Devil Strikes At Night (1957) ***

Excellent crime film about a murder investigation in Nazi Germany during World War II.

The Lower Depths (1957) **

Mother India (1957) *

Overrated Indian melodrama about suffering peasants. Popular in India, but completely alien to Western sensibilities. Indian submission for a Foreign Language Film Oscar - a ridiculous choice in a year when Satyajit Ray's "Aparajito" would have had a far greater chance of winning.

Miriam (1957) **

A Finnish romance between an orphan servant girl and a young man from a respectable family.

Vieras mies (1957) **

Finnish melodrama about an alcoholic husband suspecting his wife of being unfaithful to him.

Saint Joan (1957) **

This film about the famous French warrior-saint starts quite well, but suffers from many silly touches. Jean Seberg much-criticized performance is actually quite good.

The Story Of Mankind (1957) *

A ponderous, heavy-handed film that isn't even silly enough to be considered camp. The only highlight is a sequence with Groucho Marx as Dutch trader Peter Minuit, who bought Manhattan from the Indians for 20 dollars.

Kapelusz pana Anatola (1957) *

Polish comedy about a bank clerk mistaken for a criminal.

Une Parisienne (1957) *

Weak comedy starring Brigitte Bardot.

Sayonara (1957) *

Dated, heavy-handed film about racial prejudice in the 1950's.

Rozbijemy zabawe (1957) ****

Thugs disrupt a party. Directed by Roman Polanski.

Saunasta sisua (1957) ****

Adebar (1957) ****

One of Peter Kubelka's best films.

Lion (1957) ***

Rhythm (1957) ***

Chrysler commissioned Len Lye to make a short promotional film, but rejected this completed movie because it was too abstract.

The Wetback Hound (1957) ***

Usmiech zebiczny (1957) ***

Nice Time (1957) **

Directed by Claude Goretta and Alain Tanner. Scenes in front of a movie theater on Piccadilly Circus in London.

The Tall T (1957) ***

Excellent, fascinating western starring Randolph Scott.

The Tin Star (1957) ***

Fine western starring Henry Fonda and Anthony Perkins.

Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter ? (1957) ***

Excellent comedy directed by Frank Tashlin.

The Golden Age Of Comedy (1957) ***

Documentary film about silent comics. It includes fragments of following films:

2:30-7:00 - "The Hollywood Kid" (1924, Roy Del Ruth, Sennett). Mayhem in Mack Sennett's studio, Charlie Murray spanking kids.

7:00-7:44 - "Wandering Willies" (1926).

7:44 -8:41 - "Muscle-Bound Music" (1926, Alf Goulding, Sennett). Walls are crumbling when Billy Bevan and Dave Morris play tubas and drums.

8:41-11:23 - "Wall Street Blues" (1924, Del Lord, Sennett). Billy Bevan sucking panties and dogs into his vacuum cleaner, thieves jumping from windows.

11:23-16:03 - "Circus Today" (1926).

16:03-18:03 - "Habeas Corpus" (1928, Leo McCarey, Roach). Stan and Ollie are climbing freshly-painted poles and crushing through walls.

18:03-20:54 - "The Second Hundred Years" (1927).

20:54-23:49 - "We Faw Down" (1928).

23:49-27:12 - "The Battle Of The Century" (1927).

27:12-31:20 - "Uncensored Movies" (1923, Roy Clements, Roach). Will Rogers comes to a small town to lecture about movies. Later, he imitates Tom Mix.

28:38-34:12 - "Big Moments From Little Pictures" (1924). Will Rogers impersonates famous movie stars, including Douglas Fairbanks from "Robin Hood" (1922) and Ford
Sterling from Mack Sennett's Keystone Kops comedies.

34:12-37:38 - "Run Girl Run" (1928). A Carol Lombard college picture about competitive sports.

37:38-39:30 - "Double Whoopee" (1929).

39:30-42:26 - Ben Turpin ridicules Von Stroheim's melodramas (playing a notorious playboy Rodney St.Clair) and silent westerns.

42:26-43:45 - "Ten Dollars Or Ten Days" (1924).

43:45-46:41 - A comedy with Ben Turpin dancing in the fields like the mythological god Pan and "The Dare Devil" (1923).

46:41-56:12 - "Two Tars" (1928).

56:12-1:02:45 - "The Luck O' The Foolish" (1924).

1:02:45-1:04:05 - Charley Chase tries to untie a lion's tail while visiting a zoo.

1:04:05-1:05:08 - A comedian plays a game of checkers with his cat.

