Month: December 2019

E piu facile che un cammello… (1950)

E PIU FACILE CHE UN CAMMELLO… (1950)
aka His Last Twelve Hours
Article 4030 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 9-12-2012
Directed by Luigi Zampa
Featuring Jean Gabin, Elli Parvo, Antonella Lualdi
Country: France / Italy
What it is: Fantasy drama

When an industrialist dies suddenly, he discovers that the way to heaven is blocked due to bad deeds he has done during his life. He is given twelve hours to return to Earth and do a good deed, but this may prove more difficult than it seems…

This movie has been sitting on my hunt list for a couple of years, but it finally popped up on YouTube, which goes to show that patience can pay off. Unfortunately, it’s in Italian without English subtitles. I read a couple of plot descriptions that helped me with the basic storyline, so I wasn’t completely lost; however, it’s one of those stories that gains most of its flavor from details that are lost to me due to the language barrier. Therefore, I can’t really give an honest opinion of the movie other than to say that it seems passable but hardly great, and though it has a couple of interesting visual moments, it’s hardly enough to compensate for the language barrier. There’s little more that I can say other than this one is now checked off my list.

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Toute une vie (1974)

TOUTE UNE VIE (1974)
aka A Lifetime, And Now My Love
Article 4029 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 9-11-2012
Directed by Claude Lelouch
Featuring Marthe Keller, Andre Dussollier, Charles Denner
Country: France / Italy
What it is: Love story

A boy and a girl meet.

This movie entered my list under the title A LIFETIME, which is listed in John Stanley’s CREATURE FEATURE MOVIE GUIDE STRIKES AGAIN. Unfortunately, the only info they give about it refers the reader to the first edition of the book, which I possessed at one point but not any more. Since no search on the title on IMDB would yield any help, the movie limped along on my hunt list until it dropped into my “ones that got away” list, where a fellow member of CHFB (who had a first edition of the book) was able to research the title and point me in the direction of this movie. I’m really glad to have finally found out about the movie, and was able to net a copy, albeit one without English subtitles.

Fortunately, the lack of subtitles didn’t make the movie a total loss for me; the movie is always visually interesting, and I found the central conceit of it fascinating. It’s a love story that spans three generations and nearly a century of time, and it ends where most love stories begin – with the lovers meeting. As tempting as it is to call that a spoiler, I actually think this is one of those movies that is made more interesting by knowing where it’s going to, especially near the end when we see the two people who we’ve spent so much time with getting closer and closer in space and time. Nevertheless, the first part of the movie, which emulates silents and relies on visuals, is probably the most satisfying part for someone who doesn’t understand the language.

Still, the central conceit itself isn’t enough to qualify this movie as belonging to the fantastic genres, and therein lies the most problematic thing about this movie. When it was first released in the US, it ran a hair over two hours, though the original length was two and a half hours. From what I gather, what was removed was the last stretch of the movie, where the action stretches into the future, thus pushing the movie into the realm of science fiction. However, most of the comments I’ve found about this section of the movie feel that it betrays the rest of the movie by subverting the central conceit, as it all takes place AFTER the lovers meet. Since I wasn’t able to follow the dialogue, I’m not really qualified to comment, but I do have to admit that futuristic section feels terribly out of place, and that it occurs right after the movie has reached what would ideally be its ending. It might well be that the shorter version in this case would be the better movie, though that version wouldn’t qualify for inclusion in this series. Still, I guess that’s what makes this journey through the fantastic genres all the more interesting.

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Le sorcier arabe (1906)

LE SORCIER ARABE (1906)
aka An Arabian Magician
Article 4028 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 9-10-2012
Directed by Segundo de Chomon
Cast unknown
Country: France
What it is: Standard trick film

An Arabian magician makes women appear and disappear.

What we have here is your typical Melies-style trick film in which a magician performs the usual cinematic tricks. There’s not much to this one, though the hand-drawn coloring adds a touch of pizzazz, and a few of the tricks are done quite smoothly. Otherwise, this is pretty standard issue.

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An Animated Luncheon (1900)

AN ANIMATED LUNCHEON (1900)
Article 4027 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 9-8-2012
Director unknown
Cast unknown
Country: USA
What it is: Trick film

A couple tries to have dinner at a restaurant, but the food they order turns into living animals.

IMDB lists a plot description that explains the action in some detail; for example, it points out the chickens appear when the diners crack the eggs. Actually, this is pretty useful in following the short; the copies I found on YouTube are in such ratty condition that it is somewhat difficult to make out just what the diners are doing when the chickens appear, for I certainly couldn’t make out any eggs. It’s basically an attempt to tap into the Melies special effects films of the period, but compared to Melies’s work at the time, this one is extremely primitive. Granted, a better print might help.

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Alice’s Wonderland (1923)

ALICE’S WONDERLAND (1923)
Article 4026 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 9-7-2012
Directed by Walt Disney
Featuring Virginia Davis, Walt Disney, Hugh Harman
Country: USA
What it is: Animated cartoon

A young girl is enthralled by her visit to an animation studio. That night, she dreams she enters an animated land. All goes well until several lions get loose…

Despite the title, this has little to do with the Lewis Carroll books. Instead, it’s the first of the Disney “Alice in Cartoonland” series, in which a live girl interacts with animated characters. There’s really no plot, but the short can be cut into three sections – 1) the visit to the cartoon studio, 2) her welcome in Cartoonland, and 3) her chase by the lions. It’s really a series of setpieces showcasing the combination of live-action and animation. It’s fun for what it is, though a bit too long; the lion chase goes on too long, for one thing. I enjoyed it well enough, but I suspect it will go over a lot better if you’re a fan of animation with an interest in the history of the form.

