Hidden Gems #5

Hidden Gem #50: Wake in Fright a.k.a. Outback (1971, Australia/U.S.A.)

Director: Ted Kotcheff

A British bonded school teacher who dreams of life in the big city, receives the culture shock of a lifetime when a planned brief stopover in an Aussie mining town becomes a one way ticket to self-loathing hell and for us one of the most personally gripping horror stories ever witnessed.

Hidden Gem #49: Special Section a.k.a. Section spéciale (1975, France/Italy/West Germany)

Director: Costa-Gavras

Less melodramatic than the director's better known Missing (1982) and Music Box (1989), this straightforwardly powerful account of judicial corruption is based on a true story that took place in Nazi occupied France during World War II.

Hidden Gem #48: Black Rain a.k.a. Kuroi ame (1989, Japan)

Director: Shōhei Imamura

The devastating after effects of the Hiroshima bombing are handled in a subdued and subtle fashion in Imamura's most tragic and moving cinematic story. 

Hidden Gem #47: The Stranger a.k.a. Lo straniero (1967, Italy/France/Algeria)

Director: Luchino Visconti

Perfectly capturing the theme of existentialism is this provocative portrayal of a lost soul accused of murder in French occupied Algeria (based on the novel by Albert Camus).

Hidden Gem #46: Smog (1962, Italy)

Director: Franco Rossi

Like 1972's The Outside Man (See: Top 10 Guilty Treasures), this is a unique and absorbing outsider's view of life in Los Angeles, only instead of the French suspenseful intrigue, we have this charming and quirky Italian perspective. 

Hidden Gem #45: Cry Danger (1951, U.S.A.)

Director: Robert Parrish

This terrific little L.A. noir with Dick Powell at his cynical best has great heavies, sleazy locations, shady dames and wicked dialogue to burn - plus even Powell's best friend who sprung him from prison on a phoney alibi thinks he's guilty. (More here).

Hidden Gem #44: Ocean Men: Extreme Dive (2001, Germany)

Director: Bob Talbot

A fascinating, totally unique documentary that looks at two extreme athletes who challenge each other not only in how long they can hold their breaths but in the authenticity of the chosen methods to do so, with the director's amazing underwater photography beautifully scored by composer Cliff Eidelman.

(Out of 5 Treasure Chests)

Hidden Gem #43: Four Nights of a Dreamer a.k.a. Quatre nuits d'un rêveur (1971, France)

Director: Robert Bresson

A chance encounter in Paris between a painter and a possible suicide victim turns to dreamy, unrequited love in still another jewel from the great french director, this one rare and practically unknown.

Hidden Gem #42: Black Tuesday (1954, U.S.A.)

Director: Hugo Fregonese

This brutally vicious prison escape thriller is one of the best of its type and contains a riveting performance by Edward G. Robinson, matched every step of the way by an equally brilliant (and surprisingly intense) turn from Peter Graves as a fellow convict, both of whom are about to be executed. 

Hidden Gem #41: Le Crabe Tambour (1977, France)

Director: Pierre Schoendoerffer

A highly engrossing and intelligent film that combines adventure with historical drama and a strong sense of mystery surrounding the heroics of a former French war hero once betrayed, and now sought out, by a dying ship's captain.

A.G.

Hidden Gems #6 is here.

Capturing a Golden Moment #4: The Fastest Gun Alive

In this series I'd like to present some exceptional scenes inspired by cinema's most gifted artists of yesteryear.

The Fastest Gun Alive (1956) 

Director: Russell Rouse

Scene: "The Dance"

Another amazing showcase from the unstoppable Russ Tamblyn. From the young Bart Tare in Gun Crazy (1950) to Riff in West Side Story (1961) to Son of a Gunfighter in Django Unchained (2012), he's still going strong.

The Fastest Gun Alive is available On Demand from The Warner Archive Collection here:

Fastest Gun Alive

$19.98

Starring Glenn Ford, Jeanne Crain, Broderick Crawford, Russ Tamblyn, Allyn Joslyn

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Sterling Silver Dialogue #8

Sterling Silver Dialogue From The Movies: 

Do you know where they're from?

