The Best Man (1964)

William Russell (Henry Fonda) and Joe Cantwell (Cliff Robertson) are the leading candidates for the presidential nomination. Russell is a man with principles, an intellectual who at times can be indecisive. His marriage is strained by past sexual indiscretion he regrets, but his wife Alice (Margaret Leighton) chooses to support him. Cantwell portrays himself as a simple man, a man of the people. He is patriotic, anti-communist, stubborn and ruthless. Along with the full support of his wife, Mabel (Edie Adams), he will stop at nothing to get the nomination. Thus the trouble begins.

Both Russell and Cantwell depend upon the support of former President Art Hockstader (Lee Tracy). Though Hockstader prefers Russell, he thinks his indecisiveness and principles may get in the way of making the decisions needed as a President. Hockstader does not particularly like Cantwell, but he appreciates how tough he is and his willingness to do what it takes. After conversing with him, Russell realizes that Hockstader is going to support Cantwell. Having heard this, Dick Jensen (Kevin McCarthy), Russell’s campaign manager, decides without Russell’s knowledge, to make a call to a source he’s kept in the dark. Sheldon Bascomb (Shelley Berman) served in the military with Cantwell, and is willing to link him to homosexual activity while stationed together during World War II.Cantwell, because he is so ruthless, already has a file he illegally obtained on Russell that testifies to a nervous breakdown he had a few years back. With this damaging information, Cantwell, who assumes Hockstader will throw his support behind Russell, threatens to use it if Hockstader does not support him. Hockstader tells Cantwell that “he doesn't mind a bastard, but objects to a stupid one”, revealing that he was going to support him but will now switch to Russell. However, in his opening-night speech, he endorses neither.

As the hours count down towards the nomination, a healthy game of outmanuevering ensues as Russell refuses to use slander to win the campaign and Cantwell relies on it, not only with Russell, but with other senators and people of power that he’s gathered files on to use against them. It isn’t till minutes before the crucial decision is made that one of the candidates will take a shocking tactic to make sure the best man wins.

An absolutely riveting film from end to finish, The Best Man gives the audience a glimpse into the seedier side of politics, more importantly political manuevering. Complete with intelligent dialogue and scenes that flow smoothly, Fonda, Tracey (the whole reason I wanted to see this film), and Robertson are phenomenal. The supporting cast which also includes a very domineering Ann Sothern, is nothing to sneeze at either. Definitely a must see!

 
 
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Richard III (1955) A hunchbacked madman plots to make himself king of England. Dir: Laurence Olivier Cast: Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Claire Bloom.

The Honey Pot (1967)

Inspired by a performance of his favorite play, "Volpone," Cecil Fox (Rex Harrison) devises an intricate plan to trick three of his former mistresses into believing he is dying. Fox hires William McFly (Cliff Robertson), a man of many trades including being a sometime actor to act as his secretary. Though the women have vast fortunes of their own, Fox depends on their greediness to bring them running. There is Merle McGill (Edie Adams), a Hollywood sex symbol; Princess Dominique (Capucine), who once took a cruise on Fox's yacht; and Lone Star Crockett (Susan Hayward), a Texas hypochondriac who travels with her nurse Sarah (Maggie Smith).

As Fox and McFly act out their charade, Lone Star states to the other women that she is the only one entitled to the inheritance since she is Fox's common-law wife. Later that night as Sarah and William go out for drinks where Sarah tells of her daily routine of walking Lone Star at 3:00 AM to give her more sleeping pills to get through the night, William then excuses himself to make a phone call and Sarah, tired from her travels slips off to sleep for about an hour. When Lone Star is found dead later that morning from an overdose, Sarah immediately suspects William. Her suspicions are confirmed when she finds the roll of quarters missing from Lone Star’s bag in William’s room.
She confronts William with her findings and he promptly locks her in her room demanding she keep her mouth shut about the whole situation. Fearing that William will now kill Fox, she uses the dumbwaiter that connects her room to his to pull herself up and warn him. Fox both praises her intellect and her stupidity, leaving Sarah slightly confused but relieved that she has forewarned Fox.

But did she warn the right man? Who really murdered Lone Star and why?
The Honey Pot starts out as a light comedy and as you settle in to see if the greedy women will get their comeuppance, you slowly begin to realize the movie is taking a dark turn. The Honey Pot is a very intelligent screenplay that really makes you use your noodle. Quite good.

 
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Breathless (1960) A small-time hood hides out from the cops with his American girlfriend. Cast: Jean Seberg, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Liliane David, Daniel Boulanger Dir: Jean-Luc Godard

Camera Shot!

