Noir November: Touch Of Evil (1958)

Written (well, he rewrote a script so much that he received credit) and directed by Orson Welles, based on the novel "Badge Of Evil" by Whit Masterson, Touch Of Evil is dark and disturbing stuff indeed. Yet it also remains highly entertaining, brilliantly cinematic, and mesmerising from start to finish.

The basic story concerns a death in a Mexican border town that sees Mexican Mike Vargas (Charlton Heston) clashing with revered Police Captain Hank Quinlan (Welles). The two men want to get to the bottom of the crime, but both have very different approaches. The former, also a target of some Mexican crime syndicates that he's been helping to break up and imprison, wants to investigate with due diligence and care, while Quinlan believes that he already knows who did it, and has a case that will stick. Meanwhile, some nasty types are hoping to get to Vargas through his pretty, new wife (Janet Leigh).

The biggest mistake that Touch Of Evil makes is having Charlton Heston cast as a Mexican. It just doesn't work well, and he doesn't look the part. However, viewing the film with the inclusion of Heston as a necessary evil (no pun intended) makes it easier. His name carried a lot of weight, he ended up inadvertently getting Welles on board as director, and kudos to him for taking such an interest in a film with such a discomforting premise (something he would do, intentionally or not, with a number of other movies in his career).

Despite not being believable as a Mexican, Heston does invest his main character with that stalwart nobility that he would bring to so many of his roles. This really works well in highlighting that central friction between Vargas and Quinlan, with Welles happy to paint himself in many darker shades. As soon as Quinlan appears we start to discover that he's not the nicest man to be around, but he gets results. But at what cost? Leigh puts in one of her best performances as the sweet young woman who looks set to be most damaged by the unfolding events, Joseph Calleia is very good as Police Sergeant Pete Menzies (who looks up to Quinlan, to a point), Akim Tamiroff does well as a devious crime boss, Dennis Weaver is a little bit too on edge, although enjoyable enough, as the night manager of a motel, and Joanna Moore and Marlene Dietrich do well with their small roles. Dietrich is particularly good in a role that seems to carry within it the many ghosts of her past.

There's a memorable score by Henry Mancini, direction from Welles that's damn near flawless, and a script full of some great moments of dialogue. The design of each sequence, from lighting to camera angles to shot duration, makes this a prime example of a movie that can be both enjoyed in terms of sheer cinematic pleasure and also studied as a masterclass in film-making.

If only they hadn't tried to pass Heston off as a Mexican, it would have been perfect.

9/10

http://www.amazon.com/Touch-Evil-Limited-Blu-ray-UltraViolet/dp/B00I3C1T1Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1415565266&sr=8-2&keywords=touch+of+evil

Tombstone (1993)

As is sometimes the way, Tombstone is a fantastic film that really seems to have defied some long odds to come together as well as it has. Kevin Jarre, who wrote the main script, was initially due to direct the film, but was fired just after he directed a number of scenes featuring Charlton Heston. George P. Cosmatos is the man who now has his name listed as director, but Kurt Russell played just an important, and maybe even more important, role in getting everyone back in the game and getting the movie finished. It's not surprising. Russell had a plum starring role in a movie chock full of great actors being allowed to do great things.

The film is all about Wyatt Earp (Russell) and his brothers (played by Sam Elliott and Bill Paxton) as they settle into life in Tombstone and try to enjoy some peace and quiet. Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer) is also in town and it seems like everyone may get to enjoy life a bit more with the days of being a lawman in Wyatt's past. But people don't always get what they plan for and Tombstone soon starts to see more and more violence in its streets, so much so that the pressure mounts for Wyatt to return to his old role. That is something that he just doesn't want to happen, but he may not have a choice in the matter if some of the more trigger-happy cowboys keep causing so much trouble.

Kevin Jarre's script was, apparently, pared down quite a bit from its initial size, but what's here is all good stuff. There are some superb lines of dialogue and characters are well sketched out. Despite how densely populated the film seems, everyone is given a decent share of the screen-time. Oh wait, that's not quite true. All of the men are given enough time and space, but most of the women in the movie are given fairly short shrift. Dana Delany fares better than most in the role of Josephine Marcus and Paula Malcomson and Joanna Pacula have one or two good moments, but Lisa Collins and Dana Wheeler-Nicholson needn't have bothered turning up, considering the little that they have to do. In fairness, the film is a look at Wyatt Earp and his friends and family and that famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral so decisions would have been made to keep the focus on the men about to get themselves involved in a historic shoot-out.

The direction, from whoever was in the big seat, is absolutely fine, but the cinematography, set design, etc. all pale in comparison to the work done by the casting department. Simply put, Tombstone has one of the best casts in a 1990s movie that you can think of. Let me just reel off the better-known names and see how long the list gets: Russell, Elliott, Paxton, Kilmer, Delany, Pacula, Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn, Charlton Heston, Jason Priestley, Stephen Lang, Thomas Haden Church, Michael Rooker, Harry Carey Jr, Billy Bob Thornton, Billy Zane, Wyatt Earp (you read that right, he's a distant relative of the lead character), Terry O'Quinn and the voice of Robert Mitchum.