"You know, once, off the hump of Brazil I saw the ocean so darkened with blood it was black and the sun faintin' away over the lip of the sky. We'd put in at Fortaleza, and a few of us had lines out for a bit of idle fishing. It was me had the first strike. A shark it was. Then there was another, and another shark again, 'till all about, the sea was made of sharks and more sharks still, and no water at all. My shark had torn himself from the hook, and the scent, or maybe the stain it was, and him bleeding his life away, drove the rest of them mad. Then the beasts took to eating each other. In their frenzy... they ate at themselves. You could feel the lust of murder like a wind stinging your eyes, and you could smell the death, reeking up out of the sea. I never saw anything worse... until this little picnic tonight. And you know, there wasn't one of them sharks in the whole crazy pack that survived."

"The only way to stay out of trouble is to grow old, so I guess I'll concentrate on that."

"'Course I'm respectable. I'm old. Politicians, ugly buildings, and whores all get respectable if they last long enough."

"You see Mr. Gitts, most people never have to face the fact... the right time and the right place, they're capable of... ANYTHING."  

"Well, I was curious. So many important people in one place..."  (reply)  "The rats usually desert a sinking ship. In my case, they appear to be flocking on board."

"Have you no human consideration?"  (reply)  "Show me a human, and I might have."

"And there's a message from the bartender. Does Miss Channing know she ordered domestic gin by mistake?"  (reply)  "The only thing I ordered by mistake is the guests. They're domestic, too, and they don't care what they drink as long as it burns!" 

"I'm afraid Mr. DeWitt would find me boring before too long."  (reply)  "You won't bore him honey, you won't even get a chance to talk."

"How about calling it a night?"  (reply)  "And you, pose as a playwright? A situation pregnant with possibilities and all you can think of is everybody go to sleep."

"I'll admit I may have seen better days, but I'm still not to be had for the price of a cocktail, like a salted peanut." 

"Why not read my column to pass the time? The minutes will fly like hours." 

Answers to Sterling Silver Dialogue #8 are here.

Capturing a Golden Moment #3: Double Indemnity

In this series I'd like to present some exceptional scenes inspired by cinema's most gifted artists of yesteryear.

Double Indemnity (1944) 

Director: Billy Wilder

Scene: "Office Meeting"

What a set up for Edward G. Robinson. How would you like to have a moment like this with your boss?

Double Indemnity is available on a Region Free Blu-ray from Universal and is available here:

Double Indemnity - 70th Anniversary Limited Edition (Blu-ray + DIGITAL HD with UltraViolet)

$20.86

Starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Porter Hall, Jean Heather

Buy on Amazon

It is also available on Blu-ray from Masters of Cinema (Region B locked ) and can be ordered here:

Double Indemnity [Region B]

$39.71

Starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Porter Hall, Jean Heather

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Sterling Silver Dialogue #7

Sterling Silver Dialogue From The Movies: 

Do you know where they're from?

"All right, all right, how much you pay?"  (response)  "Well, just how tough are ya?"  (reply)  "Well, you pay a little bit, we're a little bit tough. You pay-a very much, we're-a very much tough. You pay-a too much we're a too much tough. How much you pay?"  (response) "I pay plenty!"  (reply) "We'll... then we're plenty tough."

"I'm a homing pigeon, I always come back to the stinking coop no matter how late it is."

"The only reason I took the job is because my bank account was trying to crawl under a duck." 

"She was a charming middle aged lady with a face like a bucket of mud. I gave her a drink. She was a gal who would take a drink if she had to knock you down to get the bottle." 

"I'm afraid I don't like your manner." (reply) "Yeah, I've had complaints about it, but it keeps getting worse." 

"She tried to sit on my lap while I was standing up."

"I don't like your manners."  (reply)  "And I'm not crazy about yours. I didn't ask to see you. I don't mind if you don't like my manners, I don't like them myself. They are pretty bad. I grieve over them on long winter evenings. I don't mind your ritzing me or drinking your lunch out of a bottle, but don't waste your time trying to cross-examine." 

"Why did you have to go on?"  (reply)  "Too many people told me to stop."

