Films of the Month: July

 Phillip Marlowe is a character that has been portrayed by a multitude of actors since Raymond Chandler published the character's first story The Big Sleep back in 1939. In Farewell, My Lovely it falls to Robert Mitchum to take up the role, and his turn in the role is probably the second most famous after Humphrey Bogart. This was also the third version of the book to be adapted for film after two vastly forgotten versions were made in the early '40's (and before Bogie's The Big Sleep made Marlowe and Chandler household names). It's only natural for me to compare it to Howard Hawks' The Big Sleep as that for me is probably the archetypal film noir. However, when watching Farewell, My Lovely it's quite obvious to see that this film had elements that are arguably better than The Big Sleep. The main thing being that it isn't constrained by the limitations of film censorship, which I think has probably resulted in a more faithful adaptation of the story. It also enables the movie to have an even grittier feel to it, that probably makes it a little bit more believable than the Hawks' version. The director Dick Best, doesn't try to play safe and instead puts his faith in the source material he's working with. There is a problem with this however, as it goes a bit too far and is possibly slightly influenced by contemporary films at the time which were becoming more and more explicit and at time's gratuitous. Especially when considering the exploitation flicks and the growth of the porn industry at the time this film was made.
 The film is still very enjoyable though, and it captures the whole essence of noir and indeed the ambience of Chandler's Los Angeles. Mitchum is also great as Marlowe, as his world weary demeanour is only bettered by Bogart himself. It's hard for me to say that anyone comes close to Bogie as Marlowe, but Mitchum does it here. Probably helped by the fact, this was a bit later in his career, and he had developed a better handle for getting into his characters. I was somewhat ambivalent to Charlotte Rampling's performance opposite Mitchum, maybe it's because I'm measuring her against Bacall's sultry brilliance in The Big Sleep. The plot is just as rich as it's predecessor and is great to watch it unfold with all the accompanying twists and turns, synonymous with Chandler.
 I felt that at times the productions values dated the films at times and it looked a bit hokey here and there. Also, ultimately it isn't anywhere near the level of greatness of The Big Sleep, because there are too many elements in it that whilst good, aren't fantastic. Sometimes I feel that film's can be great because they aren't too faithful to the source material, and that might be a case here. As I believe this to be the more faithful version of the two films, yet it lacks the pacing and production qualities that made The Big Sleep an all time classic.
                                                               

 I then finally got round to watching Martin Scorcese's No Direction Home, a documentary about Bob Dylan. I've always been a fan of Dylan, but never known too much about the man as a person. The documentary seems to paint the portrait of a man who wanted to create his own destiny in life. Indeed it seems to suggest in many ways that Dylan was wise from an early age, and not in a sense of shrewdness, rather an awareness of his own philosophies on life. It's because of this seemingly ever consciousness of wanting to be who he wanted to be, that the enigma that has forever surround Dylan manifested.
 I found it surprising to learn his early influences were many of the extremely popular singers of the 50's such as Hank Williams, Elvis Presley and even Bobby Vee. Of course I was already aware of his long admiration of folk singer Woody Guthrie, and it was probably through the discovery of his work that shaped Dylan's own socially motivated song writing. Of course Dylan has always shyed away from suggestions that his songs are politically motivated. The documentary seems to hint that having been propelled to the centre of the civil rights movement through 'Blowin' in the Wind'; he began to feel uncomfortable with the pressures of this position and tried to distance himself from this responsibility. Indeed he would go as far as to start writing simpler more easy listening music, which initiated a backlash from fans and culminating in Dylan's now legendary complete shun of his folk origins, by going 'electric'. The way the footage intersperses a young Dylan with a present day one, doesn't seem to diminish his ambivalence to the whole affair. Sure he seems disappointed by the booing at times, but again his wisdom seems to have made him be able to rise above it to an impressive extent. I also found it refreshing that a present day Dylan wasn't hesitant to recognise his own genius, but in an observational rather than boastful tone.
 Whilst I didn't find the entire experience as entertaining as The Beatles Anthology, I did recognise that this in many ways seemed a more intellectually substantial piece that really made a good attempt at enlightening it's audience more on the real Bob Dylan. Again in comparison to the Beatles, Dylan seemed far more enlightened (whether spiritually or intellectually) back then, than they did, despite being the same ages. The documentary ended probably at the height of Dylan's musical prolificness in 1966, however his life and career remained interesting up until the 80's, so it would have been nice to see more of his story. I also liked that this documentary didn't go overboard in selling Dylan to us, but instead tried to just provide us with what was there, and how this boy from Minnesota became one of history's biggest cultural icons. A very rewarding experience.

 The Royal Tenenbaums was a film I'd been meaning to seen for many years, so I finally decided to purchase a copy and watch it. Having previously seen and enjoyed Wes Anderson's Rushmore and The Life Aquatic I had high hopes for probably his most known quirky comedy. It featured a very strong and famous cast, with a plot that centred around them being part of the same nuclear family. They all return to live with each other for various reasons in relation to their own lives, as well as their estranged father (Gene Hackman) who claims he has a terminal illness and has returned to die.

 The film has all the hallmarks of a Wes Anderson picture and is totally offbeat. For me personally though it was too offbeat and though amusing, wasn't all that captivating. Hackman as the conniving head of the family, does however excel, but then again it's hard to expect anything less of one of the greatest American actors of all time. It is not only his performance that shines, and the film is spared from being completely dull with great shows from Gwyneth Paltrow, Luke Wilson and Angelica Huston as the family matriarch. Not to say the rest of the cast don't impress as well. Indeed I think if it weren't for Danny Glover, Ben Stiller, Billy Murray and Owen Wilson, this film would have felt completely flat. As it is though, it is a perfectly reasonable movie, but never really manages to become something more than a mildly amusing comedy.

                                                             

 I then returned to watching more films of Marilyn Monroe, this time with one of her earliest leading roles in Don't Bother To Knock. It was a very remarkable movie in certain ways, in that it is quite bizarre in terms of production. For instance it is directed by the man most know for his Titanic disaster movie A Night to Remember, written by the man who would go on to write From Here to Eternity, it features Richard Widmark in a more gentile role than usual, Anne Bancroft makes her film debut as a hotel showgirl; whereas Monroe plays a mentally unhinged babysitter. In hindsight these roles would be better switched. To be fair to Monroe though, this is by far the most interesting role she ever did take on. She also manages to do a relatively good job as she transforms from innocent babysitter, to psychotic would be child murderer. It was relatively refreshing to see her for once not playing the ditzy bombshell, and showed she did have some natural acting prowess. Her performance is quite deep and emotive, especially considering this film was essentially a B movie. Though she did have glimpses in subsequent movies of her ability as an actress, it seems that she was predominately sidelined from becoming a star with substance such as Shelley Winters or even Elizabeth Taylor.

 Thought the film is very short and a bit too simplistic, it's a decent film, though never really that gripping or enthralling. It is quite dark, and the few moments of comic relief, seem a bit odd for such a film. Even with Monroe in her most unusual role, I think this film would have survived regardless. There is too much talent displayed elsewhere in the film, and the talent is apparent from time to time when watching. A better than average B movie, that is certainly a lot different from others of it's ilk.