THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE IFFY (1)

So I'm a movie nut, a cinephile, an escapist?  Call it what you will.  But I'm going to relate my feelings about certain pictures (mainly for my friend Kim, who hasn't seen anything since "Titanic" until she saw "The Avengers: Infinity War " recently.)

So here is a bit of my thoughts (cinema-wise).

The GOOD:  "TO KILL  MOCKINGBIRD."  Academy Award winner Gregory Peck stars as Atticus Finch in this tale of fatherhood and racial strife in the deep South.  A brilliant book by Harper Lee is the basis for this film and features outstanding acting by Mary Badham and Philip Alford as the Finch  children with Brock Peters and Robert Duvall (in his screen debut) giving equally thrilling performances.  Elmer Bernstein's score was nominated for an Oscar as was Ms. Badham for supporting Actress.   The Horton Foote screenplay adaption won the Oscar as did Best Art Direction. It's about a trial, a Halloween and a mysterious man named Boo.  Perhaps one of my favorite films that I have watched time and again that never ceases to move me. It is a must see.


The BAD:  "MAME." A wonderful musical on Broadway starring Angela Lansbury, it just didn't
cut it on the big screen.   And the reason?  Lucille Ball was horribly miscast in the title role (as well as being filmed through linoleum).  Robert Preston and Bea Arthur do their best to help and even the Jerry Herman score is overblown and used ad nauseum. (Do we really need a chorus singing "Open a New Window" when unwed mothers are introduced into the proceedings?)  In a word...……..Bomb!

















The IFFY:  "THE SILVER CHALICE."  After his film debut in this picture, Paul Newman took out a full page ad in Variety (the show-biz bible) to apologize for his performance.  Well, he still had a lot to learn.  But.....this is a rather interesting film.  Set in biblical times (the Chalice is the cup Jesus drank from at the Last Supper), the sets are not of the period but decidedly avant garde.  Virginia Mayo and Jack Palance co-star in this minor epic along with Pier Angele and Natalie Wood as her younger self. So, it's kind of fun to try to figure out how this will all resolve itself.  Will Palance be able to fly off the tower he has constructed?  (Oh, forgot to tell you, he's a mad magician.)  And will Newman be forgiven for the acting?  (Just kidding.) It's worth a look when it passes by on TV.











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