Feel free to re-read that list and soak up just how much quality is scattered throughout it. The fact that, despite so much competition, this film ends up being owned by Michael Biehn and Val Kilmer, in their separate scenes and also any that see them sharing the screen, just shows how good those two actors are. One moment in particular, with Biehn's Johnny Ringo showing off his gun-twirling skill before being delightfully mocked by Kilmer, is up there with the very best in the Western genre (maybe even THE best, in my opinion). Russell is very good in the main role, as you'd expect, but Wyatt Earp is the unshowy, earnest heart while Biehn and Kilmer get to be a lot more flamboyant and fiery.

While not an entirely perfect film, Tombstone somehow manages to put so many individual great moments together that it feels almost like an instant classic. It becomes more than the sum of its parts, but that's because all of those parts are so well cast.

9/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tombstone-The-Directors-Cut-DVD/dp/B001QOGXPU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363068604&sr=8-1

 

The Three Musketeers (1973)

The first of the swashbuckling collaborations between director Richard Lester and writer George Macdonald Fraser (and, of course, Alexandre Dumas), The Three Musketeers is an enjoyable romp that takes a cast of great stars and puts them into something that never quite hits the heights that it should.

Michael York is the young D'Artagnan, a swordsman who heads to Paris to fulfill his potential and make a good name for himself. Unfortunately, upon his arrival he seems to upset everyone he meets. He unwittingly ends up arranging to duel with Athos (Oliver Reed), Aramis (Richard Chamberlain) and Porthos (Frank Finlay) but then becomes friends with them when they all have to defend themselves against a bunch of Cardinal Richelieu's guards. And so begins the advenutres of D'Artagnan and The Three Musketeers, adventures that will involve a beautiful woman named Constance (Raquel Welch), the ruthless Rochefort (Christopher Lee), the Cardinal (Charlton Heston) and the beautiful and scheming Milady (Faye Dunaway).

Made at the same time as the direct sequel, The Four Musketeers (much to the chagrin of the actors involved, who sued for money owed to them as they thought they'd just worked to make the one movie . . . . . . . though there seems to have been no bad blood as they would also get together again for The Return Of The Musketeers), this is the slightly better film but there's not that much in it. As I mentioned in my review of the sequel they all blend into one big, mildly amusing, swashbuckler.

The leads all have their obvious charms but the real pleasure here comes from a supporting cast that includes the likes of Roy Kinnear, Spike Milligan and Rodney Bewes mixing with Simon Ward, Joss Ackland and Sybil Danning. Talk about an eclectic mix.

While it's hard to get too excited about, there's still certainly some easy pleasure in watching, for example, Oliver Reed have a bit of a drink and still swagger around, ready to lunge at anyone who engages him in swordplay. The film, and the sequels too, allows viewers to look at stars through rose-tinted glasses and to see them in roles that really play to their strengths. Michael York was always the handsome up and coming star, Richard Chamberlain was always relaxed and assured and Frank Finlay was always very entertaining. At least, that's how they have remained in my mind and that is how they are made to appear in this adventure.

Richard Lester may not have been the best director of this kind of material but he sure knew how to throw some big names together and let them have some fun. That fun is infectious, even if the actual movie never moves into top gear.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Three-Musketeers-Four-Double-Blu-ray/dp/B005GJTLCS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1352912351&sr=8-3

The Four Musketeers (1974)

A star-studded cast, many of them returning to reprise their roles from The Three Musketeers, have a lot of fun in this swashbuckling romp that still provides decent entertainment today even if it has lost some of its magic. I remember liking this a lot more when I saw it some years ago but I can't guarantee that I have not confused it with the other films or just blended all of the movies (the two mentioned and also The Return Of The Musketeers) in to one big Musketeering party.

The plot is all about the musketeers, the scheming Milady, other schemers scheming and nations teetering on the brink of war. The details are unimportant, really, as this is more about a bunch of talented people having fun onscreen.

Director Richard  Lester once again works with a script by the talented George Macdonald Fraser (who has fun with the characters from the original Alexandre Dumas novel) and the emphasis is once again on big laughs, high drama and great stunts as opposed to historical accuracy and genuine tension.

And what of that all-star cast? The musketeers themselves are played by Oliver Reed, Richard Chamberlain, Frank Finlay and Michael York. Raquel Welch is the lovely Constance while Faye Dunaway is the beautiful and dangerous Milady. Christopher Lee is Rochefort and Charlton Heston has fun in the role of Cardinal Richelieu. There are also small roles for Simon Ward, Roy Kinnear, Geraldine Chaplin and Sybil Danning.

It's never dull but all involved have something better tucked away in their filmography, even if it's just one of the other Musketeer movies. Mind you, this is still a solid choice to brighten up your day when you're stuck indoors and the weather outside is miserable. It's almost like being reminded of how you could be as a child - boisterous, apparently indestructible and always ready to cut down enemies with rapier wit and an actual . . . . . . . . rapier (albeit a plastic one from the toyshop). I don't consider that a terrible thing.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Three-Musketeers-Four-Double-Blu-ray/dp/B005GJTLCS/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1346922433&sr=8-15