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National Lampoon’s Class Reunion (1982)

NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CLASS REUNION (1982)
Article 4025 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 9-6-2012
Directed by Michael Miller
Featuring Gerrit Graham, Michael Lerner, Misty Rowe
Country: USA
What it is: Slasher comedy

A high school class reunion is crashed by a former student, the victim of a cruel prank, who went insane and now seeks revenge.

The most famous movie with the “National Lampoon” moniker on it is, of course, NATIONAL LAMPOON’S ANIMAL HOUSE, a movie that is considered a genuine comedy classic. I’m going to confess right now that, despite its reputation, that movie left me cold; I remember laughing twice at it. So if their acknowledged classic left me cold, how do you think I’ll feel about this one, which died at the box office and suffered from horrible reviews? For one thing, I’m not going on any campaign to change this movie’s reputation; outside of a single joke that raised a smile (and, much as I hate to admit, it’s probably the most disgusting joke in the movie), I found it obnoxious and desperate. The script (by John Hughes, who would go on to bigger and better things but had to start somewhere) is a major culprit, but not the biggest one; the sloppy execution and uninspired direction are what really sink this one. It’s almost as if the movie wants to get by on energy and good intentions without taking the trouble of actually trying to get individual moments to work. There’s lots of bizarre characters floating around (including a vampire and a former cripple who overcame her problem by making a pact with the devil), but the only ones I found genuinely amusing were the two stoners. It certainly doesn’t work as a parody of the slasher genre; it makes no good use of the various conventions and cliches of the form. All in all, this is just one big, loud, bad comedy.

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M.M.M. 83 (1966)

M.M.M. 83 (1966)
aka Missione mortale Molo 83
Article 4024 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 9-5-2012
Directed by Sergio Bergonzelli
Featuring Fred Beir, Gerard Blain, Alberto Dalbes
Country: Italy / France
What it is: Spyghetti

When half of a secret formula for a super fuel is stolen and the noted scientist who invented it is murdered, a secret agent is assigned to a) protect the scientist’s assistant, and b) recover the formula.

Outside of the opening scene where the fuel is being used in a car race, the science fiction content in this one is pure Gizmo Maguffin; it’s never used again, and merely serves as the prize in a typical Eurospy outing. This one even lacks the gimmickry which can often enhance the fantastic content of a Bond-era spy story. As for the movie itself, I’d rate it about average; I’ve seen better and I’ve seen worse. There’s lots of car chases, fist fights and gunplay, but nothing you haven’t seen before. This one’s a time-killer.

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Alice in Wonderland (1903)

ALICE IN WONDERLAND (1903)
Article 4023 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 9-4-2012
Directed by Cecil M. Hepworth and Percy Stow
Featuring May Clark, Cecil M. Hepworth, Blair
Country: UK
What it is: Lewis Carroll adaptation

Alice falls down the rabbit hole and has adventures.

Being only about eight minutes long, it can’t tell much of the story; however, the story, which is pretty episodic and meandering, isn’t really the main attraction of the book to begin with. However, since I find the primary appeal of the books is the verbal banter, the movie, being a silent, can’t really capture that either. That gives us the middle ground of the visuals, and it looks like the movie has some scenes that seem modeled directly off the Tenniel illustrations which are pretty charming. It also gives the filmmakers a chance to play with some special effects, especially during the “Eat me/Drink me” section of the story where Alice keeps changing size. This was clearly an ambitious undertaking; I just wish my copy wasn’t it such poor shape, but that’s about the best we can expect from some of these old silents; we’re lucky they still exist at all.

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Ali Baba et les quarante voleurs (1902)

ALI BABA ET LES QUARANTE VOLEURS (1902)
aka Ali Baba
Article 4022 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 9-3-2012
Directed by Ferdinand Zecca (?)
Cast unknown
Country: France
What it is: Arabian nights story

Ali Baba discovers a magic cave which contains the loot of a band of forty thieves.

Though in some ways this Arabian Nights epic uses the techniques of Georges Melies, it doesn’t quite throw out the special effects with the wild abandon of its model; except for the repeated effect of the cave opening and a beheading sequence, it saves most of its effects for a flashy final tableau. The hand tinting adds a lot of appeal to the short, but it seems to be one of those shorts where the makers assume you know the story already. Though I’ve encountered the story before, it’s not fresh in my memory, and outside of the cave sequence, I have trouble sorting out what’s going on in the rest of the scenes. The question mark after the director’s name has to do with the fact that there appears to be a little controversy as to who actually directed it; I’ve heard that Romeo Bosetti may have actually been the real director. All in all, this one is interesting enough to look at, but if you want to experience the story, you may want to look elsewhere.

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L’agent a le bras long (1909)

L’AGENT A LE BRAS LONG (1909)
Article 4021 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 9-2-2012
Directed by Romeo Bosetti
Cast unknown
Country: France
What it is: Comic trick short

A cop uses his super-powers to help citizens and catch criminals.

There’s no English title listed on the IMDB listing for this movie, but it wouldn’t take a genius to come up with THE LONG ARM OF THE LAW. That’s the cop’s super-power; he can stretch his right arm out to unbelievable lengths. This is one of the funnier shorts I’ve encountered from the era; my favorite sequence is when the cop stretches out his arm over a canal so someone can walk across on it, only to have a variety of other people show up and decide to take the same route, including a man with a wheelbarrow. The final sequence has him chasing a criminal to the roof of a house, but when the criminal ducks down a chimney, the cop has to reach his arm into several different chimneys and ends up disturbing perfectly innocent residents. Many of these sequences have stop-motion animation.

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