"You're never around when I need you."  (reply)  "You never need me when I'm around." 
 

"I was thinking about that dame upstairs, and the way she had looked at me, and I wanted to see her again, close, without that silly staircase between us."

"We're both rotten."  (reply)  "Only you're a little more rotten."

"You know it's quite possible Octavian that when you die... you will die without ever having been alive." 

"Queens. Queens. Strip them naked as any other woman, they are no longer queens!" (reply) "It is also difficult to tell the rank of a naked general. Generals without armies are naked indeed."

"I have often wondered, Countess... why did you leave Warsaw?"  (reply)  "Bombs were falling. I felt I was in the way." 

"Many of our German friends before the War would come as our guests to hunt wild pig. I refused to invite Goering. I couldn't tolerate his killing a wild pig. It seemed too much like brother against brother."

"The source of your money has never concerned you any more than your source of electric light.  They became worrisome only when they were shut off."

Answers to Sterling Silver Dialogue #7 are here.

Six Degrees of Treasure Trivia: Quiz #4

6 DEGREES OF TREASURE TRIVIA:  

Further hints to question #1 will be provided in the others (#2-#6).  Feel free to send your answers to arthur@thecinemacafe.com

The first person to e-mail me at the address above with all of the correct answers will receive at no charge either:

A Region 4 DVD of The Big Heat: one of the great film noirs of all time or 

A Region 1 DVD of The Man From Laramie: one of the best westerns ever made. 

(Winner's choice) 

1. The following is heard in this film: 

"Uh-huh… I know what you're thinkin'. Did he fire six shots or only five? Well to tell you the truth in all this excitement I've kinda' lost track myself. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?" 

Can you name the film? 

2. Before delivering the speech above, we can see a theatre marquee displaying the name of a film the actor previously directed.  In addition, the director of film #1 appears as one of the characters in this film (on the marquee).

Name the actor who makes the above speech and the film on the marquee he previously directed before appearing in film #1. 

3. In a documentary about film #1 Arnold Schwarzenegger states that when the scene above takes place the character is eating a hamburger before and during some of the ensuing mayhem. 

 Is he right? 

4. The director of film #1 made another film directly after this one that cast 6 of the same actors (including the director himself) appearing in film #1.  Listed below are the actors (in bold) who appeared in both films next to the parts they played in film #1:

1. Andy Robinson as"Scorpio"

2. John Vernon as The Mayor

3. Woodrow Parfrey as Jaffe (food vendor)  

4. Albert Popwell as a bank robber

5. James Nolan as a liquor store owner

6. (the director) as a passerby (of title character's vehicle)

Listed below are the 5 character parts played (in no particular order) by the actors above in the same director's subsequent film: 

Murphy (plays table tennis and gets beaten) 

Maynard Boyle (Boss to Harold Young)

Unnamed (Clerk in a store the title character visits) 

Percy Randolph (has his car repossessed)

Harmon Sullivan (a bank robber)

Harold Young (bank manager)

Can you name the film subsequently directed by film #1's director, the director himself and match the parts listed in the director's subsequent film to the actors who played them (listed above the parts in bold)? 

5. The same director and star of film #1 made 4 other films together.

Can you name the other 4? 

6. The setting for film #1 is San Francisco. The same star plays a cop for the same director in their first film working together. In their debut working relationship, this actor has to travel to a different city (other than San Francisco) to extradite a prisoner. 

Can you name the pair's first film working together and name the city that the main character travels to, that most of the story takes place in? 

Capturing a Golden Moment #2: It's a Gift

In this series I'd like to present some exceptional scenes inspired by cinema's most gifted artists of yesteryear.

It's a Gift (1934) 

Director: Norman Z. McLeod

Scene: "The Picnic"

Ahh... the blissful life of domesticity.

It's a Gift is available on DVD from Universal Studios and can be ordered here:

W.C. Fields Comedy Collection (The Bank Dick / My Little Chickadee / You Can't Cheat an Honest Man / It's a Gift / International House)

$42.35

Starring W.C. Fields, Cora Witherspoon, Una Merkel, Evelyn Del Rio, Jessie Ralph

Buy on Amazon