Reviews

Many know the name of the dancer of the seven veils as SAH-lo-may. However, in this 1953 epic loosely based on the Biblical story, it is pronounced sa-LOW-mee and sometimes Salami. This vehicle for Rita Hayworth takes many liberties with the story but is entertaining never the less. The cast has quality, with Ms Hayworth and Mr Granger supported by Charles Loughton as Herod and Dame Judith Anderson as his long suffering wife Herodias. As another reviewer has said, it does make for a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon watching on TV, especially if you are forced to remain indoors during the COVID-19 pandemic on Easter Sunday, 2020. It was paired with Barrabas which made for an interesting viewing pair. If nothing else, it will provide the viewer with some laughs as it did me.

As a movie, "The Jazz Singer" is not terribly good. However, Neil Diamond's music make it worth at least a look. Particularly relevant in these times is his hit "(Coming To) America, an anthem extolling immigration and the contribution of immigrants to American culture. The acting, however, is another story. This was one of Laurence Olivier's "made it for the money" flicks and Lucie Arnaz was tragically miscast. As an actor, Diamond is a great singer. I don't know what spoilers I'm adding here but I figure it's better to err on the side of caution.

This is a very atypical movie, where the story is paramount and the characters both support and provide the symbolism. Fionn Whitehead's character is named Tommy, the nickname given for British soldiers. That's exactly what he is, a common soldier with all the human attributes. No phony heroism here. He does both good and bad just as any human would given the desperate situation he was faced with. French soldiers were stopped from boarding British vessels in the first day or two of the evacuation, as depicted. There was a definite animosity between the two allied forces at all levels. Christopher Nolan presents with the truth, warts and all.

Of particular note is the story line involving Mark Rylance as Mr.Dawson. His small boat is requisitioned by the Navy to help in the evacuation and chooses to sail it himself with the aid of his son Peter (Tom Glynn-Carney) and a younger boy George (Barry Keoghan). While most of this story line is fictionalised, certain aspects appear to based on the voyage to the beaches by the pinnace "Sundowner" and her remarkable owner Commander Charles Lightoller, the senior surviving officer of RMS Titanic. As they sail back to England fully loaded with survivors, a German fighter attacks and Mr. Dawson precisely directs Peter to avoid its attack. A rescued RAF pilot asks Peter if his father was in the RAf. No, replies Peter, his older brother was and he had been killed very early in the war. This is almost exactly from the Lightoller story. Rather than sensationalise this story, it is deftly woven into the narrative of the fictional characters and works remarkably well.

Finally, it is up to Tommy to tell us the meaning of this carnage. Rather than 30,000 troops being rescued, nearly 10 times that were brought back to fight another day. While riding a train from the coast, he reads Churchill's famous speech, beginning with "Wars are not won by evacuations" and climaxing with "We shall never surrender." Rather than bringing someone to portray the Great Briton, Mr. Nolan chooses to put these majestic words in the mouth of his a private soldier. It resonates with power.

This movie strengths are its subtlety and fidelity to story telling rather than providing star turns for the actors. It is a tribute to the entire cast that they followed Mr. Nolan's plan and together brought forth this powerful retelling of the Miracle of Dunkirk.

Many have written that "Churchill" is a historically inaccurate portrayal of Britain's great wartime Prime Minister. I disagree. While the time line is condensed and characters represent more than one person, Winston Churchill was not enamored of a cross-English Channel invasion for many reasons. The one primarily dealt with in the movie was Churchill's fears that the narrow front of the Normandy invasion was a repeat of the mistakes made at Gallipoli in 1915. The movie seems to portray Churchill as unaware of the different strategy and tactics of World War II over World War I. This is not true for he preached the mantra of combined and coordinated operations between land, sea and air in the First War. His objections to Overlord were also historical and political. Churchill preferred invading both Italy and the Balkans partly to secure Central and Eastern Europe from Stalin. However, he did make a deal with the Soviet leader in 1944 known as the "Naughty Document" which this movie doesn't mention. His historical objections centered on the general failure of cross-channel invasions since 1066. This was also the view of the British military and had to be overcome by the Americans in order for Overlord to be planned.

