City Lights (1931)

Cinema Sweetheart's Rating: 9 out of 10

Director: Charles Chaplin

Starring: Charles "Charlie" Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Harry Myers

Rated: G

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Silent

Runtime: 87 minutes

Charlie Chaplin's little Tramp stars in this touching film about friendship and love.  On one of his walks the Tramp befriends a blind flower girl (Cherrill) who sells her wares on the street corner.  Desirous to help her, the Tramp tries to earn some money for her so that she can travel to Vienna and get an operation that will restore her sight.  Meanwhile, the he also befriends an eccentric millionaire (Myers), whom he stops from committing suicide in a drunken depression.  This new friend is only too happy to help the Tramp, but only when he's completely drunk.  When sober, he's a totally different person.  While trying to cope with the split personality of his rich friend, his love for the beautiful flower girl, and the series of rotten jobs he must perform to earn the money, the Tramp struggles for his fairytale ending.  But, will he get it?

I first heard about this movie from a little book about Charlie Chaplin that I found in a used book shop in Florida.  I've always thought Chaplin to be an interesting and iconic character (although I'd only seen one of his films) and still fondly remember my friend Sergio dressing up like the Tramp for a publicity stunt for our college's film club. This, however, was the first time I had actually seen a full-length Chaplin silent film, and I loved it!  The Tramp was both adorable and funny, and the storyline was so perfect, both in writing and performance, that one cannot help but be sucked into the story!  As an introduction to Chaplin's silent performances, City Lights perfectly rises to the occasion!

The plot is both romantic and funny, touching, suspenseful, and heartbreaking.  What more could one ask for in a film?

Chaplin of course, stole the show.  The Tramp is not one of the most iconic figures of cinema because of pure luck!  The character has obvious appeal.  He may be poor as dirt, with a hat and coat that are too small, and pants and shoes that are too big, but he sure doesn't live his life as a poor man!  In fact, this feisty little character seems to imagine himself to be a gentleman, even going so far as to treat his millionaire friend's butler as his own!  However, even though Chaplin is wonderful, I don't think it would be enough for him to carry the entire film on his shoulders.  The Tramp was supported by a delightful cast, with Virginia Cherrill's flower girl completely melting everyone's hearts, Myers's millionaire providing wonderful conflict and comedic relief, and Florence Lee playing the part of Cherrill's kind, gentle grandmother.

Although I enjoyed the entire movie very much, I have to say that for me, the best part was the ending.  The final scene of the film brought tears to my eyes, but, to prevent spoilers, I'm not going to tell you what actually happens ;)

Kidnapped (1971)

Cinema Sweetheart's Rating: 7 out of 10

Director: Delbert Mann

Starring: Michael Caine, Lawrence Douglas, Vivien Heilbron

Rated: G

Genre: Drama, Historical, Adventure

Runtime: 100 minutes

Other Versions: Kidnapped (1938) (1948) (1952) (1956) (1960) (1963) (1978) (1986) (1995) (2005), Schusse unterm Galgen (1970)

Based off of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novels Kidnapped and Catriona/David Balfour, Kidnapped is a story of revenge, adventure, and patriotism.  When David Balfour (Douglas) (following the death of his father three years previously) goes to his uncle Ebenezer (Donald Pleasence) for his inheritance, he gets far more than he bargained for, including a murder attempt and being sold into slavery by his uncle.  While on a ship heading to the Carolinas, he makes the acquaintance of Scottish revolutionary and rebel Alan Breck (Caine) and warns him of the captain’s plan to rob and possibly murder him.  After fighting off the corrupt crew, the two form a fast friendship that continues from the ship to the Scottish highlands, where they are on the run from the British soldiers who want Alan dead.  Complications arise, however, and soon they are not only trying to keep themselves out of prison (or worse: the gallows), but they also have to clear the name of Alan’s kinsman James Stewart (Jack Watson) who is to hang for a murder that Alan committed.

I first became interested in the story of Kidnapped when my friend Sarah gave me a copy of the book, which I loved.  So, when Sarah mentioned that there were several movies, my interest was piqued.  When she mentioned that the 1971 version starred Michael Caine as the dashing Alan Breck, I couldn’t resist.  After weeks of trying to get our schedules to work, we were finally able to watch this allusive film.  And….it was pretty bad.  I’m not going to lie; this film was kinda dreadful.  But, I still gave it 7 out of 10 for a very important reason; it was one of those films that is so bad that it’s good.  Unlike many of my fellow film critics, I don’t review films strictly based off of how good it was as a film.  For example, I don’t solely focus on the cinematography or the sets, acting, or screenplay.  I tend to focus more on how the film made me feel in general; on how my overall viewing experience was.  That’s because I hope that the people who read Cinema Sweetheart aren’t just looking for films that are “cinematographically” perfect, but rather films that are enjoyable to watch.

