TomJH
-
Posts
19,359 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
105
Posts posted by TomJH
-
-
Cat and Mouse (aka Mousey) (1974).
An excellent little remembered made-for-TV thriller featuring Kirk Douglas as a biology professor (nicknamed "Mousey," much to his resentment, because of his quiet and shy manner) who quits his job and goes looking for his former wife who has moved to Montreal with her son from a previous marriage. He wants the boy (whom he regards as his own) back but he has been blocked from doing so by a court order. Now, without work, without a family, obsessed with a son he has been told he can't go near, he decides to have his vengeance on his wife and the world - with a scalpel in his hand.
Douglas is a marvel as the professor, alternately pathetic and creepy, as he follows his wife (played by Jean Seberg) around the city. He is, in turn, being followed by a private eye, hired by his former's wife's fiancee (John Vernon) to be sure they know where he is. The cat and mouse games that Douglas will play will not only be with the wife but with that detective, as well. And along the way, meeting "Mousey" in a laundromat one night, a lonely young woman will make the mistake of taking this man home with her.
Shot in England as well as on location in Canada, Cat and Mouse effectively builds its suspense towards the inevitable clash. And then, at the climax, there is a twist I didn't see coming.
Film buffs will appreciate the presence in the film of Bessie Love (The Lost World, Broadway Melody) playing Vernon's mother. However, it's the bravura performance of Douglas that will remain in the memory.
-
I'm was feeling a little melancholy about the passing of the last of Hollywood's major male stars of the studio era, but then recalled that I had written a few reviews of some of his films a few years ago so decided to re-post them here. I encourage anyone to critique these reviews or, perhaps, post a few reviews of Douglas films of their own. The point is this thread is intended as a tribute to a great star and I hope that others will be able to join in with comments on his films and performances. I'm starting off with one of Kirk's lesser known (but still interesting) films.
The Brotherhood (1968).
A Mafia drama about, among other things, conflict between some heads of the organization wanting to behave on the surface like a respectable modern business, as opposed to one other who is ready to resort on occasion to "the old ways" of brutality and violence with opponents.
This film died a quick death at the 1968 box office, becoming enough of a concern that some Paramount executives were worried about spending the big bucks on a film adaption of Puzo's The Godfather a few years later. The Francis Ford Coppola film, of course, was a huge hit which has gone on to become a film legend, while The Brotherhood is pretty much forgotten today.
But this earlier Martin Ritt directed Mafia exploration, while lacking the drama and epic quality of the Coppola film, still has some things to recommend it. Kirk Douglas is solid as one of the heads of a Mafia syndicate in conflict with other heads of that organization as to how to deal with "finks," as Douglas calls them. The other heads want to stay out of the headlines as much as possible. They also want to expand the business in ways that the more cautious Douglas doesn't like.
The Brotherhood precedes The Godfather by having a big marriage sequence in which all members of the family and old members of the Mafia gather for a festive occasion. Douglas plays the gracious host, and is full of ebullience and charm. At one point, though, he takes a few seconds to talk to two torpedoes who have just returned from having made a hit for him. Reassured from them that all went well, Douglas is immediately back to the smiles and charm as party host.
Cast in the role of Douglas's younger brother who wants into the organization is Alex Cord. I'm tempted to call him Alex Cord of Wood because that would best sum up his performance. If ever there was a contrast in what is and is not charismatic on screen it would be a comparison between Cord and Douglas.
Irene Papas, playing Douglas's wife, is largely wasted in the film, I'm sorry to say. However, playing an old time Mafioso big boss that Douglas respects is Hollywood veteran Eduardo Ciannelli, and Ciannelli is terrific in his part, with one scene that is quite riveting. It's nice to see the character actor with an opportunity to still strut his stuff in a role that was ideal casting for him (you might regard it as the character that he had played in 1937's Marked Woman thirty years later).
Also impressive in this drama is Luther Adler as one of the heads of the Mafia. Luther will play a very strong scene in this film with Douglas that is the highlight of the production. For reasons of plot giveaways I can't reveal the contents of this tense sequence. Suffice it to say, if the film had had one or two other scenes as potent as this one The Brotherhood might be better remembered today.
A minor crime drama, in the final analysis, one distinguished by some good performances, and that gripping highlight scene between Douglas and Adler.
-
2
-
1
-
-
13 hours ago, misswonderly3 said:
No. Did you even read the post I wrote about that accusation?
I think you and Eric have an incorrect idea of what the word "plagiarize" means. Here's the first on-line definition I found:
-
take (the work or an idea of someone else) and pass it off as one's own.
