My Review of ‘Beat the Devil’ (1953)

Hi! Today, I’m reviewing Beat the Devil from 1953, which is probably one of the most bizarre movies I’ve ever seen. Actually, I’ve actually seen more bizarre movies than this, but I won’t go into that.

It is pretty bizarre though. It stars Humphrey Bogart and was directed by John Huston and bears a striking resemblance to The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, and a few other movies that you could think of from around that period. I’m wondering if it’s because Huston came in there with a mindset to make a sequel. I don’t know. He kind of claims it was a spoof, but that’s kind of after the fact. Actually, it’s Capote who said that, that it was a spoof of The Maltese Falcon. Well, maybe that’s what it ended up being kind of. Really, it’s about this man played by Humphrey Bogart who gets involved with four, uh, shady characters. I’ll just put it that way.

Image via IMDB.com.

And they’re all supposed to take a boat to somewhere. I don’t know why they can’t take a plane like this one guy keeps complaining. Why aren’t they taking a plane? And, no, they’re gonna take a boat and they have to wait for the boat. And while they’re waiting for the boat, they meet up with this odd couple. She seems so much smarter than him, but, well, I’ll leave it for you to decide whether she is actually smarter or if they’re both incredibly smart, because this movie is all about people outsmarting each other and it’s like one outrageous lie after the next. And you just never know what’s coming next and what’s gonna happen, but really kind of you do after a while. It’s sort of like, all right, well, let’s flip the script here and see what happens.

Image via Just Screenshots.

It’s almost as if they were improvising the entire movie as they went. That’s essentially, I think what happened, which has to be nerve-wracking for everybody involved, knowing what I know about making a movie. It’s not something you just do on the fly, unless it’s a very small production and this was not. So, it’s extremely interesting to watch this. I found it, I thought it was kind of hilarious and just so over the top that it was fun to watch, but some people won’t like it. It’s kind of a movie that you’ll either love or hate, basically. So I will leave you with that thought. As well as the thought that John Huston and Bogie were both drunk off their asses as they made this thing, Jennifer Jones had two nervous breakdowns during the production, and Truman Capote was brought in to write the script, to punch up the script because the original was so bad. And it was based, believe it or not, on a book called Beat the Devil. So now I’m incredibly curious to see what they started out with in terms of the source material, because I wonder how far they deviated from it in all their drunken glory.

Image via It Came From the Bottom Shelf!

That’s it. And I’ll talk to you later.

And here’s the trailer!

PS: I love the description under the video:

On their way to Africa are a group of rogues who hope to get rich there, and a seemingly innocent British couple. They meet and things happen…

That sums it up nicely! 🙂

PPS: If you enjoyed this review, become a blogger/reviewer’s patron here! 🙂

Directed by John Huston
Produced by John Huston
Screenplay by John Huston and Truman Capote

Episode 7 of ‘Ace Drummond’ (1936)

We are back with Episode Seven of the adventures of Ace Drummond, the amazing singing aviator!

It’s Ace Drummond, Episode Seven!

PS: Don’t forget to fill out our survey.

What Would You Like to See?

Image by mohamed_hassan on Pixabay

I thought I’d take a moment to get your thoughts on what to write here.

So, I’ve created a short survey, to get a sense of what movies you’d like to see reviewed.

I’ve included a number of specific suggestions, but feel free to make your own recommendations. That goes for reviews, Top 10 Lists, tributes, and movie serials or web series or whatever you want to call them.

Just click here or on the image below to take the survey. It’s real short and easy! 🙂

PS: If you’d like to sign up for a virtual discussion on Friday, April 1, 2022 of Beat the Devil from 1953, with Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, Robert Morley, and others, just sign up here. Hope to see you there! 🙂

What better way to celebrate April Fool’s Day? 🙂

PPS: I’ll likely have to break down and see this one! The Piano notwithstanding. 🙂

Episode 6 of ‘Ace Drummond’ (1936)

Looks like we’ve reached the midpoint of this series of films. So things should get really interesting now!

I encourage you to experience the joys of this very old adventure series, which started as a comic and became this movie. One inspired by a true person! 🙂

So, then … on to Part 6 of Ace Drummond!

My Review of ‘Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday’ (1953)

How can I describe this movie? Well, it’s French. Very French. And it’s a comedy full of visual, audible, and physical humor. And I sense that the director Jacques Tati is a bit like Woody Allen—in a good way—because he directs the film and (possibly) plays himself what comes closest to being the protagonist.

