_**Melodrama on the Mexican Coast with Burton, Gardner and Kerr**_ Released in 1964 and directed by John Huston based on Tennessee Williams' play, "The Night of the Iguana" stars Richard Burton as a defrocked Episcopal minister who resorts to a job leading bus tours on the Mexican west coast. As he guides a group of middle-aged Baptist women to Puerto Vallarta, he struggles with the attentions of a teen sexpot (Sue Lyon) and the antagonism of her curmudgeonly ward (Grayson Hall). The group ends up at a bed & breakfast where the effervescent proprietor (Ava Gardner) and a spiritual artist (Deborah Kerr) aid the ex-clergyman in coming to terms with the failures haunting him. Skip Ward plays the hunky bus tour assistant. As much as I appreciate this drama, it's too bad it was shot in B&W as color would've really enhanced it, particularly considering the resort setting. (I'll never understand why filmmakers insist on shooting in B&W when color is readily available). The movie is also marred by some contrived melodrama with Burton guilty of chewing too much scenery. At the same time, it's interesting to go back in time with these old dramas and observe the artificialities of the (over)acting based on the contrivances of an inflexible script. Despite my criticisms, there's a lot to savor here. The rich (and sometimes synthetic) dialogue is full of gems to mine. The film is an honest rumination on the human condition. The theme is to cease struggling and to ride out the hardships of life, whether they're the result of one's own folly or otherwise. The answer will come; just be on the look-out for the "messenger" or "assistant" and, of course, accept. On other fronts, Sue Lyon is outstanding as the Lolita, probably because she literally played Lolita in her previous film, 1962's "Lolita." Thankfully, she's more womanly here. She was 17 during filming and thoroughly sumptuous, particularly in her short shorts. Gardner also looked great at 41, but her character is too boozy and it's a turn-off. She's well contrasted by the almost saintly Kerr. Interestingly, there's a brief denouncement of lesbianism, which wouldn't work today. In our current upside down culture it would be hailed as the highest good, worthy of a call from the President (rolling my eyes). RUNTIME: 118 minutes. SHOOTING LOCATIONS: Puerto Vallarta and Mismaloya Village, Mexico. GRADE: B
French General Birabeau has been sent to Morocco to root out and destroy the Riffs, a band of Arab rebels, who threaten the safety of the French outpost in the Moroccan desert. Their dashing, daredevil leader is the mysterious "Red Shadow". Margot Bonvalet, a lovely, sassy French girl, is soon to be married at the fort to Birabeau's right-hand man, Captain Fontaine. Birabeau's son Pierre, in reality the Red Shadow, loves Margot, but pretends to be a milksop to preserve his secret identity. Margot tells Pierre that she secretly yearns to be swept into the arms of some bold, dashing sheik, perhaps even the Red Shadow himself. Pierre, as the Red Shadow, kidnaps Margot and declares his love for her.
Movie Star Rating : 4.5 Read More
Fando and his partially paralyzed lover Lis search for the mythical city of Tar. Based on Jodorowsky's memories of a play by surrealist Fernando Arrabal.
Movie Star Rating : 6.8 Read More
When tragedy strikes his remarkable robot and the beautiful girl next door, lonely teenage genius Paul tries to save them by pushing technology beyond its known limits into a terrifying new realm.
Movie Star Rating : 6.2 Read More
Jackie-O is anxiously awaiting the visit of her brother home for Thanksgiving, but isn't expecting him to bring a friend — and she's even more shocked to learn that this friend is his fiance. It soon becomes clear that her obsession with Jackie Kennedy is nothing compared to her obsession with her brother, and she isn't the only member of the family with problems.
Movie Star Rating : 6.2 Read More
A woman suffers a nervous breakdown and an oppressive mother before being freed by the love of a man she meets on a cruise.
Movie Star Rating : 7.3 Read More
A disparate group of volunteers are trained as saboteurs and parachuted into Belgium to blow up an office containing important Nazi records and to rescue a prominent S.O.E. agent, who is being interrogated by the Germans for vital information.
Movie Star Rating : 5.6 Read More
A 1965 BBC adaptation of William Shakespeare's first historical tetralogy (1 Henry VI, 2 Henry VI, 3 Henry VI and Richard III), which deals with the conflict between the House of Lancaster and the House of York over the throne of England, a conflict known as the Wars of the Roses. It was based on the 1963 theatre adaptation by John Barton, and directed by Peter Hall for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Movie Star Rating : 8.5 Read More
A little known episode from the life of Stalinist security police office Julia Brystiger. Her nickname Bloody Luna was a reference to her incredibly brutal methods of interrogation. In the early 1960s, she appears in a centre for the blind on the outskirts of Warsaw, a place often visited by Cardinal Wyszyński, whose imprisonment in 1953-1956 Brystiger supervised personally. During a difficult and heated discussion with the cardinal, Brystiger denounces the communist ideology and begs for forgiveness for her crimes and for guidance in her search for God.
Movie Star Rating : 6.5 Read More
The story of an old Jewish widow named Daisy Werthan and her relationship with her black chauffeur, Hoke. From an initial mere work relationship grew in 25 years a strong friendship between the two very different characters, in a time when those types of relationships were shunned.
Movie Star Rating : 7.2 Read More
In director Baz Luhrmann's contemporary take on William Shakespeare's classic tragedy, the Montagues and Capulets have moved their ongoing feud to the sweltering suburb of Verona Beach, where Romeo and Juliet fall in love and secretly wed. Though the film is visually modern, the bard's dialogue remains.
Movie Star Rating : 6.8 Read More
An alcoholic ex-football player drinks his days away, having failed to come to terms with his sexuality and his real feelings for his football buddy who died after an ambiguous accident. His wife is crucified by her desperation to make him desire her: but he resists the affections of his wife. His reunion with his father—who is dying of cancer—jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.
Movie Star Rating : 5.5 Read More
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