The senior command of the British Army is represented by the characters of Field Marshall Alan Brooke and General Bernard Law Montgomery. Their portrayal fairly accurately represents the distrust the military establishment had of Churchill, whom they considered a reckless adventurer. However, at his most pompous and condescending, "Monty"would never have addressed him as Churchill but as Prime Minister. The inaccurate behavior serves to accurately portray the nature of the character's manner. Later on during the war, his behavior towards Eisenhower would cause such friction that Churchill had to reprimand him for insubordination.

The two outstanding features of this movie are its portrayal of Churchill's depression, known as Black Dog, and his relationship with his wife Clementine. She would often offer advice only to be ignored, most notably during the abdication crises of 1936. Only later would he admit that she was right. His depression in 1944 was possibly fueled by ill health. It is now known he suffered several heart attacks and possibly a stroke in the years between 1942 and 44. He was never the favorite of the Conservative Party establishment and there was an attempt to de-select him as a Member of Parliament after his opposition the 1938 Munich Agreement. The Tories' defeat in the election of 1945 may have come down to voters remembering that many of the candidates supported appeasement in the years leading up to WWII.

Brian Cox and Miranda Richardson portray the Churchills with a great deal of honesty. John Slattery, known for "Mad Men," is a little too mean as Ike. Above all, he was a diplomatic sort who understood the difficulties of commanding an Allied army. The supporting cast of Julian Wadham, Richard Durden, James Purefoy and Danny Webb play their roles well. Ellen Purnell, who plays the fictional role of Churchill's stenographer, does a fine job of becoming Churchill's conscience by standing up to a man she admires but is behaving in a manner she can't understand.

"Churchill" is not a fawning description of this great historical figure. However, it goes a long way towards explaining this complicated yet very human of those we consider great.

Over 500,000 Facebook users (including me) requested it and boy were we right. Betty White hosted the season ending Saturday Night Live and brought the house down. Starting with the Lawrence Welk "Tribute to Mother's Day, " continuing with a killer monologue and especially the "Delicious Dish - Dusty Muffin" sketch, Ms. White displayed the talents that have made her a TV legend. She started on live television and she restored the last live entertainment/variety/comedy show's luster for at least one night. The "Who Me?" innocence that made some of the most risqué lines deliver howls of laughter. "Oh dear, my muffin hasn't has a cherry since 1939," is probably the best example. She even spices up Weekend Update with her sassy 90 year old character. She had cast members scrambling to keep up with her. The episode is on Hulu, so if you haven't seen it, by all means watch it and remember how good SNL can be with the right people. Perhaps in the coming season Betty White's Dusty Muffin will meet up with Alec Baldwin's Schweddy Balls.

This episode of the long running Western shows the evolution of writing for a TV series. This story runs more as a police process drama than the traditional high action Western. In "Coreyville," a man wrongly accused of murder is in the midst of a kangaroo style trial ordered by the matriarch of a town. Marshall Dillon rides into town to stop this and demand a fair trial with a sober judge and legal representation for the defendant. He's eventually run out of town and roughly 40 minutes into the story, we find out the truth. It was an accidental shooting done by the eldest son of the matriarch. Actually, he isn't her son, his mother is the town saloon keeper. Justice is finally served and all is well again.

There's is very little shooting and no gunfights. It is mostly a story telling episode with Marshall Dillon doing the detective work. It could have been a Columbo, McCloud, or The Name of The Game Episode. Ironside would also work. Given that it was aired in 1969, the producers and writers understood that American tastes were changing and they tried to adapt with the times. It is highly instructive for a writer like me. The performances, with only James Arness among the regular cast appearing, are quite good. John Schuck (his name is misspelled in the credits), Ruth Roman and Nina Foch are the best known and perform their roles well. The rest of the cast do well. It is instructive for those of us interested in the history of story telling on TV as a lesson in writing.