There are so many things I could say about this film.  The screenplay, for example, seemed to jump all over the place.  If you’ve not read Kidnapped or Catriona, you’re bound to be confused for quite a bit of the movie. (I’ve only read Kidnapped, so I was confused for a lot of it, myself!)  Everything seems to jump around.  Large pieces of Kidnapped are removed, and are replaced with wonderful selections of awkward starring, awkward touching, and awkward camera angles that pan in on faces with blank or awkward expressions.  Oh, and don’t forget awkward phrases that can be construed as something very different, like when Alan commands David to quickly “rub” himself.  Furthermore, the entire timeline from Stevenson’s novels seems to be altered in a very unusual way.  David’s story begins years earlier than it was supposed to, and yet, scenes from the second book are inserted into the plot of the first as though they were always there.  This includes characters like James Stewart and his daughter Catriona (Heilbron), who don’t come into play until the second novel.  The whole beginning is sped through at mach-10, and the ending leaves the audience confused and a bit dissatisfied.

The characters were hilarious.  Michael Caine’s adaptation of Alan was very different from the version in the books.  First, he had a ridiculous hair style that curled at the edges.  How he managed to keep his hair looking foppish and undisturbed for the entirety of the film is beyond me.  Plus, he lacked his characteristic blue jacket, and wore an interesting number done in brown plaid.  Everything matched.  He was also far more serious than the character in the book.  Stevenson’s Alan is short, pock-marked, unattractive, and vain (almost comically so).  Caine’s Alan was tall, handsome, regal, and proud, with a serious, purposeful air about him for the entire film.  His Scottish accent, however, left much to be desired.  Even though Caine is British, he almost sounded like an American trying to pull off a really bad Scottish accent, although I will say that it got better as the film progressed.  Speaking of which, Vivien Heilbron also had an accent worth mentioning.  When she is first introduced, it was impossible to detect a Scottish accent at all.  But, by the end, she had a pretty decent one.  How does that make any sense?  You either have an accent or you don’t.  You don’t go from sounding like an American to sounding like a Scott over the course of a couple of weeks, especially if you’re born in Scotland to Scottish parents in a Scottish highlands clan!

I also found David to be very funny.  First of all, he had the most interesting hair style, with a silly little ponytail that was impossible to identify for most of the film.  Was it a bun?  Was it a random clump of hair?  Was it a ponytail?  Yes it was!  Plus, he goes from clueless, slightly stupid youth to an intense rebel, determined to do everything in his power to see James Stewart cleared of the murder charges against him.  What makes this humorous is just how dedicated he is.  In fact, he’s more interested in saving James than James’s cousin (Alan) and daughter (Catriona) are!  Why?  I honestly have no idea!

Despite all its faults, there is one thing that the movie had going for it.  The scenery was absolutely beautiful.  Filmed on location in Scotland, it was easy to see just why Alan was willing to die for his country.  It was gorgeous.  I’m sure that Scotland has become more urbanized since 1971, but I would still love to travel there someday, just to get a glimpse of the scenes I saw in this movie.

There was one other thing that worked to this film’s benefit: it was funny.  Even when it wasn’t meant to be funny, it was funny.  Sarah and I could not help laughing at all the awkward close-ups, starring, expressions, wtf moments, and dialogue.  Sometimes, the best movies are those that are so bad that they are good.  Those are the ones that make you laugh out loud, and are the ones that friends tend to talk about for a long time afterwards (well, at least my friends and I do).  These are the ones you reach for on a rainy day or on a late sleepless night, simply because you know you’re going to enjoy the experience.

This is a good movie for anyone who has read Kidnapped and Catriona, and is looking for an interesting (albeit confusing) film adaptation.  It’s also good for anyone who doesn’t always need to take their film viewing too seriously, or for anyone who enjoys watching films that are (as Sarah's dad so eloquently put it) "not great cinema".

Hello Dolly (1969)

Cinema Sweetheart's Rating: 8 out of 10

Director: Gene Kelly

Starring: Barbara Streisand, Walter Matthau, Michael Crawford

Rated: G

Genre: Musical, Comedy, Romance

Runtime: 146 minutes

Hello Dolly is the story of Ms. Dolly Levi, a widow and matchmaker who has decided that she's going to marry her rich client Horace Vandergelder.  Several plots all overlap with each other when Dolly is supposed to take Horace's niece Ermengarde to New York to keep her away from her poor artist boyfriend who wants to marry her against her uncle's wishes.  The plot soon expands to accommodate several subplots as Dolly tries to match up the cast's multiple couples.