Woody definitely does not try to pass off other filmmakers' work as his own. Do you and Eric even know the difference between "plagiarize" and "tribute"? Woody Allen assumes that his viewers are familiar with those earlier films by people like Ingmar Bergman and Federico Fellini; it's like a joke that we're all in on, Allen and his audience.All art is built upon what has gone before it. (gawk, that sounds awfully pretentious. But it's true.)
In school I wrote an essay about Hamlet based on Coles Notes (forgetting, like a dummy, to list them in any footnotes). The professor was not pleased with me when he found out, dropping my essay "A" to an "F." I was hoping he might see my essay as a homage to the insights of Coles but he viewed it quite another way, especially when he found that my essay was close to a word for word reprise of what the notes had said.
Woody Allen, while influenced at times by some filmmakers he admires, never stole from them the way I did from Coles. He is definitely paying homage.
I, in turn, see the influence that some of Woody's films may have had on other filmmakers. When I watched Rob Reiner's When Harry Met Sally a year ago I kept thinking of Woody. There's undoubtedly better illustrations of the Woody influence than that but I can't think of any at the moment. The point is I still see the film as Reiner's work but with a nod to Woody in the process.
-
3
-
2
-
-
1 hour ago, TikiSoo said:
Scotch is a delicious drink, the people are Scottish.🤷♂️
Well I'm aware of the difference between the drink and the people, TikiSoo. I used the terminology used in the film itself to describe Cooper's background. In listening to the film today, however, I find it a little difficult to tell (the soundtrack is a little muffled) and Gary Cooper either says "I'm Scotch Canadian myself" or "I'm Scott Canadian myself." Take your pick. It may be that he used the correct terminology. Oh, well, to quote Mr. Shakespeare, "Much ado . . ." Well, you know the rest.
-
Be prepared for a bunch of Wayne videos being posted on this thread by a certain poster not thrilled that South Korea just got the best picture Oscar.
-
1
-
-
It's a shame about the rarity of some of Kirk's made for TV movies, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Mousey (aka Cat and Mouse) and Amos, in particular. I've yet to see Jekyll and Hyde but the latter two films are both good, with Kirk going psychotic in Mousey and an old man stuck in a seniors residence where he knows that patients are being murdered in Amos (this film has a very impressive performance from Elizabeth Montgomery, a far cry from Samantha in Bewitched). For those interested there is a washed out image of Amos on You Tube.
-
1
-
-
17 minutes ago, NipkowDisc said:
Duke never attacked the cereal and dairy industries.
No but people still thought he was a cow-ard.
-
5
-
-
4 minutes ago, LawrenceA said:
Hey...who's that on the left holding Milton Berle?
I know nothing.
-
3
-
-
I like this shot taken during the making of The Devil's Disciple. The following year Kirk and Olivier would be opposing one another once again in Spartacus.
Stanley Kubrick with Douglas on the battlefield set of Paths of Glory
Kirk and Kubrick again, this time making Spartacus. Perfectionist Kubrick wouldn't enjoy the experience of making this film with producer Douglas. Sorry, Stanley, you two still made a great epic even if it's not a "pure" Kubrick film.
Kirk sharing a laugh with Lon Chaney at their Oregon location site for The Indian Fighter. They definitely weren't smiling at each other like this in the film.
Kirk visiting the Ben Hur set. Burt Lancaster claimed he turned down the title role but what about casting Kirk? Ah, well, he'd soon be Spartacus.
This shot is from The Milton Berle Show in 1962. But dig Benny on the left. Ain't he cute? Yeh, I know, "Now cut that out!"
Proud Dad
-
2
-
-
2 minutes ago, UMO1982 said:
Yes.... ended with .. as in TACKED ON.
Plus why is it the cameras can never manage to find and focus on the In Memoriam screen? Very poorly done on all counts.
Anyone else notice that Robert Conrad was missing from the Memoriam segment? Now he just died a couple of days ago but does that make it so difficult to squeeze him in?
-
1
-
-
12 minutes ago, UMO1982 said:
Classiest act was Jane Fonda.
Looniest was a disoriented Diane Keaton.
Loudest was Eminem (who had no reason to even be there.)
What is disoriented to one viewer is Annie Hall charming to another. I enjoyed Diane Keaton's appearance and wished she could have been on the stage a little longer.
