cult film freak: April 2017

Written by James M. Tate / 4/22/2017 / No comments / eighties , franchise , james mason , maggie smith , mystery , peter ustinov , sequel

FOURTH CHRISTIE MYSTERY: EVIL UNDER THE SUN

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDwh4ZY2FESzdIgokPEuNFwmO4CUhmj3pwOPjI0mdosG2751ZmBlBS_BWvAS6tEycDDEe8Joee1isb7V4ohiPIwdHg4oL7-D7CLmKegaiJt6G-pnSoU0t3IvHpa4jeKWhe8V_FlYtTwC27/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-05-03+at+7.38.07+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDwh4ZY2FESzdIgokPEuNFwmO4CUhmj3pwOPjI0mdosG2751ZmBlBS_BWvAS6tEycDDEe8Joee1isb7V4ohiPIwdHg4oL7-D7CLmKegaiJt6G-pnSoU0t3IvHpa4jeKWhe8V_FlYtTwC27/s400/Screen+Shot+2017-05-03+at+7.38.07+PM.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Part of the Opening Credit Paintings YEAR: 1982</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We'll take on the Agatha Christie cinematic four-pack in reverse, which began in 1974 and ended in 1982 (at least on the big screen), and the films are MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, DEATH ON THE NILE, THE MIRROR CRACK'D and starting out with the last and, going back in time when, as a kid of around twelve or thirteen, standing outside a the local double feature theater, seeing the poster for EVIL UNDER THE SUN was an eye-opener. Half-remembering an image of a (not knowing actor names) stout man standing partially in the water with a wine glass in his hand. It was sunny and tropical and this was the first time witnessing an unlikely leading man compared to an Eastwood or Stallone and, well, years have past and while a forty-something's memory often ends up serving nothing but time, and that poster cannot be found online and perhaps never existed, Agatha Christie's French (Belgium, actually) sleuth is a personal favorite, with a spark of the accidental clumsiness of Peter Falk's COLUMBO and always around when a murder takes place...</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN3BqCsX21JVrzLPhulO9SzPhfckTF656lANUvvlfll91zI-p7QXObp-S8xmBAImtgOIJ9SEm9eq-Rr2-nNtULcuJv_ErBNIGzwmTV0HboJTaP_x7F_CLs4dgILd-Pyp2fH8EfIjaHSfRQ/s1600/15977674_254605731635277_6644871641933100913_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN3BqCsX21JVrzLPhulO9SzPhfckTF656lANUvvlfll91zI-p7QXObp-S8xmBAImtgOIJ9SEm9eq-Rr2-nNtULcuJv_ErBNIGzwmTV0HboJTaP_x7F_CLs4dgILd-Pyp2fH8EfIjaHSfRQ/s400/15977674_254605731635277_6644871641933100913_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Diana Rigg's character probably fearing Emily Hone will soon surpass her</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
EVIL UNDER THE SUN is the third case with Hercule Poirot, and by far the best, second to Peter Ustinov's first time in the more adventurous and less contained DEATH ON THE NILE... and he was a replacement that really worked...<br />
<br />
While Albert Finney is one of the all-time great actors, in MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS he seems to be doing an imitation of an imitation with a performance hindered by a cake of makeup and a phony (looking, anyway) mustache. Peter Ustinov is the best theatrical Perot because he doesn't seem to be acting at all. His quirkiness fits like a glove, and he's intense and affably endearing: Set in an island paradise, EVIL is a sort of Busman's Holiday for the Frenchman, and the actors surrounding are a perfectly odd lot including Maggie Smith, Roddy McDowell, Sylvia Miles, slowburn and meticulous teenage newcomer Emily Hone and the legendary James Mason. Like in NILE, there's a good looking younger couple, and the man, played by Nicholas Clay, is not only prettier than his girlfriend, but Diana Rigg, as the pivotal Arlena — a stage actress who may or may not agree to star in a production, is... well... it's very tricky writing a review of a Mystery film since just about anything can be a spoiler...<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL8Gs6Qvtx0ytIenIE6tpWzUsytDooIhuxYKPJEzTmN_rOhARbfIGxr3uOVnw-inenV4Tb0DEq4LoNR2UC1BOVHR5nTsIvmSiMHvo5ylYd7eDzMXKE82-aaFM2_7V8JcLgf9MRq6Xsf13M/s1600/15965428_254605734968610_5178713104048114744_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL8Gs6Qvtx0ytIenIE6tpWzUsytDooIhuxYKPJEzTmN_rOhARbfIGxr3uOVnw-inenV4Tb0DEq4LoNR2UC1BOVHR5nTsIvmSiMHvo5ylYd7eDzMXKE82-aaFM2_7V8JcLgf9MRq6Xsf13M/s400/15965428_254605734968610_5178713104048114744_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>A patriotic cannon blasts daily at high noon SCORE: ****</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What sets EVIL UNDER THE SUN apart from its two predecessors is the tight, lean script wherein the characters are never stagy thanks to the gorgeous backdrop that's anything but in the background — to use a cliche term when describing geography, the surrounding is "like a character in itself," especially shots from the hotel down into the sunlit grounds leading out into the blue-green ocean. Other visual highlights include a patriotic cannon firing a loud shot at 12 noon daily, not only bringing together the eclectic band of possible suspects, each with an ironclad alibi, but it allows the unlikeliest of heroes a platform to splendidly <i>happen-upon </i>everything that "James Bond director" Guy Hamilton places within eyeshot and earshot for both Poirot and his audience. Making a second viewing not only recommended, but completely necessary.</span>