Simply put, the film is about a group of people on holiday at a beach resort. And that’s putting it very simply. Or should I say simplifying the matter?

Image via Basement Rejects.

I’ve always seen the film as a satire about our tendency to turn vacations into bursts of bucket list activities. No doubt a side effect of what the movie is purported to be about—the more general subject of modern living. And what subject could be more relevant to these times? These highly-Instagramable, TikTok non-stop times.

Now, of course, the group is hardly monolithic or bound together in any real sense, other than their choice of resort town and hotel. You get to know each subgroup by watching their daily routines, which you’d think would be boring, right? But they aren’t because of all that visual humor I mentioned before. Along with the murmur of conversation and the occasional sound effect. Plus a meandering soundtrack that’s subtle to the point of serving as melodic wind.

There’s the family that routinely hits the beach early, with a small, mischievous child in tow. They set up an umbrella (or was it a tent?) amid numerous such shelters, amassed along the shore. Nearby, a muscular young man diligently performs his daily exercise routines.

Plus there’s an old married couple who may be together physically, but on different vacations mentally. As they walk together, she moves one way, while he stands in place, looking elsewhere. He lags behind her like an obstinate child. At the beach, she collects sea shells on the shore, he follows her, looking bored. (Not that this lady makes the best of company, frankly.)

Image via The Criterion Channel.

The group does congregate at meals shared in the hotel’s dining room, where we get to hear the occasional line spoken. But we don’t linger long with anyone in particular, except perhaps one young woman, who we kind of connect with at some level. Is she the protagonist? But it’s his holiday, right? So … okay. She’s a kind of … lost soul? Person looking to get away from it all. Her gender may or may not matter. Well, at least, she’s not a love interest. Right?

The group also gets together for outings. Picnics are carefully scheduled and follow a regimented plan.

Now, these people could have their well-regulated fun and go home feeling (somewhat) rested and refreshed. But they get more than their money’s worth when Monsieur Hulot shows up.

Image via akcartoons.

Tati has all the right physical and (apparently) mental attributes needed to play a sort of free-spirited bumbler. (Or is he?) Not only does he bumble with great speed into the hotel, he does so with enough force to rocket himself through the place and right out the back door.

It’s physical humor on a par with Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Chaplin … a reminder of how influential the silent era of film has been and continues to be. Tati uses his tall, thin body to advantage, contorting himself to various angles, down to the occasional pipe clenched between his teeth.

Image via Jonathan Rosenbaum.

Hulot also winds up dealing with that impish kid I mentioned before. He kind of plays (or bumbles) along with him. In fact, he’s rather a kid himself.

He is certainly a refreshing alternative to the pompous twit guy who latches onto that woman who may or may not be a co-protagonist (at least from this woman’s perspective). In communal settings, she ends up stuck listening to him bloviate about the political situation, the vacuity of the bourgeoisie, and the general meaninglessness of life, blah, blah.

But Hulot is there to shake things up in all sorts of ways. Among other things, he crashes a funeral (accidentally, maybe? of course) and sets off a big (and presumably unplanned, in terms of timing) fireworks display on the beach. All an accident, natch.

Image via Mooks and Gripes.

I won’t even begin to describe one scene involving a boat. Or, I should say, Hulot in a boat.

Meanwhile, the kids in town seem to run the streets at will. They are a marked contrast to the adults with their rigorous schedules and planned events. Their polite and not-so-polite conversations or the lack of them.

Is the film telling us that it’s more important to live in the moment than to cram as much activity as possible into strictly scheduled time slots? Whether at work or at play? It’s all about productivity. And fear of missing out.

Is it saying that growing up sucks? Or that spontaneity and exploration and adventure are essential for a happy life.

The answers may not be spelled out in the final images, but I think they’re implied somewhere in them.

For what it’s worth, I always feel better after watching this film. I should make its viewing an annual occasion. Like the adult version of The Wizard of Oz.

I dare you not to laugh at this trailer! 🙂

PS: For a fuller exploration of many of this film’s themes, along with an amazing film production effort/budget visual treat, I highly recommend Playtime (also directed and starring the awesome Jacques Tati). It’s just brilliant!

Directed by Jacques Tati
Produced by Fred Orain
Screenplay by Jacques Tati and Henri Marquet

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Episode 5 of ‘Ace Drummond’ (1936)

Back again, folks, with another installment in the exciting (and musical) adventures of Ace Drummond!