-
1
-
-
9 minutes ago, UMO1982 said:
After all the publicity they gave for including Kirk Douglas.... Big woo. His pictures flashed by in 2 seconds. In the end the Academy gave no more recognition to mega-stars like Douglas and Doris Day than they did to unknown marketing executives, agents and other desk sitters. BLEH
They ended the Memoriam with Kirk. That is usually seen as an unspoken acknowledgement that the last person selected is of particular note. Still, as you said, his image was on the screen and then quickly gone. It didn't seem like much of an Academy farewell to the last major male star of the Hollywood studio era.
-
2
-
-
54 minutes ago, Gershwin fan said:
The winners would all be superhero films, animation and pornography.
In my household I can vouch for the
pornographyanimation.-
4
-
-
I Walk Alone (1947)
Gunfight at the OK Corral (1957)
The Devil's Disciple (1959)
Seven Days in May (1964)
Tough Guys (1986)
"I miss Burt Lancaster—we fought a lot, and I miss him a lot."
Here's hoping Kirk and Burt are back together again, arguing and laughing.
-
5
-
-
8 hours ago, JakeHolman said:
the movies are nothing if folks don't watch them
I've got a philosophical question for everyone - If an Oscar winning film was great but nobody saw it would it still be great?
Here's another one - If a tree fell in the forest and no one was around . . . Nah, forget that one, it's been asked before. Okay, let's just stick to the first question.
-
2
-
-
I think I smell the odour of intolerance from a good ol' boy poster whose idea of movie heaven is a two week John Wayne film festival.
-
3
-
4
-
3
-
-
Joan Shawlee as Sweet Sue in SOME LIKE IT HOT
Who can forget her memorable cry whenever something is wrong with her "all girl" band?
BEANSTAAAAAAALK!"
-
1
-
-
Many of us are familiar with many of the big film titles in Kirk Douglas's career. But I have a list here of some of his lesser known film titles that I enjoyed and would recommend. There's far more to Kirk's career than Spartacus and Lust for Life.
THE BIG SKY (1952)
Contemplative, outdoor western about fur trappers on the Missouri River, directed by Howard Hawks.
THE JUGGLER (1953)
Sensitive story of a concentration camp survivor arriving in the new state of Israel after the war. Kirk gives a sensitive performance as a psychologically damaged man fearful of authority figures.
MAN WITHOUT A STAR (1955)
Rollicking western with Kirk most charming and even doing some singing with a guitar. He plays a roaming free spirit who hates barbed wire. This is a good one.
THE DEVIL'S DISCIPLE (1959)
Adaption of the Shaw play, with Kirk as rebellious Dick Dudgeon. Solid cast includes Burt Lancaster and Laurence Olivier. Filmed in England.
THE HOOK (1963)
Thoughtful Korean War tale, with solid performances.
THE LIST OF ADRIAN MESSENGER (1963)
Gimmicky but fun mystery thriller with an all star cast. Kirk dons disguises in this one, as do other cast members. George C. Scott is out to solve a murder mystery involving various victims. John Huston directed.
THE WAR WAGON (1967)
Fun, unpretentious western involving the planned robbery of a stagecoach. Kirk teamed with the Duke, with Kirk leaping on his horse a lot in showboat fashion.
THE BROTHERHOOD (1968)
Mafia tale and an interesting one, with solid performances. This film bombed at the box office four years before The Godfather's release.
THERE WAS A CROOKED MAN (1970)
Cynical western with a big cast and Kirk in charming rat form. Henry Fonda, Hume Cronyn are among his co players.
MOUSEY (aka Cat and Mouse) (1974)
Kirk delivers a fine performance as an insignificant repressed little man who turns psychotic. A made for TV feature with one of Kirk's best post 60s performances.
AMOS (1985)
Kirk plays an elderly man committed to a seniors residence which is run by a nurse who disposes of patients when they become a financial burden to the place in this made for TV feature. Sensitive work by Kirk with a chilling performance by Elizabeth Montgomery as a Nurse Ratched type (except far deadlier).
-
7
-
-
49 minutes ago, Vautrin said:
Rumors become part . . .
You are clearly deriving some kind of perverse pleasure in continuing to come back and pursue this subject even after a number of posters have said this thread is intended as a tribute to Kirk Douglas, not a place to discuss unproven rumours about him.
As far as I'm concerned the issue now has nothing to do with Kirk and everything to do with you.
-
1
-
-
1 minute ago, Dargo said:
Oh, I'm sure many if not most people do this Tom, but I'd venture to say during watching older movies made up to maybe as late as the '60s and '70s.
