Showing posts with label black comedy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label black comedy. Show all posts
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| Ann Dvorak and Carole Landis |
Arthur Earthleigh (George Brent) is a hen-pecked husband in Greenwich Village who meets up with a kooky, tippling gal named Olive (Ann Dvorak) while his wife, Mae (Carole Landis of A Scandal in Paris) is out of town. Taking Olive to his apartment, Arthur is panicked to discover that it's hard to get rid of her -- until she apparently drops dead in his living room. He puts the body on the terrace of his disliked next-door neighbor, artist David Gelleo (Turhan Bey of The Mummy's Tomb), who is trying to entertain fellow dog lover Deborah (Virginia Mayo). David insists that Arthur help him get rid of the body, but is Olive really dead, and what will happen when Mae gets back in town? And could either Arthur or David be the notorious Greenwich Village Murderer who has already amassed several victims? Out of the Blue is as silly as it sounds, although it has some amusing moments, and the performances are more than okay. Brent [The Great Lie] is fine in a much nerdier role than he normally played, and Ann Dvorak is absolutely delightful, although it may not be her fault that eventually the presence of drunken Olive -- dead, not dead, and so on -- becomes rather tiresome. Elizabeth Patterson is cute as a little old lady who keeps seeing corpses and Flame makes an impression as David's dog Rabelais.The light tone of the movie is at odds with the whole business of a fiendish murderer killing young women, albeit his activities are never shown.
Verdict: A little too cute: **1/2.
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| Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre |
In this black comedy that seems influenced by the Broadway show Arsenic and Old Lace (which itself was filmed two years later) Boris Karloff plays a crazy scientist in a crumbling old inn and Peter Lorre is the sheriff and just about every other official in the area. Winnie Slade (the oddly named Miss Jeff Donell of Night Editor) is a kooky gal who decides to buy the inn even though it's off the beaten track, an idea which her ex-husband Bill (Larry Parks) thinks is nutty. Professor Billing (Karloff) seems to think he can imbue a man with the ability to fly by putting traveling salesmen into a machine he's invented, but they all wind up dead -- apparently. "Slapsy" Maxie Rosenbloom plays a powderpuff salesman, Maude Eburne is a homicidal housekeeper, Frank Puglia [20 Million Miles to Earth] is "Jo Jo," an escaped lunatic, and Don Beddoe [The Face Behind the Mask] is a choreographer who takes a room at the inn. The cast is interesting, to say the least, with Parks and Puglia coming off best, but the material is far, far below the talents of the actors, and both Karloff and Lorre seem a mite uncomfortable, although everyone tries their best to make this funny and spirited, which it ain't. The movie has only a couple of titters and is mostly tedious.
Verdict: Makes a Bowery Boys film look intellectual. *1/2.
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| Connie Britton , Dylan McDermott, Taissa Farmiga |
In this oddball series a family moves to Los Angeles and winds up living in a haunted house which is so notorious it is known as "Murder House" on a guided tour. Anyone who dies in the house -- and there have been a lot of murders there down through the years -- can't move on but must stay inside the house [except for Halloween when the spirits can travel wherever they want]. These ghosts are not misty, insubstantial visions -- they have substance, physicality, and sentience, and interact with the living people in the house, who often don't even realize the individual is dead. [Some of the surprises in the series are discovering that a character you thought was alive is actually a ghost, and someone you thought was a ghost is still alive.] The premise for this first season of American Horror Story is a good enough one, but the execution is decidedly uneven. One thing that can't be faulted (with a couple of exceptions) is the acting, with Connie Britton, Dylan McDermott, and Taissa Farmiga turning in fine performances as the members of the highly dysfunctional family, and Evan Peters nearly walking off with the show in his star-making turn as the deeply troubled Tate Langdon. If Jessica Lange was hoping to turn into an acclaimed character actress with her turn as the weird neighbor, Constance, she's got a bit of a problem in that the role is possibly too strange and unreal for anyone to play altogether convincingly. Zachary Quinto [Star Trek Into Darkness] plays a gay character like such a swishy stereotype that it's hard to believe that his masculine, philandering partner would ever have been attracted to him. Frances Conroy scores as a maid who was murdered but still does the housekeeping (perhaps the series' only moving moment has to do with her and her dying mother), as does Kate Mara [House of Cards] as a woman who's had an affair with shrink McDermott; there are other notable performances as well from a very large cast. The show, like most "horror" today, is really more of a very black comedy than anything else, even though the ultimate effect is kind of depressing and at times schlocky. But for the most part it holds the attention even as you're wondering why you're bothering to watch it; it could have been so much better. The use of Bernard Herrmann's music from Psycho and Vertigo is really quite annoying and fortunately they stopped lifting it after the first couple of episodes.
Verdict: Not exactly Downton Abbey -- and its internal logic is often screwy -- but it has its moments. **1/2.