"Battle of Britain," which is now available on DVD, has two changes to the theatrical release. The first is the finale theme, which was a reprise of the German's theme followed by a triumphant RAF theme. The second does the movie no good, replacing the famous Churchill "never have so many owed so much to so few" quote with a quote from after the victory of El Alamein, "This is not the end or the beginning of the end. It is the end of the beginning." The Battle of Britain was actually the first check of German military power. They would go on to conquer Yugoslavia, Greece and Crete while the British were desperately holding on in North Africa. Therefore, using the Alamein quote has no historical significance here.

The movie itself rather successfully portrays the desperate defense of the British skies by the RAF against the then undefeated German Luftwaffe. They were severely outnumbered (4 to 1 according the Air Marshall Dowding, portrayed by Laurence Olivier) with pilots that were inadequately trained. Yet, they had certain tactical, technological and organizational advantages, which the movie explains in great detail. The human stories are also interesting, with Christopher Plummer and Susanna York portraying a married couple who are separated by their duties, he a pilot and she a member of the ground staff. The Germans are portrayed as over-confident, which set in the context of their conquering Western Europe in six weeks is understandable. Goering comes across as boastful, arrogant and a tactical blunderer. Indeed, his guarantee that the Luftwaffe could first prevent the Dunkirk evacuation and then drive the RAF from the skies over Southern England were key to the British preventing an all out invasion. Trevor Howard's portrayal of Marshall Park reveals his frustration with tactics which exposed his group's airfields to attacks. The scene with Park arguing with colleague Leigh-Mallory describes the division of opinion within Fighter Command as to how best to take on the German attacks. Michael Caine and Robert Shaw portray Squadron commanders who have to face round the clock attacks with woefully unprepared pilots, Ian McShane and Edward Fox are two pilots who have a little bit more experience and are relied on to lead the greener lads. In short, despite the flaws in the movie, Battle of Britain does portray the spirit and courage of those who fought against impossible odds to save their country.

This episode of The Twilight Zone deals with a subject the series often visited, Nazism. It aired during a time when many wanted to forget the horrible crimes and put them in the past. Along with "Judgement at Nuremberg," "Death's Head Revisited" explores attitudes as well as history.

Former SS Captain Lutze (Oscar Beregi) returns to Dachau under an assumed name, wishing to glory in his memories. There, he is haunted by a prisoner, Alfred Becker (Joseph Schildkraut), who places him on trial for his crimes against humanity with the ghosts of Lutze's victims as his jury. He awakens from his nightmare just as he was sentenced, a raving lunatic. In the final scene, a character regrets that the concentration camp has been preserved and wishes it had been destroyed. Rod Serling's closing narration takes issue with this, demanding the preservation of all the Dachau's to remind us of the evil that lives amongst us.

Both Mr. Beregi, who made a career of playing villains, and Mr Schildkraut (Otto Frank in both original stage and screen versions of The Diary of Anne Frank) play their roles expertly. Having both been émigrés from Nazism, they bring personal experiences to their roles, a Hollywood tradition that ran from Conrad Veidt to Werner Klemperer and John Banner. While the story has been told over and over again, it needs retelling since their are still those who would either deny it ever happened or want to bury it as "ancient history." Therefore, "Death's Head Revisited," whose title derives from the German "Totenkopf," the name of the concentration camp guards regiment, is an important part of the retelling as well as an excellently written and acted episode of this outstanding series.