In this case it was more pronounced in my mind because The Player doesn't seem to me to have been released all that long ago, and then with seeing all those cameos of the stars who have now passed on since. This movie probably has more cameos in it than even that early Doris Day flick made in 1949, It's a Great Feeling.
(...I guess the 1990's were further back than I thought, huh)
Well, Dargo, I recall taking a quite beautiful girl who charmed me like a bird out of a tree to The Player when it first came out. That was a long time ago and I hope she's doing well, as I haven't seen her in years. Hey, now you're getting me looking back and contemplating her mortality, as well as mine.
So as Jack Benny would say . . .
-
1
-
-
50 minutes ago, jakeem said:
I believe the network did step in and order Conrad to limit his participation in action scenes. By the way, here's a GIF of his accident while filming "Night of the Fugitives."
Thanks Jakeem. As a followup I found this on IMDb::
A notorious stunt mishap on set nearly cost Robert Conrad his life and risked serious permanent injury. The shot was left in and the impact Conrad's head makes with the concrete floor of the sound stage after he loses his grip on the chandelier is clearly visible (08:37). The end of the scene with West rising to his feet was shot months later.
And on MeTV:
While filming the season four episode "Night of the Fugitives," Conrad fell a dozen feet and landed on his head. The stunt called for the star to dive from the top of a saloon staircase, catch a chandelier, and swing a vicious kick into one unfortunate guy. Conrad lost his grip from the chandelier and konked his head rather severly. He was rushed to the hospital. Unfortunately, stunt coordinator Whitey Hughes was off filming a commercial that day.
-
She has limited screen time in GOLDFINGER, but beautiful Shirley Eaton's appearance in the film stays with you, even before she got that deadly paint job
-
3
-
-
1 hour ago, Dargo said:
(...btw, and speaking of your first comment above...while watching the Altman film The Player again last night on TCM, I suddenly realized so many of the actors and actresses that did cameo appearances in the film who are not with us anymore...it felt a bit strange to me because this film was made in the 1990s and what I would consider not that long ago, and started thinking of my own mortality...now ain't THAT a morbid little thought)
After a while we all start doing that, Dargo. Ask Woody Allen. The only difference, though, he started it when he was ten.
-
2
-
-
The Wild Wild West enjoyed enough status, certainly with Season Two, that the first episodes of that season had villain guest stars Victor Buono and Boris Karloff.
Robert Conrad is remembered for his impressive fight scenes as Jim West in which he did most of the stunt work. But I was watching just a small bit today of The Night of the Eccentrics, the premiere episode of Season Two. There's a moment when West is outside a room, opens a window to it, grabs the upper ledge and leaps feet first into the room over top of a bench underneath the window. He could have just stepped on the bench, of course, but there's more flair making an entrance that way.
It was a small moment, of course, not one of his spectacular fight scenes, but in the smooth economy of his moves Conrad made me think of the similar kinds of stunts that Douglas Fairbanks performed in the 1920s on the big screen and which used to thrill audiences then, knowing that the actor himself was performing most of the stunts, rather than a stunt man.
A lot of the action heroes of the screen relied upon the work of stunt professionals, understandably so, but Conrad was a throwback to Fairbanks when it came to the action scenes in Wild Wild West. If I remember correctly, though, Conrad sustained an injury of some significance during one of his Jim West action scenes and, I believe, had to let stunt guys do more of the work afterward or, at least, during the period when he was in recovery. I'm surprised that CBS didn't crack down more on Conrad performing the stunts himself for fear of production being held up if the star suffered a major injury.
-
1
-
1
-
Kirk Douglas Film Discussion Thread
in General Discussions
Posted
Thanks for the fine review, Detective Jim. Paths of Glory ranks among the great films, in my opinion.
There are so many moments that remain with you from this production. One of the smaller, more subtle, less celebrated aspects of the film I appreciate is the performance (in a film full of great performances) of Richard Anderson as the prosecuting attorney. Throughout the kangaroo court military trial Anderson has a frequent little smirk on his face. It's annoying, like that of a man who knows he's in control no matter what he says. SPOILER ALERT: Yet, in contrast to that smirk, watch the extreme discomfort on Anderson's face at the executions. It's a face of a man who just can't get out of there fast enough. It's the moment that is the grim final reality of that military farce trial in which he played a significant role.
I'm not saying that his work in the film ranks up with that of Douglas, Menjou or Macready (what a pair of cold blooded swines those latter two were) but Anderson's underappreciated performance, while clearly overshadowed by others, still deserves acknowledgement.