ALL ABOUT EVE (Dir: Joseph L Mankiewicz, 1950). Fasten Your Seatbelts For Movie Number 9: All About Eve.

ALL ABOUT EVE (Dir: Joseph L Mankiewicz, 1950). Fasten your seatbelts for movie number 9: All About Eve. This backstage drama made cinema history with 14 Oscar nominations, a record it held for almost half a decade until Titanic equalled the feat in 1998. Both Bette Davis and Anne Baxter we’re nominated in the Best Actress category, although both went home empty handed (see previous post). In truth the movie is more of an ensemble piece, with above the title Celeste Holm and George Sanders equally important to the narrative. Mankiewicz’s highly quotable screenplay is witty and waspish by turns and, as director, he elicits excellent performances from the entire cast, including a pre-stardom turn from ingénue Marilyn Monroe. 100+ movie reviews now available on my blog jinglebonesmovietime.blogspot.com

Happy Hobgoblin Day!

THE LOVES OF JOANNA GODDEN (Dir: Charles Frend, 1947). I will admit to knowing little about movie number 12 before watching. Yet The Loves of Joanna Godden is an Ealing Studios production of some pedigree, with a screenplay by H E Bates and music by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Somewhat atypical of Ealing, Joanna Godden is a romantic period piece starring Googie Withers as a young woman who inherits a sheep farm and is determined to make it a success without the aid of a husband. This proto-feminist plot is unusual in post-war British cinema and especially so from Ealing whose protagonists are almost always men. This is certainly to be commended. As is the beautiful Romney Marsh locales and the realistic depiction of the devastation caused by an outbreak of foot and mouth disease. It is perhaps here where Joanna Godden most belies its Ealing roots as the studio was paramount in the British documentary and social-realist movement. Watching Miss Withers juggle the duel concerns of lambing and of finding or fending off potential suitors is not exactly thrilling; yet the film is enjoyable and worth a watch as an unusual release from the years when Ealing was at the peak of its powers. 100+ movie reviews now available on my blog jinglebonesmovietime.blogspot.com

RIP Albert Finney.

THE WILD (Dir: Steve ‘Spaz’ Williams, 2006).

With animation farmed out to Toronto based CORE Feature Animation, The Wild is a Disney animation in name only.

The movie follows Sampson the lion as he breaks out of Central Park Zoo and heads to the wild in pursuit of his estranged son. He is joined on his quest by animal pals including a giraffe, a snake and inexplicably, an English koala. Cue some lessons in the value of friendship, of being true to oneself and some eventual father / cub bonding via lots of unsubtle humour.

The Wild was originally released within months of rival studio DreamWorks’ similarly themed Madagascar and as such feels incredibly derivative of the earlier movie. In truth, The Wild had been in production for much longer, dating back to the mid 1990s when production was delayed due to similarities with The Lion King.

With it’s theme of a lion father / son relationship, a gazelle stampede and a wildebeest song and dance number reminiscent of The Lion King’s ‘Be Prepared’, The Wild has a distinct air of over familiarity. In its favour the film does have a couple of genuinely impressive moments including the Lion King-esq ‘Really Nice Day’ musical number and a sequence where the animals take a nighttime ride through New York City in a dump truck. This scene is a rare welcome moment of calm in an otherwise frantic, noisy film.

While The Wild could not escape the shadow of the far more successful Madagascar, it is a visually more impressive feature. However, of the two, I think Madagascar is, ultimately, a lot more fun.

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BIRDS OF PREY aka THE PERFECT ALIBI (Dir: Basil Dean, 1930).

Birds of Prey, released in the US as The Perfect Alibi, is an early British talkie co-scripted by director / producer Dean and A A Milne.

Based upon Milne’s play The Fourth Wall, this creaky thriller has little of the whimsical charm of Winnie the Pooh. Rather the story concerns the murder investigation, by Frank Lawton and Dorothy Byrd, of their uncle and guardian C Aubrey Smith.

In effect, Birds of Prey is a murder mystery in which the audience know the identity of the murder. As such, its mild thrills are to be gleaned from how and when the killers will be caught. The whole affair is rather jolly and somewhat predictable. However, Nigel Bruce, in a supporting role here as a blustering major, is always entertaining and keep an eye out for an uncredited appearance by future British film legend Jack Hawkins.

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