Movie #53 High Noon

A lot of critics like to wax poetic about the golden age of cinema.  The noirs, the musicals, the slap stick comedies, the war movies and the westerns were all born in this era.  You are kind of considered a traitor if you don't like these classics.  It is like an exclusive club consisting of those that have seen John Ford and Preston Sturges films.  And to see them is to love them.  Matter of fact, I would wager that many people claim to have seen all these old movies and really haven't.  Because they know that there is not many people that can call their bluff.  All the while they look down their noses at those that freely admit to not having seen "the classics".  I must admit that I have done it that as well.  "You haven't seen Red River!?!" Not stating that I only saw the film for the first time this year.

A side effect of this type of golden idol worship is that sometimes films that don't really deserve it get lumped into this pantheon of cinema.  Clearly there are movies like Citizen Kane and Casablanca, Sunset Boulevard and Sullivan's Travels deserve all their credit and more.  But there are films that weren't that revolutionary, nor did they contain legendary performances that get praised to the roof tops undeservedly.  High Noon is one of these films.

That is not to say that High Noon is a bad movie.  It certainly is not.  I was entertained throughout.  I just wasn't blown away.  The plot of High Noon is Garry Cooper plays a newly married (to an all time beauty, Grace Kelly) and recently retired sheriff when a gang of heels that he helped put away comes back to town to seek revenge.  He tries to round up a posse to help him out and the towns people turn their back on him.

The most interesting thing about this film is that it plays out in real time.  This really adds a sense of urgency to the characters actions.  Cooper only has 90 minutes to figure out how he is going to handle the situation.  The passage of time is handled in a little clunky manor by simply showing clocks all over town.  The film is sorting hitting you over the head with it as if it were shouting "SEE WHAT TIME IT IS?!? HE BETTER HURRY UP! THERE IS ONLY X AMOUNT OF MINUTES LEFT!"  I wish the director would have been a little more creative of subtle in his execution of this gimmick. 

The director in question is Fred Zinnemann.  Recognize the name?  I blogged about his 1973 film Day of the Jackal last week.  Here he is solid with a few interesting setup's and shots.  But for the most part this is a color-by-numbers western.  Grace Kelly is solid as his Quaker bride, Loyd Bridges seems a little out of place in this movie as the sheriffs replacement.  There is a Hispanic former love interest sub plot with that character played by Katy Jurado.  I have never heard of her, but she was adequate.

That seems like the best way to sum up this film.  Adequate.  I think it has survived on it's star, director and story.  The film doesn't offer up much new in what was a solid genre for it's time.  There is one other note of interest.  The theme song was really bizarre.  It seemed totally out of place and like it was recorded in someones basement.  I will give High Noon a 3/5 stars and say that it is a good watch for a rainy or snowy Sunday evening.  Check out the Trailer Park to see for yourself.

Movie #46 Day of the Jackal

One of my favorite parts about being a cinephile is catching references or homages to films that other people might not.  Have you ever seen an episode of The Simpsons where there is a line of dialogue or a particular frame that is totally lifted off a different film?  You know the rush you get of explaining that to you buddy of significant other?  That brief moment where you get gloat that you know something that they don't that fleeting thought that you are smarter than they are.  I love that feeling.

I had that feeling about 1,000 times during my viewing of The Day of the Jackal.  Released in 1973 and directed by Fred Zinnerman (who also directed From Here to Eternity, High Noon and A Man for All Seasons) "Jackal" is the story of a French group of terrorist or self proclaimed patroits who disprove of giving Algeria their independence.  There plan is to assisinate the French president.  Better yet have a foreigner do it since all of their attempts have been foiled so far.  The man they hire has the code name "Jackal". 

At this point we are taken on a two hour long procedural of the up's and downs of the life of a professional assassin.  This film takes it time, but in a beautiful way.  There are long stretches of  time where there is no speaking on screen.  It develops characters through action and reaction.  It spends time on segments that today's Hollywood films would either skip over or try to summarize in a montage.  This is the type of film that the Hayes Code would have never allowed because you kind of get an idea of how to kill the president.  Or at least you think you do.

Another reason this film works is because the law chasing the Jackal is just as sufficient and intelligent as the Jackal himself.  I have long said that the reason so many comic book movies don't work is because the villians are just characterizations.  There is no way that "The Sandman" is going to beat Spiderman.  The penguin didn't stand a chance against batman.  Now contrast that to The Joker in The Dark Knight.  I really thought that the Joker could defeat Batman in that movie.  In The Day of the Jackal that assassin has a several day lead on the law.  They have to play catch up and they do.  They then start putting the heat on him.  He then becomes a rat in a trap.  He is no longer thriving.  At this point he is less James Bond and more Jason Borune. 

The Jackal is played by Edward Fox.  A talent that I was unaware of before this film.  If this had been set in America I can easily see this role being offered to Steve McQueen.  I want to point out the detective who has been tracking the Jackal.  Michael Lonsdale is the actor.  I was really amazed with his performance.  Most of the other character have smaller parts and are only there to move the plot forward.  There are a few female roles in this film and they are all filled with beautiful actresses.

This is a 70's movie in every since, and I mean that as a compliment.  This year I saw a film called The American.  It did it's damnest to emulate this film as best it could.  However it couldn't generate the mood and feeling Jackal does.   There were a surge of these films in the early 70's.  A product of Watergate and other government conspiracies I guess.  While there is a lot of company for films like this, I think this one stands above all the others.  I instantly added this to my DVD to Purchase list.

I could go on singing the praises of this film, but as usual I am way behind on my reviews.  I usually tell you what I though of a film and leave it to my readers to see if they want to check it out.  This is the rare exception where I am urging you to see this if you haven't and if you have see it again.  And a third option is buy it for me for christmas on DVD and come over and I'll have a Day of the Jackal party.  We can have some pop corn and a couple of cold ones and try to figure out how we would kill the president.  Just kidding internet police.  I give Day of the Jackal a 5/5 star rating and place it high up amoung the films of the 70's.  Check out the link below for the trailer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6xMnTPEzPo