Don’t miss Episode Five, in which Doris gets her oats more hijinks ensue! 🙂

Onward and upward then!

Episode 4 of ‘Ace Drummond’ (1936)

Ladies and gentlemen, we’re back with another exciting episode of Ace Drummond!

I even managed to get Final Cut Pro to cooperate with me. It’s a miracle, folks! 🙂

PS: I’m starting a mentorship through Women in Film and Video in DC. I consider this to be “homework”. 🙂

You remember Alice Guy-Blaché, right? 🙂 Allow me to refresh your recollection. 🙂

Good grief! This turned into a triple-feature! 🙂

My Review of ‘Life Itself’ (2014)

This is a slightly different review than usual. Hope it makes sense you get something out of it. 🙂

Hi everyone. Yeah, I was gonna do a review of this movie, but I decided to just read from my notes that I wrote, I think it was on the fourth. On Friday the fourth. So this would’ve been the night I had actually participated in the discussion, the group discussion that I participate in at the Anne Arundel County Public Library. So here were my notes about Life Itself, based on the memoirs of Roger Ebert. The movie is called Life Itself.

I watched Life Itself based on the memoirs of film critic, Roger Ebert. What a fantastic movie. It took me back to when I was in college. I used to take film criticism classes and film appreciation, that kind of thing. That’s when I first really thought about the way movies can be used to inculcate values in viewers and, in its most extreme forms, can essentially serve as propaganda.

Image via Magnolia Pictures.

Now, why I had that thought at that moment, I don’t know, but it’s just interesting.

Anyway, I go on to say …

The thing I admired about Ebert was the same thing I admired about Pauline Kael. Both seemed to judge movies based on what constitutes good story, well presented rather than an airy cerebral notion of what a movie should be. Okay. The scenes in which Ebert verbally sparred (sparred hard, I should add) with Siskel were hilarious. His blogging habit was something I could completely understand. He blogged for connection, which is exactly what I had been doing for years.

I started my first blog in 2006. It’s gone now, but that doesn’t matter. This is exactly what I had been doing for years. Yes.

Just on different subjects, scattered across different blogs.

I used to have five blogs. It’s a long story. No it isn’t, but I won’t bother to go into it yet.

Image via Indiegogo.

I’ll keep reviewing movies. Maybe I can finally become the film reviewer I considered being back when I majored in journalism a few thousand years ago.

That’s what I wrote the night that I watched Robert Ebert. Now, to that I will only add that this movie is truly inspiring and hits me at a very personal level. And a lot of the films that they kind of alluded to visually really hit me at a personal level. And to end one sequence with Citizen Kane was like, whoa, now we’re getting a bit almost meta here. But the one thing I wanted to say that really kinda struck me was I couldn’t believe how hard and fast Ebert lived as a journalist when he started out. It reminded me a great deal of John Belushi and actually Hunter Thompson, in a way. And it kind of spoke to me about what kind of people achieve things like this.

Image via Metacritic.

I mean, the man won a Pulitzer and he was an amazing writer, just like a reviewing machine almost in a way, but not mechanical. His heart went into it. And that was what struck me most. I mean, he just, he had a charismatic personality. Like those people, too. He was the kind of person who it seems drew people to him because he had that charismatic thing going. So I highly recommend everybody see this movie, especially if you’re a film lover. See this movie. Really, it’s great. Life Itself, based on the memoirs of Roger Ebert. Great movie. Two thumbs up.

Yeah. All right. You knew that was coming, right? Okay. Talk to you later.

Oh, and this is for Jeff. I finally spoke up! 🙂

PS: If you’d like to sign up for the next virtual discussion by Zoom of the film Beat the Devil, bookmark this page and sign up on March 18.

It’s fun. Really! 🙂

PPS: Watch the trailer!

Episode 3 of ‘Ace Drummond’ (1936)

Hello all! 🙂 It’s time for another episode of this very intriguing serial adventure film!

Hang onto your hat, because it here it comes! Episode Three of Ace Drummond! The serial based on a comic strip!

Enjoy! 🙂

Episode 2 of ‘Ace Drummond’ (1936)

I’m happy to report that Part Two of Ace Drummond (the serial movie based on a comic strip) has vastly superior sound compared to the first episode featured on this blog.

However, I did run into a problem with the titles. No matter, right? 🙂

On with the show!