Myrna Loy and William Powell on The Thin Man set.

Joan Crawford and Cliff Robertson on the Autumn Leaves set.

Gloria Swanson and William Holden on the Sunset Boulevard set.

Ann Todd and Ethel Barrymore on The Paradine Case set.

Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman on the Casablanca set.

Charlotte Henry and Sterling Holloway (as the toad) on the Alice in Wonderland set.

Bette Davis and Leslie Howard on The Petrified Forest set.

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The Asphalt Jungle (1950) A gang of small time crooks plots an elaborate jewel heist. Cast: Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore Dir: John Huston

Camera Shot!

 Loy and Powell in The Thin Man

 Crawford and Robertson in Autumn Leaves

 Todd and Berrymore in The Paradine Case

 Bergman and Bogart in Casablanca

 Henry as Alice and Hollway as Frog in Alice In Wonderland

 Swanson and Holden in Sunset Boulevard

Davis in Essex and Elizabeth

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The Terror (1963) A lost soldier discovers a mysterious beauty haunting a half-deserted castle.
Cast: Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson, Sandra Knight, Richard Miller Dir: Roger Corman

Picnic (1955)

On the morning of a small town Labor Day picnic, drifter Hal Carter (William Holden) arrives in town to visit his old college buddy Alan Benson (Cliff Robertson) hoping to get a high paying job or at least some sort of hand out. Hal is a man full of bravado with a penchant for tall tales and bragging. His biggest desire is to get rich and live the easy life but he’s lazy, impatient and quick tempered- not a good combination for holding down any sort of real work. Underneath it all, there is a really sensitive side to Hal who hasn’t had an easy upbringing and lives in fear of being a loser like his alcoholic father. However, when he meets Madge Owens (Kim Novak), the town beauty queen and girlfriend of Alan, he feels, for the first time, a desire to earn a living honestly, not for himself but for her.
William Inge’s play is full of complex characters. Madge is tired of being known and loved only for her beauty, tired of her mother, Flo (Betty Field) pressuring her to marry Alan simply because he has money. Flo’s a lonely woman who has struggled to bring up two children after her husband abandoned them. She is so blinded by the security that Alan can offer Madge, security that she has always desired, that she doesn’t see that Madge doesn’t love Alan and that her younger daughter Millie (Susan Strasberg) is suffering from all the attention Madge is getting. It’s hard being the younger, tomboy sister to the town beauty. Millie feels like an ugly duckling and she sees in Hal a kind man who gives her an ego boost by being her date to the picnic. However, that much needed attention falls to the wayside when Madge comes around. Hal only has eyes for her. Then there is schoolmarm Rosemary Sidney (Rosalind Russell), a renter in the Owens home. She’s a self-proclaimed spinster who brags much about the love she would have had if she weren’t so independent. She’s as full of bravado as Hal is and after getting drunk at the picnic and giving Hal a piece of her mind, she begs her longtime beau Howard (Arthur O’Connell) to marry her, admitting that she lives a miserable existence. Long suffering Howard does not know how to handle this side of Rosemary. She’s always been so upright, prudish, and fiercely independent. He’s come to count on that and is settled in his own ways. And lastly there is Alan, the rich boy in a small town with responsibilities to his father’s company and a reputation to uphold- at least according to his father. But Alan loves Madge, wants to marry her and doesn’t care how his family feels about it.




Adapted from William Inge's Pulitzer prize-winning play, Picnic, a box office draw and star -making vehicle for Kim Novak, was highly acclaimed and considered quite racy for 1955 but in my opinion, quite disappointing. It's one of those movies that was ill adapted for the screen, playing more like a play than a film. Despite its potential the movie is full of overdramatic moments seriously overacted and slightly embarrassing to watch. Disappointing too is Holden's Hal Carter, who is much like Holden's Joe Bonaparte from Golden Boy (1939), tempermental, desperate, and at times downright childish. Though this would have been a good part for Newman (who performed this role onstage), Brando, or Dean- it's definitely not a part suited for Holden who was too old and in my opinion, established for the role. When I see him in films like Stalag 17 (1953), Executive Suite (1954), and The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954) I have to wonder who thought it was a good idea to put him in a vehicle like Picnic...or who said these pictures would really sum up the film. What?



As for Kim Novak, besides Vertigo (a film I believe she is best known for), this is the only film I have seen her in. I think she is better known for her beauty than her acting, Picnic helped prove that. Her super wicked mullet caught more of my attention than anything else.



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The lovely Lauren Bacall!