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| Percy Helton flirts with Lou in drag as a maid |
ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE KILLER, BORIS KARLOFF (1949). Director: Charles Barton.
Running out of monsters to exploit, Abbott and Costello simply decided to star in a comical murder mystery with Boris Karloff chief among the supporting cast. House dick Casey (Bud Abbott) and fired bellboy Freddie (Lou Costello) are up to their necks in intrigue when one of the guests at the hotel where they're employed is murdered. While Inspector Wellman (James Flavin) suspects Freddie because the dead man got him sacked, there are others who may have done the deed, including possible husband-poisoner, Angela (Lenore Aubert), Mike Relia (Vincent Renno), T. Henley Brooks (Roland Winters), desk clerk Jeff (Gar Moore), his sweetie Betty (Donna Martell), her father Crandell (Harry Hayden), and the sinister pseudo-swami, Talpur (Boris Karloff), who is fairly murderous but may not be the main killer of the story. Melton, the hotel manager (Alan Mowbray) is appalled by the whole business: "We don't permit murders at this hotel," he insists. Unfortunately, more dead bodies begin turning up in Freddie's bath tub and closet, and worse, they keep disappearing as well. There's an exciting climax in vast caverns with a bottomless pit, with impressive scenic design and special effects, but the second most memorable sequence has Great Old Movies favorite Percy Helton flirting with Freddie when he's in disguise as a maid! The boys are in fine form, as are Karloff, Helton, Mowbray and Flavin, and the rest of the cast seems to be having fun as well. This is a delightful black comedy and one of the team's best movies. Gar Moore later turned up in Curse of the Faceless Man and Lenore Aubert was in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein which was also directed by Charles Barton.
Verdict: Quite entertaining and often very funny. ***.
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| The cast of American Hustle |
"Sometimes all you have in life are fucked-up, poisonous choices."
Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) is a married con artist/loan shark with a really elaborate comb-over who works with his lover, Sydney (Amy Adams), in conning desperate and larcenous people out of their money. They get caught by arrogant, ambitious agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper), who tells them they can stay out of jail if they help him in a sting operation. The target for entrapment is Atlantic City mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner of Mission Impossible -- Ghost Protocol), who needs money to bring gambling to AC [this takes place in the late seventies]. When Polito begins making deals with gambling experts who happen to be mobsters, such as Victor Tellegio (Robert De Niro), Richie, who begins an affair with Sydney, figures he can bring down even bigger fish than Polito. Realizing they are the ones the gangsters will go after when the whole thing blows up, Irving and Sydney come up with a secret counter-scheme, but will Irving's jealous wife, Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence), cause more problems than they can handle? American Hustle is an okay movie with some clever moments and a fairly satisfying ending, but it's incredible that it won an Oscar as Best Picture -- all four lead actors won Oscars as well -- proving that studio backing and aggressiveness can and often is more responsible for the garnering of awards than genuine quality. The acting is okay [but never outstanding] for the most part -- one could single out Bale [American Psycho] for his character role -- but the cast members all seem to be exuding personality in a naturalistic manner rather than acting [a common occurrence in modern-day movies]. Also the movie is played as a black comedy, which is also typical of many new movies, and has not a single likable character. It also has senseless scenes, such as a girl-on-girl kiss between wife and startled mistress in a ladies room, that seem thrown in for titillation and nothing else. American Hustle also tells an 80 minute story in two and a half hours! It in no way compares to great con man/film noir classics of the past such as Too Late for Tears/Killer Bait.
Verdict: This isn't terrible, but a masterpiece with truly great acting it is not. **1/2.
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| Big Face meets Big Bones: Alan Bates, Lynn Redgrave |
Georgina (Lynn Redgrave) is a homely, big-boned, schlumpy 22-year-old who lives with her ice princess roommate, Meredith (the well-cast Charlotte Rampling of Asylum), who has a nutty boyfriend named Jos (Alan Bates of An Unmarried Woman), Georgina gets a bizarre "business" proposition from James Leamington (James Mason) -- her father is Leamington's major domo -- who wants her to become his official mistress; obviously big bones and messiness turn him on. But Georgy is much more attracted to Jos, who has gotten Meredith pregnant and may marry her ... what's a big-boned girl to do? It's hard to believe that this movie was once popular, because the only thing really memorable about it is the amusing theme song performed by the Seekers. Redgrave and Georgy are irritating to the extreme; Bates seems to think he's acting in a cartoon; Mason, demeaned by his role, doesn't seem to know where the hell he is or what he's doing; and Rampling, of all people, comes off best in her steely portrait of a cold, unrepentant bitch. The "mod" approach of the film severely dates it, and everyone seems horribly miscast. Not a single character is remotely sympathetic. Aside from the theme song, the one thing that stands out is a wonderful shot of a dog standing stock still (for a while) as a funeral procession goes by. Things pick up a bit for the very ending, but by then it's too late. This is not only stupid and unfunny, but tedious. Incredibly, Redgrave [Last of the Mobile Hot Shots], who is not that good, was nominated for a best actress Oscar [Mason was nominated for supporting actor even though this is one of his least memorable roles] and won the Golden Globes.