"Rumpole of The Bailey" is one of those classic British comedic dramas that found fertile ground on American Public TV. Shown on these shores as part of the "Masterpiece Mystery" anthology series, Rumpole brings us a crusty "Old Bailey Hack," masterfully played by Leo McKern, who plies his trade amongst the common thieves and villains that inhabit the criminal courts of Britain. He refuses to move amongst the higher class of barristers, British for trial lawyers, referring to the senior Queens Counsels (QC) as "queer customers." One should not infer any homophobia here, Rumpole is the ultimate egalitarian, all who come before the bar of justice are entitled to "the Golden Thread" of British justice, the presumption of innocence until proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. He encounters many characters who attempt to derail his efforts, unreasonable judges like "The Bull" and pompous heads of chambers, including the fence sitting Guthrie Featherstone QC MP, played by "To The Manor Born's" Peter Bowles and the Bible thumping prig "Soapy" Sam Ballard (also called Bollard by Rumpole), played to delicious perfection by Peter Blythe. His overly ambitious wife Hilda, known to Rumpole as "She Who Must Be Obeyed," constantly chafes at the penury that she has become accustomed to. She is particularly embarrassed by Rumpole's habits, the ash of small cigars staining his robes and his fondness for cheap wine, which he calls Château Thames Embankment. An assortment of other characters of the court give "Rumpole" the unique feel the very best programs of its genre provide. It takes its place with "Morse" (Oxford turned sideways) and programs that didn't make the trip across the pond, "Minder" and "Only Fools And Horses." The series is based on the highly successful "Rumpole of The Bailey" short stories written by John Mortimer, ironically a QC barrister before turning to a highly successful career as an author. "Rumpole" hasn't been seen on these shores in quite some time. It is overdue for a return to our screens.

This prequel to the legendary Inspector Morse series brings us a newly minted DC (Dectective Constable) Morse working his first case in Oxford. There he meets his mentor DCI Thursday, played by "V For Vendetta's" Roger Allam, who introduces Morse to his most familiar thinking tool, a pint of the amber nectar. Opera also plays a huge role, with Puccini arias ever present and we see Morse meet one of his singing heroine. As with most of the women that Morse shows affection for, she ends up disappointing him. Watch for John Thaw's daughter Abigail who gives us an inside joke and a flash of the late, great John Thaw reflected back to his younger incarnation. "Endeavour" continues a season of triumphs for the PBS Masterpiece series, with the latest "Inspector Lewis" series to air in the coming weeks.

The idea for this episode is not the most original, bring a famous writer from the past and watch him (or her) get indignant over how modern times butchers his (or her) works. Bob Newhart did this with a sketch about what a Madison Avenue type would do to the Gettysburg Address ("Abe, you have to change 'four score and seven' to eighty seven"). However, it is well acted, with Jack Weston and John Williams as the hack TV writer and William Shakespeare respectively. Two story lines are the inanity of most TV writing and the unholy alliance between production and advertisers. Since this episode aired in 1963, two years after Newton Minnow's "vast wasteland" speech, it seems to show Rod Serling's take on that subject.

"Mary Poppins" was the first movie I sat through as a child, aged 6. Previous to that, I would cry loudly at just a bout every movie my parents took me to, including "Fantasia." I developed such a crush and Julie Andrews that I sang falsetto just to sound like her. The whole thing just found the right spot with me, from Mary flying in on her umbrella, through my favorite song from the movie "Tuppence a Bag (Feed The Birds)" to the end when Mary flew out over London. I have had two cats named "Tuppence" (the present one was adopted and was already named "Chirp," therefore he is now called "Tuppence-Chirp." I wore out my VHS copy so now I have the DVD. It was one of my daughter's favorites from the time she started watching movies, although she never acted up the way I did at her age. Dick Van Dyke's accent never bothered me, even after I lived in London for three years and heard all the jokes about it. Later on, when I heard that Ms. Andrews did "Mary" after she was not cast as Eliza Doolittle in "My Fair Lady," I felt grateful to the MFL makers for their decision, misguided though it was. I will always have a spot in my heart for "Mary Poppins," the movie that broke through my childhood resistance.

As previously noted in other reviews, this movie has plenty of historical errors (Nicholas II wanted a Duma, Rasputin favored Russia's entry into World War I, the Tsarevich's family nickname and on and on). As Robert Wuhl says, remember that movies are often "based on a true story." However, the value of the film is that is a good example of acting, directing and writing in the 1930s. The presence of the three Barrymores also makes this film interesting. Given the back story of how this movie was made, we also see the power of the studio executives, such as Irving Thalberg, had in how stories were constructed. The story is contrived, so don't use this movie as a factual representation of the events of the period. Watch it instead for the acting of the Barrymores, who were far more familiar to stage audiences than cinema's.

