Keith-Carradine Movie Reviews


thru the eyes of the blind they see their own prejudice

Man...

One of the dullest, most inane movies that I ever watched
Really great movie.
A very very enjoyable movie based on Larry McMurtry's novel.

Mostly Good Cast
pretty good, actually.
Entertaining all the way

STORYBOOK HISTORICAL SAGA.
In Some Ways, Better than Vanessa's MovieI was somewhat pleasantly surprised by this movie; in no way would I consider it as much of a dog as that documentary would have it. Hepburn is young and fresh--I liked her Mary much better than Vanessa Redgrave's in "Mary Queen of Scots" thirty-some-odd years later. This Mary is a match for those attempting to dominate her, whereas Vanessa's was always something of a weak sister. Like one of the other reviewers, I also found John Carradine's ill-fated Riccio to be a good characterization--what a woebegone love song he sings to the young queen.
Dislikes? Weird staging is a little too stark for my tastes. This is clearly the same John Ford who made "The Informer" a year earlier. How did he break through and develop his other style, I'd like to know. Another discordant note for me was Frederic March; I particularly was puzzled by a scene when he's warming himself by a hearthside, but appears to have lifted up his kilt to relieve himself into the fireplace. I can't imagine that's really what was happening, but look for yourself.
So, feel free to fling yourself into an easychair to see how Kate serves up Mary.
Katharine Heburn as Mary, Mary, quite contraryDirected by John Ford, this costume drama begins in 1561 when Mary Staurt returned to Scotland from France as the Queen of the Scots. Elizabeth Tudor (Florence Eldridge), Queen of England, feared the threat that the Catholic Stuarts presented to the English throne. Consequently, "Mary of Scotland" is a story of political brinkmanship during the Elizabethan period. Mary tries to strengthen her position by marrying the weak Darnley (Douglas Walton), and putting Bothwell in the position of being her protector. She gives birth to a son James (later King James VI of Scotland and King James I of Great Britain), but Darnley betrays her to the Scottish chiefs in an effort to rule the kingdom and is killed. Mary's marriage to Bothwell inflames the Scots even more. Bothwell leaves the country and Mary is imprisoned by the Scottish lords. Smuggled out of prision, Mary flees to England and seeks sanctuary from Elizabeth.
"Mary of Scotland" is based on Maxwell Anderson's play, which had Helen Hayes in the title role on Broadway, although the original blank verse is eliminated by Dudley Nichols's script. The chief attraction of this bio pic is the final confrontation between Mary her cousin Elizabeth. Anderson is one of several dramatists who could not accept the historical fact that the two queens never met, simply because the idea of that confrontation is too good to give up. Under Ford's direction the film is much more about spectacle than history, and there is a nice scene when Bothwell brings in a horde of bagpipes to drown out the religious rants of John Knox (Moroni Olson). Many scenes are shot at night, to provide a somber tone to the story of Mary's descent and death.
Hepburn has some trouble with the Scottish accent, as she would throughout her career whenever she tried to do something that covered up her distinctive speaking voice. However, it is the very idea of being a hapless queen that runs against the very persona of Hepburn as an independent woman. If you contrast the performance and the character from this film with her celebrated Oscar winning role as Eleanor of Aquitaine in "The Lion in Winter," you can easily see the differences on both scores. This is the most lavish of the costume dramas Hepburn did for RKO, as well as the most historical, despite the noted attempts at dramatic license. The result is okay, but not great, which is what you would expect from a film that brought Ford, Hepburn, and March together.


Great performance wasted
Accurate? Don't know, but Bridges is great.
Once again, Hollywood forgoes the truth and films the legendThe screenplay by Hill is based on the book "Deadwood" by Pete Dexter and the play "Fathers and Sons" by Thomas Babe. In the film's climax McCall and a gang of thugs have gotten the drop on Wild Bill. Inexplicably, the thugs wait for McCall to decide whether or not he has the guts to shot Hickock. At one point Wild Bill offers to shoot himself, just to stop the stupid arguments. Charlie Prince (John Hurt), Wild Bill's educated English friend (and the narrator of the film) says: "Let him do it. He's been trying to kill himself his entire life." This line sounds like it unlocks the entire meaning of the film, but that is only if you take it at face value. "Wild Bill" shows a man playing by the rules of the game, and if he is incapable of loving any woman beyond the moment he is with her, even Calamity Jane (Ellen Barkin), it is not like the West is the land of romance.
The collision of Hickok and McCall is the backbone of the film, which reduces the other events in Wild Bill's life to two sets of flashbacks. In color we get the gunfights on which the Hickok legend was born, such as shooting wheelchair bound Will Plummer (Bruce Dern) while tied to a saloon chair, as well as the failed attempt to perform on stage in New York City with Buffalo Bill Cody (Keith Carradine). But there are also high contrast black & white sequences that are supposed to indicate significant moments in his life of a spiritual or personal nature. These might make him aware of his mortality and his character flaws, but these do not translate into a death wish.
Wild Bill Hickok sat down in a chair with his back to the front door of the saloon because it was the only open spot in the poker game (the gambler in the seat he wanted refused to give it up). That ironic element in the most famous death in the history of the Old West is jettisoned in this film, replaced instead with the rather paradoxical idea that his downfall was due to an uncharacteristic act of sentimentality on his part. In the end, "Wild Bill" comes down to a series of dazzingly brutal gunfights through which Bridges snarls his way. These are scenes that emphasize the choreography of the violence for effect rather than spraying a lot of blood all over the place. In the end, all you have to do is count the number of bullets that come out of his six-shooters to remind yourself this film is Hollywood invention. The final irony is that "Wild Bill" is undone by the very death scene that made Hickok immortal.