1:05:08-1:11:33 - Billy Bevan plays cards with a slicky crook. Later, his dog antagonizes an entire police department.

1:11:33-1:18:04 - "You're Darn Tootin'" (1928).

Aparajito (1957) ***

After his father's death, young Apu becomes a model student. When he grows up, he continues his studies in Calcutta, while his mother's health slowly deteriorates. The second part of the famous "Apu" trilogy, even better than the earlier "Pather Panchali" (1955).

A Face In The Crowd (1957) ***

Elia Kazan offers a variation on Frank Capra's "Meet John Doe" and hits a bull's-eye by turning the main protagonist into a villain.

Funny Face (1957) ***

A Fred Astaire musical set in Paris. It has Audrey Hepburn, stylish cinematography and a good script by Leonard Gershe. In most musical films, songs and dances usually carry the show - when they are good, one is more than willing to ignore some weaknesses in the surrounding material. In "Funny Face", the opposite is true - dramatic segments are far superior to musical interludes. Songs:

"Funny Face / S Wonderful" *
"Think Pink" *
"How Long Has This Been Going On ?" *
"Funny Face" *
"Bonjour Paris !" **
"Basal Metabolism"
"Let's Kiss And Make Up" *
"He Loves And She Loves" *
"Oh How To Be Lovely" *
"Marche Funebre" *
"Clap Yo' Hands" *
"S Wonderful" *

Les Girls (1957) ***

Excellent script, fine performances, good direction and a rather unexceptional musical score by Cole Porter. Songs:

"Les Girls" *
"Ca c'est l'amour" *
"Ladies In Waiting" **
"You're Just Too, Too" *
"Why Am I So Gone About That Gal" *

A King In New York (1957) ***

A deposed king finds refuge in United States, but soon becomes a victim of McCartyist witchhunts.

Kanal (1957) ****

Ponury film o powstancach warszawskich ukrywajacych sie w kanalach sciekowych.

Night Of The Demon (1957) ***

Atmospheric horror film bears striking resemblance to Alfred Hitchcock 1930's British thrillers (all were scripted by Charles Bennett). It was retitled "Curse Of The Demon" for US release and shortened by 13 minutes.

Peyton Place (1957) ***

Entertaining soap opera set in an idyllic New England town.

The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) ****

Excellent sci-fi film about a man shrinking in size due to exposure to a radioactive cloud.

Silk Stockings (1957) ***

A musical version of "Ninotchka". Cyd Charisse ain't Greta Garbo, but Fred Astaire is excellent in Melvyn Douglas' role. Musical numbers:

"Too Bad" **
"Paris Loves Lovers" *
"Stereophonic Sound" **
"It's A Chemical Reaction, That's All"
"All Of You" **
"Satin And Silk" **
"Silk Stockings" *
"Without Love" *
"Fated To Be Mated" **
"Josephine" *
"Siberia" **
"The Red Blues" *
"The Ritz Roll And Rock" **

An Affair To Remember (1957) *

Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr star in this very disappointing remake of "Love Affair" (1939).

Wild Strawberries (1957) *****

A wonderful film by Ingmar Bergman.

Sweet Smell Of Success (1957) ****

Excellent film about ambition.

Twelve Angry Men (1957) *****

A timeless classic starring Henry Fonda as a dissenting juror in a murder trial.

The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) *****

One of the best war movies of all times.

Paths Of Glory (1957) ****

Excellent drama set during World War I.

Witness For The Prosecution (1957) ****

Excellent courtroom drama starring Charles Laughton and Marlene Dietrich.

Nights Of Cabiria (1957) ***

Federico Fellini's film about an Italian prostitute.

Jailhouse Rock (1957) ***

Classic musical starring Elvis Presley. The first rock 'n roll musical.

Love In The Afternoon (1957) ***

A May-December romance between Gary Cooper and Audrey Hepburn.

Old Yeller (1957) ***

A wonderful film about a boy and his dog.

The Truth About Mother Goose (1957) *****

This excellent cartoon illustrates the true origins of three Mother Goose rhymes, from Little Jack Horner (a servant stealing a valuable deed from a pie), to Mary (the Queen of Scotland, whose tragic and fascinating story is told with a blunt directness worthy of Voltaire), to the famous London Bridge, whose crumbling fortunes are related with exquisitely selected anecdotes. Visually superb, the film achieves a perfect balance between the UPA-inspired stylizations and the traditional Disney's richness of details and graphic perfectionism. A great title tune.