You are right, ktakki. The Studio One episode "The Defender" most recently aired on TV Land several years ago. Ralph Bellamy played the father, William Shatner the son and Steve McQueen was the accused. At the time of the "Boston Legal" episode airing, Shatner gave a online interview to his daughter on his website where he discussed Studio One and the era of live television.

"The Defender" served as the pilot for the early 1960s series "The Defenders" with E.G. Marshall and Robert Reed. According to several members of the cast of "The Brady Bunch," Reed often complained about his role on that show and compared it unfavorably to his work on "The Defenders." that didn't stop him from appearing on several "BB" related guest shots, including "Family Feud."

This is a movie which shows what happens when writers and directors do not trust their audience. Ultimately, Tom Cruise will get either praise or blame for what happens to it.

I can't blame Tom Cruise too much for this one. Both the writers and director went in to this with the mistaken notion that the audience has little knowledge of the subject matter. In fact, there are many books and documentaries about July 20 and Col. Claus von Stauffenberg. They decided to minimize character development and motivations in favor of trying to make it into a thriller. They failed because they didn't develop any of the characters to the point where an audience could understand the motivations for what they where seeing. Why didn't Stauffenberg trust the older members of the conspiracy other than the stereotypical lack of trust a younger, more driven career military man has for his elders? The audience may know Stauffenberg, but Goerdeler, von Treskow, and Beck not so much.

There is a major historical error towards the beginning. When Hitler visited the Russian Front at Vinnitsa, von Trescow and his aide, Fabian von Schlabrendorff, prepare a bomb disguised as brandy bottles. This occurred on 21 March 1943 and was known as Operation Flash. They get Colonel Brandt to put this bomb on Hitler's plane inside a "case" of brandy. The intent is to blow up Hitler's plane on its way back to his HQ. The bomb was a dud and had to be recovered. The movie shows von Trescow going to Berlin and retrieving it. In fact, it was von Schlabrendorff, who isn't identified (the billing is "Trescow's aide") who went to the Wolf's Lair at Rastenburg, a far more dangerous mission. This omission damages the credibility of the film. Von Schlabrendorff was arrested after Valkyrie failed and suffered horrible torture. Miraculously he survived the war due to an Allied bombing attack that destroyed The People's Court and killed Chief Judge Roland Freisler. Much of what we know about the anti-Hitler conspiracies and resistance is due to von Schlabrendorff's testimony and book written after the war. For more about this event and Fabian von Schlabrendorff, see http://www.history.com/this-day-in- history/another-plot-to-kill-Hitler-foiled .

Another production error is to make everyone speak with either a British or American accent. The actor who played Mertz von Quirnheim, Christian Berkel, a German actor who turned in a marvelous performance as Dr. Schenk in "Downfall," is made to speak with an American accent that sounds like a bad dubbing job from a 1960s era Japanese monster flick or a spaghetti western. If everyone else can speak with their natural voices, why can't he?

If Tom Cruise is to bear any responsibility for the many production problems this movie has, it is that he gave the writers and director too much leeway. I wrote on several message boards that he exhibits a range of emotion from Z to Z. Ultimately, that is a director's choice. Tom Cruise has given many powerful performances and is a far better actor than this performance. Stauffenberg, by all the accounts I have read going back to Shirer's "The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich," was a dynamic personality with a great deal of both charm and charisma. Normally, that would be right in Cruise's wheelhouse. Here, even when he is in a confrontational scene, the power is simply not there. Rather, it is almost robotic. I was hoping the makers of "Valkyrie" had seen "Downfall," fleshed out the characters and through that let the suspense flow. Instead, they went with old Hollywood stereotypes of how Germans behave.

As someone who has studied 20th Century Germany, I thought this movie gives the audience neither heat nor light. Therefore, it is simply a poor effort.

