Vertigo

Vertigo ~ On the last TCM Classic Cruise I saw Spellbound and didn't like it.  Yeah, I know, save it for someone who cares.  Anyway, at the start of this Cruise I saw Vertigo on the schedule and my addled mind got them confused, so I didn't go.  I regretted it after I realized that Vertigo was not Spellbound.  So when the second chance to see it popped up, I jumped on it.  No Kim Novak introduction this time, but still I got to see it on the big screen, and really, how can you beat that?  That aspect even made Vertigo better for me. 

Vertigo is one of Alfred Hitchcock's crowning achievements, and while I had seen it decades ago, it was at a time before remastering, before the restored soundtrack, and most importantly at a time when I had little appreciation for film, and only a black and white TV.  Believe me, that makes a world of difference.  For 1958, this film is brilliant, and for 2016, it's still brilliant. 

In this complex plot of deception and mistaken identity, Jimmy Stewart plays Scotty, an ex-detective with vertigo caused by acrophobia.  He's hired by an old friend to trail his wife, played by Kim Novak.  Things get even more complicated when Stewart falls in love with his target, and the madness spirals from there. 

The film not only features Stewart and Novak in some of their best performances, but has a (pardon the pun) spellbinding score, and masterful special effects enhancing the fear of heights and dizziness felt by the character Scotty.  The remastered vibrant 1950s technicolor also gives the visuals that extra kick. 

I love Vertigo, and after seeing it in this format, I love it more.  Now I'm kicking myself of course for missing it the first time with the introduction by Kim Novak.  Recommended, a must-see classic, it's not Spellbound. 

After the Thin Man

After the Thin Man ~ The second of the Thin Man movies, and the sequel to The Thin Man, a terrific Dashiell Hammett novel (which I recommend heartily as I do all of his books). Hammett also wrote the story of this film as well, not based on any previous work, and was nominated for an Oscar.

After the Thin Man is also the second of six Thin Man movies starring William Powell and Myrna Loy (and just one of fourteen total the pair appeared in together) as married freelance detectives Nick and Nora Charles. He a retired detective and she an heiress with a frisky doggie named Asta, they drank, smartassed, and sassed their way through six of these, with this entry, in my opinion, being the best. Their chemistry, even when it became a bit rough and self-deprecating later on, was still some of the best ever on film.

Powell and Loy as Nick and Nora were so popular that in this film series they often got lead billing over much bigger stars like Maureen O'Sullivan, or in this case, James Stewart. Directed by W.S. Van Dyke as were all the Thin Man movies, and he was also known for the Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy films as well, one of the classic Hollywood directors.

This is a fun and suspenseful entry in the series, and as I mentioned, in my opinion, the best. After the Thin Man is definitely worthwhile viewing. Thanks again to the TCM Classic Cruise for the opportunity to see this as it was meant to be seen, on the big screen.

Nothing Lasts Forever

Nothing Lasts Forever ~ You may or may not have heard of this obscure 1984 film with Bill Murray. Shot in black and white and shelved by MGM, it was never officially released in theaters or to video retail. Directed by fellow "Saturday Night Live" alum Tom Schiller (remember the brilliant Schiller's Reel?), it has remained unseen for decades but is now, possibly only temporarily available on YouTube.

Ostensibly a Bill Murray vehicle, it stars the immediately post-Gremlins Zach Galligan as a young man, Adam, who returns to New York from Europe with dreams of becoming an artist. The trouble is that America has been through hard times and some things have changed. A transit strike has put the Port Authority in control of New York City in an almost fascist state. Artists are frowned upon and Adam is put to work at the Holland Tunnel for a wacky boss played by Dan Aykroyd.

With me so far? 'Cause it's about to get weird, and yes, weirder than it already is. After Adam is kind to a beggar, the kindness is returned when the man reveals that there is a secret underground of bums that really control the world. After a truly disturbing purification process, during which we go from black and white temporarily to pseudo sepia colorization color, the masters of the world give Adam a mission - to bring art to the moon where he will meet his soulmate.

Adam goes back up to black and white NYC where no one believes him. And then he gets on a bus to the moon, where a young, pre-arrogant, and not-as-grumpy Bill Murray is his possibly sinister sky host. Look quick or you'll miss Larry 'Bud' Melman. Once on the moon, we're in pseudo-color again. But even on the moon things are not as they seem.

This New York City is like a cross between Fellini Paris and Hell here, and in that way, the black and white is used to good effect, very German Expressionist, with just a touch of Val Lewton and David Lynch. The tour of the NY art scene is both surreal and far too real, imagine Andy Warhol in 1920s Germany, bizarre. There are many bits lifted from old movies that may have had something to do with its non-release, rights problems, perhaps?

Zach Galligan, as in Gremlins, does a great It's a Wonderful Life Jimmy Stewart, perhaps much more naive. Lauren Tom, who this writer knows from voice acting in the DC Comics Animated Universe, is his lovely lunar soulmate. The amazingly named Apollonia Van Ravenstein is also quite good. Also look for Eddie Fisher, Imogene Coco, Sam Jaffe, and Mort Sahl.

Perhaps the reason Nothing Lasts Forever was not released was its pre-Tim Burton oddity or its painfully non-mainstreamness. Maybe the studio didn't know what it was - scifi, drama, comedy, period piece, musical? Even I'm not sure. It certainly is intriguing and worth a look while you can. Check it out.