Verdict: Play the tune and skip the movie. *1/2.
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| The cop fights a giant killer klown! |
A small town becomes subjected to an invasion by unusual aliens: they look like clowns, set up an HQ in a circus tent, and use special guns to wrap up people in "cotton candy" that liquefies their bodies for a food supply. Say what you will about Killer Klowns, it has an inventive premise and some clever sequences. The plot is driven by a trio of young residents: Mike (Grant Cramer), his girlfriend Deb (Suzanne Snyder), and her ex, a handsome police officer named Dave (John Allen Nelson), who at first thinks the other two are pulling his leg until he sees Deb trapped in a balloon by one of the clowns. The killer klowns also use balloons twisted together for bloodhounds, have popcorn that masses together to form other, vicious klowns, and can create shadow puppets that can actually engulf and swallow people. In one scene a klown uses the dead body of nasty Sheriff Mooney (John Vernon) as a dummy, and when two of Mike's horny friends are cornered by female klowns with big lips and big busts, they show up covered with exaggerated lip prints. Then there's the giant King Kong-sized klown that tries to crush Dave. Killer Klowns is amiably silly, features some excellent make ups and costumes, has a snappy title tune, and some better production values than you might imagine, none of which quite disguise its low-budget, kind of schlocky, veneer. Still, the movie has too many interesting moments to dismiss it. Vernon [Curtains] gives an especially good performance, and the other actors are fine. The movie may have been inspired by the evil alien clowns who bedeviled the Metal Men in the silver age comic of the same name.
Verdict: Watch out for those clowns! **1/2.
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| Linda Darnell and Rex Harrison |
Sir Alfred De Carter (Rex Harrison of Blithe Spirit) is a world-famous conductor married to a younger woman, Daphne (Linda Darnell). Through the manipulations of his unpleasant brother-in-law (Rudy Vallee of My Dear Secretary), Alfred becomes convinced that Daphne is carrying on with his secretary, Tony (Kurt Kreuger). As he conducts classical and operatic pieces by Rossini, Tchaikovsky, and Wagner, he imagines different ways in which he can get even with the two, then finally tries to hatch one of the plots, which doesn't work out as well as it does in his fantasy. The "hero" in this actually contrives to murder his wife, but a bigger problem is the classical music background is totally at odds with what's happening on screen, which in turn has little to do with the music. The whole thing just doesn't work, and worse, is rather boring for long stretches. The cast -- including Barbara Lawrence of The Star as Vallee's sneering, belittling wife -- is quite good, but not enough to save the movie.
Verdict: Go to the opera instead. **.
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| Carol Burnett as Eunice |
"I told you if you married Ed Higgins you'd get freaks for kids, and that's just what you got." -- Mama referring to Eunice's boys.
The highlights of The Carol Burnett Show were "The Family" sketches which focused on the highly-dysfunctional Harper family, especially on the love-hate relationship between Eunice (Carol Burnett) and her mother (Vicki Lawrence). This 1982 special was the longest Family "sketch" of all, taped before a live audience, and consisting of four parts in different time periods: 1955, when Eunice is courted by future husband Ed (Harvey Korman), and brother Phil (Ken Berry) leaves for New York to become a writer; 1963, in which Phil has achieved some success and Eunice wants to go to New York with him to become an actress; 1973, in which Phil wins a Pulitzer but still has to deal with the jealousies, resentments and pressures of his weird family back home; and 1978, when Mama dies and old squabbles resurface between Eunice and her sister Ellen (Betty White of Advise and Consent), but the former finally plans to make her escape from her dismal small-town existence -- but will she? Sharply written by Jenna McMahon and Dick Clair, in its own comic [often only slightly exaggerated] way Eunice unveils the way in which family members can lacerate one another due to their own insecurities and frustrations; played differently it could have been a drama. While Burnett and her Eunice border on caricature, the comedienne manages the difficult feat of making the shrill, unlikable Eunice sympathetic, while Lawrence -- who received an Emmy nomination -- is just splendid as the grumpy if coldly realistic Mama, who has no patience with her daughter's fantastic plans and dreams. Korman, Berry, and White also score in their important supporting roles. This excellent (and highly-rated) telefilm unfortunately led into the sitcom Mama's Family, in which Burnett did not participate (but for a couple of guest appearances), stripping the whole project of its most important and funniest relationship.
Verdict: Funny and rather horrifying in equal measure. ***1/2.