What's Opera Doc ? (1957) *****

One of the greatest cartoons of all times. Its outstanding musical score is adapted from Wagner, with Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd singing their regular lines ("I'm hunting wabbits", "What's up, doc ?"). It has the most spectacular visuals of any cartoon in history, with a daring use of colors (red Elmer against a crimson sky). The story manages somehow to combine the epic spectacle of a Wagnerian opera with a familiar "wabbit hunt" formula of the Warner Bros. cartoons. There is Elmer in a "magic helmet" pursuing Bugs dressed as "Brunhilda". There is a hilarious romantic duet with our heroes promising "eternal love" to each other. Having discovered the masquerade, furious Elmer vows to "kill the wabbit!" and uses awesome forces of nature (typhoons, hurricanes, earthquakes, smog) to achieve his goal. That leads to the final tragic scene with crying Elmer carrying his dead victim towards the rising sun, whose luminous rays form a triangular baldaquin over the horizon - it's a magnificent final image of one of the greatest works of cinematic art.

Birds Anonymous (1957) ****

Sylvester tries to quit eating birds and joins a "Birds Anonymous" society to beat his addiction. Excellent visuals (the opening scene is stunning).

Il etait une chaise (1957) ****

Steal Wool (1957) ****

Visually impressive cartoon with Sam the Sheepdog and Ralph the Wolf. Superb layouts by Maurice Noble and many hilarious situations (including an elaborate, domino-effect gag involving giant rubber bands and two boulders).

Magoo's Glorious Fourth (1957) ***

Instead of flowers, blind Mister Magoo mistakenly plants firecrackers in his garden and the results are explosively hilarious.

Greedy For Tweety (1957) ***

Spike chases Sylvester who chases Tweety. They all end up in a hospital, but their fights continue. Often hilarious.

Go Fly A Kit (1957) ***

A weird story about a flying cat raised by an old lady eagle, who saves his girlfriend from a vicious bulldog. Poor dog ends up perched on top of a skyscraper antenna, while the cute girlfriend waits for her lover at the airport (he's flying South every winter).

Cheese It The Cat (1957) ***

A mouse is surprised to find a cat in HIS kitchen. He tries to get the food anyway, but neither an armored toy car nor a can of invisible ink can do the trick. A fine parody of "Honeymooners", with plenty of action and laughs.

Ali Baba Bunny (1957) ***

Bugs and Daffy take a wrong turn in that New Mexico town and find themselves in a cave full of gold and diamonds. While the rabbit pretends to be a genie, Daffy is pursued by evil Hassan ("Hassan chops !") and encounters a real genie, who reduces him to miniature size.

Topsy TV (1957) ***

Hilarious cartoon about a henpecked husband trying to watch TV.

Spooky Swabs (1957) ***

Popeye and Olive Oyl are stranded at sea on board of a ghost ship full of real ghosts. In 1950's, Popeye cartoons were mere shadows of their classic predecessors from the glory days of Max and Dave Fleischer in 1930's. But this late entry is an exception - it has plenty of hilarious gags (like Olive drowning in a bucket of water).

Boston Quackie (1957) ***

Amusing pastiche of crime melodramas.

Red Riding Hoodlum (1957) ***

A clever riff on "Little Red Riding Hood".

The Three Little Bops (1957) ***

A swing version of “Three Little Pigs”, with The Big Bad Wolf as a lousy trumpet player trying to join an all-pigs jazz band.

Boyhood Daze (1957) ***

A sequel of sorts to "From A To Z-z-z-z".

Yantra (1957) ***

Classic abstract animated film directed by James Whitney.

Tom's Photo Finish (1957) ***

Jerry blackmails Tom with a highly compromising photograph.

Ducking The Devil (1957) ***

It's Daffy Duck vs Tasmanian Devil.

Trees And Jamaica Daddy (1957) ***

"Jamaica Daddy" is a fine cartoon, but "Trees" is a bore.

Give And Tyke (1957) ***

Three dogs, two dog collars, and one dog-catcher.

Blackboard Jumble (1957) ***

Amusing cartoon about unruly students.

Flebus (1957) ***

Excellent cartoon about being neurotic.

Timid Tabby (1957) ***

Tom's cousin is afraid of Jerry.

Zoom And Bored (1957) ***

Coyote tries to catch the Road Runner by (among other things) building a brick wall and sending a bunch of wild bees against the bird. The final gag is the most spectacular as Coyote is being hurried by a harpoon through an unending series of drain pipes, train tunnels, trucks and cliffs.

May 17, 1970

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