Great performance wasted
Accurate? Don't know, but Bridges is great.
Once again, Hollywood forgoes the truth and films the legendThe screenplay by Hill is based on the book "Deadwood" by Pete Dexter and the play "Fathers and Sons" by Thomas Babe. In the film's climax McCall and a gang of thugs have gotten the drop on Wild Bill. Inexplicably, the thugs wait for McCall to decide whether or not he has the guts to shot Hickock. At one point Wild Bill offers to shoot himself, just to stop the stupid arguments. Charlie Prince (John Hurt), Wild Bill's educated English friend (and the narrator of the film) says: "Let him do it. He's been trying to kill himself his entire life." This line sounds like it unlocks the entire meaning of the film, but that is only if you take it at face value. "Wild Bill" shows a man playing by the rules of the game, and if he is incapable of loving any woman beyond the moment he is with her, even Calamity Jane (Ellen Barkin), it is not like the West is the land of romance.
The collision of Hickok and McCall is the backbone of the film, which reduces the other events in Wild Bill's life to two sets of flashbacks. In color we get the gunfights on which the Hickok legend was born, such as shooting wheelchair bound Will Plummer (Bruce Dern) while tied to a saloon chair, as well as the failed attempt to perform on stage in New York City with Buffalo Bill Cody (Keith Carradine). But there are also high contrast black & white sequences that are supposed to indicate significant moments in his life of a spiritual or personal nature. These might make him aware of his mortality and his character flaws, but these do not translate into a death wish.
Wild Bill Hickok sat down in a chair with his back to the front door of the saloon because it was the only open spot in the poker game (the gambler in the seat he wanted refused to give it up). That ironic element in the most famous death in the history of the Old West is jettisoned in this film, replaced instead with the rather paradoxical idea that his downfall was due to an uncharacteristic act of sentimentality on his part. In the end, "Wild Bill" comes down to a series of dazzingly brutal gunfights through which Bridges snarls his way. These are scenes that emphasize the choreography of the violence for effect rather than spraying a lot of blood all over the place. In the end, all you have to do is count the number of bullets that come out of his six-shooters to remind yourself this film is Hollywood invention. The final irony is that "Wild Bill" is undone by the very death scene that made Hickok immortal.


Great performance wasted
Accurate? Don't know, but Bridges is great.
Once again, Hollywood forgoes the truth and films the legendThe screenplay by Hill is based on the book "Deadwood" by Pete Dexter and the play "Fathers and Sons" by Thomas Babe. In the film's climax McCall and a gang of thugs have gotten the drop on Wild Bill. Inexplicably, the thugs wait for McCall to decide whether or not he has the guts to shot Hickock. At one point Wild Bill offers to shoot himself, just to stop the stupid arguments. Charlie Prince (John Hurt), Wild Bill's educated English friend (and the narrator of the film) says: "Let him do it. He's been trying to kill himself his entire life." This line sounds like it unlocks the entire meaning of the film, but that is only if you take it at face value. "Wild Bill" shows a man playing by the rules of the game, and if he is incapable of loving any woman beyond the moment he is with her, even Calamity Jane (Ellen Barkin), it is not like the West is the land of romance.
The collision of Hickok and McCall is the backbone of the film, which reduces the other events in Wild Bill's life to two sets of flashbacks. In color we get the gunfights on which the Hickok legend was born, such as shooting wheelchair bound Will Plummer (Bruce Dern) while tied to a saloon chair, as well as the failed attempt to perform on stage in New York City with Buffalo Bill Cody (Keith Carradine). But there are also high contrast black & white sequences that are supposed to indicate significant moments in his life of a spiritual or personal nature. These might make him aware of his mortality and his character flaws, but these do not translate into a death wish.
Wild Bill Hickok sat down in a chair with his back to the front door of the saloon because it was the only open spot in the poker game (the gambler in the seat he wanted refused to give it up). That ironic element in the most famous death in the history of the Old West is jettisoned in this film, replaced instead with the rather paradoxical idea that his downfall was due to an uncharacteristic act of sentimentality on his part. In the end, "Wild Bill" comes down to a series of dazzingly brutal gunfights through which Bridges snarls his way. These are scenes that emphasize the choreography of the violence for effect rather than spraying a lot of blood all over the place. In the end, all you have to do is count the number of bullets that come out of his six-shooters to remind yourself this film is Hollywood invention. The final irony is that "Wild Bill" is undone by the very death scene that made Hickok immortal.


Failure to deliver product
Probably the second best way to spend a rainy afternoonA great family drama and despite no tipping the velvet scenes this is one i would recommended to everyone, despite a slightly misleading title.
Surviving In The Wilderness

Failure to deliver product
Probably the second best way to spend a rainy afternoonA great family drama and despite no tipping the velvet scenes this is one i would recommended to everyone, despite a slightly misleading title.
Surviving In The Wilderness