Michael-Douglas Movie Reviews

"Force of Arms," the 1951 film directed by Michael Curtiz, says it is based on a story by Richard Tregaskis, but it sure looks a lot like Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms" set in World War II to me. William Holden turns in a fine performance as Joe Peterson, a sergeant on the San Pietro front in Italy. During R&R he meets WAC Lieutenant Eleanor McKay (Nancy Olson), and the two have a good time. Then the movie gets rather interesting. On a mission "Pete" holds back and sees his buddies get killed. He then wonders if maybe he did not do his duty because he wanted to return to Eleanor. This inner conflict drives both Holden's character and the story the rest of the way. Holden's performance is excellent and his chemistry with Olson is solid, which makes sense since it is their third film together. The battle scenes are well done by Curtiz, with actually footage from the Italian campaign worked in as well. "Force of Arms," which was re-released as "A Girl For Joe," also features an excellent Max Steiner score. This is one of the more "adult" war films produced in the Fifties.

Great for those that love the older movies that are from the war time, and action packed.

This is a good but rarely seen World War II romance tale directed by Michael Curtiz. William Holden once again demonstrates his great screen magnetism. The All-American Nancy Olson is his love interest. Max Steiner once again never fails to give us a good score. Very realistic and convincing portrayal of the military strengthens this film. It also stars Frank Lovejoy and Don Gordon. Orin Jannings wrote it for the screen based on an Italian Story by Richard Tregaskis. If you like William Holden you will like this film.

This is a totally unexpected Victorian-like and romantic-comic Western from Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland. It's a bit of a conundrum that Bronson ever made this film. However, that's what makes it a real treat. Bronson is outlaw Graham Dorsey who spends three hours with Jill Ireland, the widow Amanda Starbuck, before a heist. Unlocking hidden passions in the frigid Amanda in her isolated mansion on the open plain, Bronson has every intention of returning from the job but events take a strange and unexpected twist. Bronson is very likable and charismatic in this role. Ireland is every bit the frigid Amanda Starbuck as she smolders sensuality from under her lace embroidered gowns. For Graham Dorsey, Amanda Starbuck is like a dream come true. For Amanda Starbuck, Graham Dorsey is the personification of some romanticized mysterious suitor. This offbeat and likeable tale comes to a most bizarre finale. Cinematographer Lucien Ballard's stark and vivid images somehow give this film a strange fairytale quality when combined with Elmer Bernstein's light yet maudlin and elegiac score.

I first saw this movie in the early 1980's when Bronson was still very active in his film career. I had never been a fan of his movies--he just didn't seem to have a lot of personality. Then I saw "From Noon Until Three"; I could hardly believe he was the same actor I'd seen in other movies. He was GREAT in acting out the irony of the plot; he was funny, he was charasmatic, and he was sinister (at the beginning of the movie). It was as if Bronson finally "woke up" and came to life on the screen for the first time for me. He was great! His wife Jill was great!. I enjoyed the movie so much that I wanted to see it again, and the second time, I decided that it would become one of my all-time favorite movies. If I could give it more stars, I would. It is definitely a "Must See".