This is a wonderful, feel-good sort of musical, with upbeat songs and lots of fun plot twists.  Besides that, you have a wonderful cast, including Michael Crawford, who was the original Phantom of the Opera on Broadway and in London.  Of course, his character, the bumbling clerk Cornelius Hackl is very different from the dark and brooding Phantom, showing the wide range of Crawford’s acting skills.  Walter Mattau is delightfully stubborn as Horace Vandergelder, and of course, Barbara Streisand is a charming, beautiful, and clever Dolly Levi.

All in all, I would recommend this film very highly.  The music is lots of fun and the choreography is BRILLIANT!  However, it is very long, and there did come a point where I was dying to get up and walk around a bit, even though I was enjoying the movie.  Also, I did find the characters of Irene Molloy and Minnie Fay to be a bit annoying; but of course, not enough to make me want to stop watching.  And of course, I’m sure that I’m in the minority on this; Irene/Cornelius and Minnie/Barnaby are often considered the cutest couples in the film.  Speaking of couples, I also found the pairing of Joyce Ames and Tommy Tune as Horace’s niece and her boyfriend, to be a comical choice, since at 6’6 ½”, Tommy towers over tiny little Joyce.

Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)

Cinema Sweetheart's Rating: 3 out of 10

Director: Norman Jewison

Starring: Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson, Yvonne Elliman

Rated:G

Genre: Musical, Religious, Historical

Runtime:108 minutes

Other Versions:Jesus Christ Superstar (2000)

Because I had just watched the 2000 version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic "rock opera," I thought it was time to review this one as well.  Jesus Christ Superstar is a musical sensation that details the last few days of Christ's (Neeley) life through the eyes of Judas Iscariot (Anderson).

I had quite a few issues with this version of the film.  Although I love the music, and enjoyed the "Millennium" edition quite a bit, this movie was greatly lacking.  It takes place in the deserts of Palestine, where a group of actors drive up in a bus and proceed to act out the story of Christ's passion.  There were minimal set pieces, but lots and lots of expansive sand, which was very boring after a while.

My biggest issues were with the acting.  Not to be mean, but Ted Neeley cannot sing.  At least, not well enough to play the role of Jesus.  Also, I felt as though his performance was greatly lacking in emotion; he was very flat.  Carl Anderson's Judas was better, but even his singing was not the best.  Joshua Mostel, who played King Herod, some sort of creepy bi-sexual beach bum with a mixed harem of guys and girls covered in paint and body glitter.  In my opinion, the only actors who sang well were Bob Bingham as Caiaphas, Yvonne Elliman as Mary Magdalene, and Barry Dennen as Pontias Pilate.

While the 2000 version of Jesus Christ Superstar focused on Judas as the main character, this movie pushed him into the background, making it hard to understand what his motivation was for his betrayal.  Jerome Pradon's Judas was distressed, overwrought, and easy to sympathise with.  You could understand his motives, whether you agreed with him or not.  Anderson's performance left me scratching my head, wondering what his justification was, seeing as I didn't understand it myself.  Whereas Pradon seemed to be doing everything for the greater good when Jesus wouldn't listen to him, Anderson just seemed to be smoldering in his own jealousy of what Jesus had.

All in all, I found this whole film to be a huge disappointment. If you're interested in this rock opera, I would suggest staying away from this production and watch the 2000 version instead.  It's so much better!

Godspell (1973)

Cinema Sweetheart's Rating: 8 out of 10

Director: David Greene

Starring: Victor Garber, Lynne Thigpen, and Katie Hanley

Rated: G

Genre: Musical, Religious

Run Time: 103 minutes

Godspell is a modern interpretation of the life of Jesus Christ based off the Gospel according to Matthew.  A group of New Yorkers are approached by John the Baptist (David Haskell) who encourages them to come and follow the words of Jesus.  Soon, the group of eclectic misfits, dressed like hippies in bright colors with painted faces begin to retell the Gospel of Matthew through stories, songs, and performances that they put on for Jesus and for each other.  A fun, feel-good movie, with unforgettable songs such as "Day By Day" and "Turn Back, O Man".

In all honesty, I found this movie to be a bit strange.  I'm a Catholic, and so I was a bit perturbed about some of the representations of Jesus (like why is he wearing pompoms on his shoes, face paint, and a superman shirt with suspenders?  He looks like a clown).  But, I think the reason that it was done this way was to show through the hippie movement that Jesus was counter cultural.  He was not like everyone else; he went against the grain.  Also, I felt that the film portrays Jesus as gentle, caring, and fun.  He seems like someone you'd want to hang out with and who would be happy to just spend time with you and be silly. This Jesus is not too serious, which I kind of liked.

All in all, I thought this was an incredible movie with great music and a great cast.  Sometimes, however, I will say that I thought it was a bit over-the-top in how silly they made it, but still, I would happily recommend it.