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RickyofL
Reviews
Frenchman's Creek (1944)
Filming location
This film was shot in Mendocino County and should be in the list of films shot in that area. The creek itself is the Albion River. The boat used in the film was left in the river and was resting on the bottom when I saw it and boarded it in 1944 or 5. My grandparents had an orchard and farm outside the community of Albion. A couple of the crew members stayed at their place when the film was being shot. There were some other locations on the coast that were used as well. The residence was removed and just the leveled field it was situated on and the plants the studio planted to surround the site remained for many years after. This location was outside of Albion near dark Gulch and was just west of highway 1 that runs along the coast in Mendocino and adjacent counties as far south as San Simeon. I have never seen the complete film, so would not to vote on it at this time.
Identity (2003)
An illogical mishmash.
I was greatly disappointed in the film. It was impressively shot and showed interesting characters, particularly Cusack and Peet, and Liotta was very funny in his over the top portrayal, but ultimately the ending was so confusing as to bring no clarity to what was trying to be described. The supposed killer could not have done some of the murders depicted. I won't go further into that since it may be disappointing to potential viewers to find out. Understanding that the killer couldn't have done the murders the film takes on the image of a fantasy. I could accept it as a Stephen King type fantasy, but as not much more than that. One minor note which properly goes in your mistakes area is that the supposedly Florida orange grove that Peet goes to has hills in the background which are higher than anything remotely suggesting a hill in Florida. This scene was obviously shot in Southern California. In away the film suggests "Mulholland Drive" in the complexity of the murders, but is nowhere as interesting or as thought provoking. One of the few times I have been missled by a review in the LA Times.
Calendar Girl (1947)
A light and fun musical set at the turn of the century, 1900.
This is not a well known musical but includes several excellent songs written by Jimmy McHugh. The principal vocalists include Bill Marshall, Jane Frazee, Janet Martin and specially Kenny Baker. The latter's tenor is shown off to good effect and he is capably joined in duets with Janet Martin, one of the several young players under contract to Republic who disappeared with the decline in the studio system. It is a multi-star cast including Victor McLaglen as a Fire Chief, Irene Rich as a Boarding House owner, Gail Patrick as a wealthy Bostononian and James Ellison. The story involves the trials of young hopefuls in the music/dance world, Martin, Frazee, Marshall, etc. and Ellison, a wealthy young artist from Boston. Martin plays a predatory female after Baker a young song plugger while there is a triangular mixup between Frazee and two potential suitors, Marshall and Ellison and Patrick. Highly recommended as a much better than average small musical from Hollywood just before television started to cut into the profits of the movie studios.
An American Rhapsody (2001)
A comparison of life in 1950's - 1960's communist Hungary and the United States i.e. California.
Having had friends who made the escape from Hungary in what similar fashion during the 1956 uprising I could fully relate to the events that took place during the inspiring American Rhapsody. The stories were similar...in the real life one I knew it involved a married couple and the husbands brother. They had escaped as far as a canal that needed to be crossed to reach Austria. At the last moment the man who was to transport them demanded more money. He only complied when my friends brother put a gun on him and told him to row.
American Rhapsody covers the escape from Hungary and the eventual uniting of the family members, but it involves much more. In it you are seen that the importance of family can be over shadowed by the care and love provided by a surrogate family. The performances of the actresses playing Suzanne are all excellent, but the girl who portrayed her as a five year old child in Hungary and her arrival in California,n Kelly Endelez-Banaki was particularly outstanding. Her performance will be remembered. I found Nastassja Kinshi and Tony Goldwin to also be very real. It is a very rewarding film.
Another commentator compared the film to "Sunshine," another film developing a somewhat similar story but isolated on the Jewish community of Hungary. It is a longer more powerful story, and one that I have had Jewish friends tell me in someways is to horrific in its treatment of Hungarian Jews. Whatever both films, though carrying a somewhat similar theme are excellent examples of the cruelty in man and also in human humanity.
Devices and Desires (1991)
Roy Marsden stars in a six episode version of P.D. James Adam Dalguish mystery.
This is a very intense mini series set on the Norfolk coast of England involving a Nuclear facility and a serial murderer. The cast includes several outstanding players in addition to Marsden, most notably Susannah York and Gemma Jones. Kate Beckinsale appears in a short sequence in episode 2. Marsden plays his part softly and without bravado. It is an intense mystery involving a wide range of individuals including local residents and nuclear plant employees. Certainly one of the outstanding examples of P.D. James mystery writing.
The Tailor of Panama (2001)
A tongue in cheek spy film from the pen of John Le Carre
This is a fun film much more like the Alec Guinness spoof "Our Man in Havana," than it is similar to James Bond spy film fantasies. Jeffrey Rush and Jamie Curtis, as husband and wife, lead an excellent cast. Pierre Brosnan doesn't seem right for this role as he did not seem right as Thomas Crown in the film of that name. The film largely follows the book with some modification in the last part. I would recommend it, but once seen you would probably not be interested in seeing it again.