eighties, franchise, james mason, maggie smith, mystery, peter ustinov, sequel

FOURTH CHRISTIE MYSTERY: EVIL UNDER THE SUN

Part of the Opening Credit Paintings YEAR: 1982 We'll take on the Agatha Christie cinematic four-pack in reverse, which began in 197...

Written by James M. Tate / 4/21/2017 / No comments / creature , godzilla , island , king kong , monster , science-fiction , sixties

TOHO KONG TWO OF TWO: KING KONG ESCAPES & KONG CARTOON

creature, godzilla, island, king kong, monster, science-fiction, sixties

TOHO KONG TWO OF TWO: KING KONG ESCAPES & KONG CARTOON

King Kong battles Dr. Who's MetalliKong YEAR: 1967 KING KONG ESCAPES is an exciting title but not entirely befitting the story at ha...

TOHO FILMS KONG ONE OF TWO: KING KONG VS GODZILLA

action, adventure, creature, godzilla, king kong, monster, sixties

TOHO FILMS KONG ONE OF TWO: KING KONG VS GODZILLA

Especially unique is the artwork at the bottomYEAR: 1962 It was the 1960's, and Bob Dylan was right, "Everybody must get stone...

FAVORITES SHORTLIST

1)OTLEY 2)HELL IS A CITY 3)ROBBERY 4)THE FEARMAKERS 5)CANYON PASSAGE 6)VIOLENT SATURDAY 7)HOT CARS 8)THE BREAK 9)CALCULATED RISK 10)THE ROARING TWENTIES 11) ANATOMY OF A MURDER 12)THE CROWDED SKY 13)SWEENEY TWO 14)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 15)HARDCORE 16)JUNGLE STREET 17)WHITE HEAT 18)AL CAPONE 19)FALLEN ANGEL 20)A PRIZE OF ARMS 21)SHARKS' TREASURE 22)THE ASPHALT JUNGLE 23)ASH WEDNESDAY 24)THE SYSTEM 25)AIR PATROL 26)THE STONE KILLER 27)SANDS OF THE KALAHARI 28)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 29)RIOT 30)THE MAN FROM LARAMIE FAVORITE ACTORS 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)STANLEY BAKER 4)MARLON BRANDO 5)JACK NICHOLSON 6)CHARLES BRONSON 7)BURT REYNOLDS 8)WILLIAM LUCAS 9)TOM COURTENAY 10)GENE HACKMAN DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)VAL GUEST 4)STANLEY KUBRICK 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)ORSON WELLES 7)JOHN GUILLERMAN 8)JOHN LANDIS 9)SAM PECKINPAH 10)MICHAEL WINNER