This is one of Charles Bronson's best movies. No, it is not an action movie, there is very little action in it. It is a romantic western.Charles Bronson's real life wife Jill Ireland is in this and this is her best acting and role. This movie gripped me from beginning till end and never let go.
From Noon Till Three is about a bank robber known as Graham Dorsey and when something goes wrong with his horse on the way to a bank robbery he and his crew stop off at a ranchhouse where a widowed woman (whose only company is her servants most of the time) lives. The rest of the bank robbers leave Bronson and go to the bank and Bronson stays behind with Ireland.Ireland could have gotten rid of Bronson too because she had a horse in the barn but I suppose she would rather have Bronson there than part with her precious horse.
Bronson manages to get her into bed by pretending he is impotent-this is probably a challenge to Ireland.A romance ensues. They only have three hours until it all ends but already they are making plans for a future even though he is a bank robber, he is talking of going straight.
Soon a boy comes to the house and informs Ireland of a bank robbery gone wrong and that most of the crew are dead and there is to be a hanging of the survivor. Ireland tells Bronson but he doesn't want to risk his life to save his fellow bank robber. Somehow she persuades him to try and he leaves the house and gets chased by a posse. He dresses up as a dentist after he escapes the posse but finds himself in jail in a case of mistaken identity. In a way, lucky for him. In the meantime, this case of mistaken identity leads Ireland to believe that Dorsey is dead. Whilst he is in jail, she writes a book about their short affair and it becomes a bestseller. When Bronson gets out of jail he goes back to the house on a tour, gets let inside the house on the pretence he wants a glass of water before heading back to town.Even when he takes the beard off, for some reason she doesn't recognize him and it is not until he shows her his lower region that she does. But then she tells him there is no running off with him now. They have a responsibility to the legend.
Later, Bronson winds up in a mental institution and for some reason that I find it hard to believe, they recognize him as Graham Dorsey. A little hard to believe but a great movie. Don't miss it.

Although a brilliant show, Blake's 7 is also a very derivative one, taking inspiration and ideas from a collection of genres, both inside and outside of science fiction. This tape consists of two such stories; one of them is realised quite successfully, the other not so. "Mission to Destiny" is the show's obligatory whodunnit (all TV shows of this type seem to have one). It is a very skilful adaptation of the murder mystery, confining the action to a ship adrift in space (the equivalent of the mansion cut off by a storm, or on a lonely island). There are moments of claustrophobia and intrigue, and the supporting characters come across well. At this stage of Blake's 7, with the crew and enemies introduced, the ongoing characters are now explored with more depth, usually on an individual or "partnered up" basis. The episode allows Avon and Cally to develop an already obvious rapport, by leaving the two on board the ship while the Liberator crew departs for the planet Destiny. Their interaction is very good, if a bit stilted; it's almost as if they suppress their relationship while investigating the mystery - time to act professionally with each other as the situation commands. Avon playing detective is also nice to see, although he is doing it out of self interest, not any desire to see justice done. (But the audience knows Avon well enough now, so this is hardly a surprise.) The denouement, in which Avon gathers everyone together is another nice tip of the hat to Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, if the solution is a little obvious (and implausible). In all, there is not much to fault "Mission to Destiny", except perhaps the fashions. They were always fairly bad in "Blake's 7", but the outfits of the Ortega crew are ghastly to the extreme! But a minor criticism doesn't detract from calling this a fine episode of "Blake's 7". Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the next one which uses as its source of inspiration the science fiction chestnut of the duel, in which the hero is pitted against an enemy/monster, with primitive weapons, for the benefit of an alien audience. The first (and most obvious) example of this in TV sci-fi is the Star Trek episode, "Arena". The Blake's 7 equivalent, unimaginatively titled "Duel", is very slow moving at times, with the short bursts of action very unengaging. There is some unnecessary sermonising, with Blake and Travis required to learn the lessons of "the death of an enemy" and "the death of a friend". There is a clear message about the horrors of nuclear war - the visuals of the graveyard are chilling, as is the tale of how Sinofar's civilisation destroyed itself, but the didacticism of the episode detracts from the impact it should have. However there are moments that save "Duel" from sinking entirely - the visuals, the performance of the beautiful Isla Blair as Sinofar, and the genuine sense of siege as Travis's pursuit ships surround the powerless Liberator. Mutoids are also first seen in this episode, showing another horrible side to the Federation. "Duel" is, overall, flat and boring, with a few saving graces that lift it from being totally bad.