"The Producers" manages to be the exception that proves the rule that Hollywood usually messes up Broadway musicals with poor casting decisions. This time, Mel Brooks got most of his way with Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Gary Beach and Roger Bart recreating their roles of Max Bialystock, Leo Bloom, Roger de Bris and Carmen Ghia respectively. Susan Stroman is also retained as director/choreographer. Hollywood cast two roles, Will Ferrell as playwright Franz Liebkind and Uma Thurman as Ulla. Ferrell in particular shows of his song and dance chops and Thurman's singing is acceptable while her dancing is superb. Lane and Broderick moderate their performances from their all-out on stage and it works. All the laughs are there even though two songs are fully cut and others are shortened. Movie goers are urged to sit through the final credits for a surprise.

"Death to Smoochy" is a fair to middling satire of the media and those who play in it. It certainly bears the slightly warped touch of director Danny DeVito, who surrounds himself with like minded performers such as Robin Williams, Edward Norton and Jon Stewart. His choice for the ice skating opera diva is also in keeping with this theme, choosing the unconventional (and somewhat controversial in opera circles) Lauren Flanigan to poke fun at her genre. Although the plot centers on children's television, the language is certainly more for an adult audience, hence the R rating. By the way, a note to the Julliard School's Alumni Association, rumors of Ms. Flanigan's demise, as listed in your latest directory, are grossly exaggerated.

Eventually every one should see this film. I say eventually because there are several scenes, particularly the latrine scene, that will turn one's stomach. This movie is stark in its portrayal of The Holocaust, with depictions of human depravity not meant to be viewed by younger audiences. What makes "Schindler's List" not a maudlin or sensationalistic movie is that it stays very close to what really happened in Poland and Bohemia/Sudetenland between 1939 and 1945. This movie must be seen for it bears witness to one of the monstrous periods of history. However, great care must be taken with younger audiences. Mr. Spielberg himself said that he would not screen it to children younger than high school age.

After hearing nothing but bad things about the filming of one of my favorite Broadway musicals, I finally saw it on late night TV. The heart of the musical was ripped out by the film's makers, who seemed to be bound and determined to make the worst movie imaginable. Anyone who saw Kiley, Diener, et. al., on stage would retch at what was done on screen. Good, even great, actors are put in positions where they can do nothing but fail. All the humor of the play (and there is plenty of humor, mostly ironic) is stripped away. What is left is pure dreck. Why Peter O'Toole instead of Richard Kiley as Cervantes/Quixote remains a total mystery. Why Sophia Loren instead of any good singing actress (Aldonza/Dulcinea has some of the most difficult songs ever written for stage) boggles the mind. The voices used to dub the singing are dreadful. The acting is robotic, which, given the talent of the cast, must go down to the producers and director. I have seen Peter O'Toole do Don Quixote on stage and he was magnificent. But here, he is reduced to reciting lines. "Man of La Mancha" often gets little respect from critics, yet is one of the most memorable of Broadway musicals from the 1960s. The movie is a total disservice. Perhaps someone else will remake it and recapture the magic that so far has only been produced on stage.

I have seen "1776" both on Broadway and on the screen as well as having acted in it as an amateur. The piece humanizes people we often look upon as flawless icons. Well, they did have flaws. The North's hands were stained with the blood of slavery as well as the South's. Delegates sometimes tended to represent their colony's interests over those of the collective group's. Today we fail to realize that independence from the mother country had never been successfully accomplished. If some had reservations, they had good reason. "1776" brings this out. In the song "Molasses to Rum to Slaves", South Carolina delegate Rutledge (John Cullum) reveals the complicity of New England in the triangle trade. In his showstopper "Is Anybody There?", John Adams (William Daniels) encapsulates the conflict between delegates while expressing his vision of a nation where all are free. Based on Adams' own writings, this song resonates long after the final scene.

The wittiness of this piece also endears it. One scene is particularly noteworthy, for it lampoons the New York Legislature with uncanny accuracy. Space forbids me to elaborate but any New Yorker, or anyone else frustrated with politicians, will enjoy it.

Although based on historical facts, "1776" entertains and helps us understand the real people to helped bring forth "..a new nation, conceived in liberty..."