The next volume of Blake 7 entitled Mission to Destiny and Duel
blake and the crew find a ship out in space drifitng. The board it and find a crew asleep thanks to someone druging the air supply. They also find a dead body. The people on the drugged ship first blame Blake and the others. But realzing that thier special cargo hasn't been stolen they ask Blake for help. Blake and the other minus Avon and Cally, as a sign of trust stay on board the ship. Blake goes speeding off, Avon has to figure who killed the poor person who knew the killer. Before the killer strikes again. Unlike some of my other reviews this is more of a who done it so I won't give to much away in this epsidoe. Besides it would spoil it for all who like watching Blake's 7
The next episode entitled Duel
Travis has finally caught up with Blake. Federation pursuit ships trap the Liberator near a dead planet. Blake and the others realizing that the only way to get away from Travis is to teleport down to the planet. There they find a dead world and a million graves but all are the same a person standing with thier arms streched out holding two knives. A strange old woman and a young woman watch Blake and Travis fight in the sky. They then send Blake, Jenna to a strange forest that wasn't on the planet to begin with. Travis and a solider are also sent to this forest where both Blake and Travis duel to the death. Rather reminds me of star trek in this episode but then where would we all be if someone hadn't taken an idea from someone else? All in all good clean fun for fans of Blake 7

Volume 4 of the "Blake's 7" videos contains two more episodes of this classic British sci-fi TV series. In "Mission to Destiny," the B7 crew encounters a murder mystery onboard a spaceship from the planet Destiny. In "Duel," Blake and his rival, Federation Space Commander Travis, are forced to engage in personal combat on an alien world.

Together, these episodes offer interesting insights into the characters and politics of the B7 universe. The mystery angle of "Mission" gives us a chance to see an interesting side of series regular Avon.

"Duel" is reminiscent of the classic "Star Trek" episode "Arena," in which Kirk battles a Gorn captain; the big difference in the B7 story is that the hero battles a recurring character, and not just an alien-of-the-week. So "Duel" has ramifications that extend beyond this episode. "Duel" also offers some fascinating insights into the Mutoids, the vampire-like altered humans who are used in the Federation space service.

If you like sci-fi television with witty dialogue and an intelligent political edge, check out these, and other episodes of "Blake's 7."

"High School Confidential" is a kind of a movie your mothers (or grandmothers) with their dates were watching (or pretending to watch) at their local driving theater. There is no plot except that Russ Tamblyn got involved with drug in his high school, and the picture goes on showing a series of car chase, students who brandish knives, and girls who love them. And some adults too who cannot understand their behaviors. But, never mind, it's nothing serious.

In short, the film was one of the major studios's way to cash in on the advent of recently born rock'n'roll age, and as if to prove it, it begins with nice Jerry Lee Lewis number "High School Confidential." His role? Of course, himself. And the cast, catching the eye of prospective audience quickly and cheaply, is the most attaractive part even now. There is Jackie Coogan (in the original "Addams Family" and Chaplin's "Kid") and talking of him, Charles Chaplin Jr. (!). There is Ray Anthony from the music industry, but most interesting thing is probably the appearance of John Drew Barrymore, real-life father of Drew Barrymore. His name might interest some fans who knew his daughter through "ET" or "Charlie's Angels."

There is a car chase scene (in which a car overturns in a very, very ridiculous way), Mamie Van Doren (who looks like much more famous MM), and ostentatious moralistic preaching about the harm of drug. But the formula itself survived and still we can find it in the hit movies like "The Fast and the Furious," which to some extent resembles "HSC." Nothing great, but still fun as a period piece.

... let me tell you, this is the one. High School Confidential has it all, everything you're seeking in disreputable youth-gone-wild 50's entertainment. This is juvenile delinquent movie Ground Zero, covering all but one of the categories that make this brand of escapism what it is:
1. Cars/racing;
2. Gangs/crime rings/rumbles;
3. A high school setting;
4. Rock 'n' roll;
5. Parties (pool, beach, dance, etc.);
6. "Controlled substances;
7. Leather jackets, poodle skirts, et al;
8. Dysfunctional families;
9. Outmoded acting;
10. Ridiculous dialogue;
11. Over-the-top histrionics (see #9);
12. "Messages" many will find dated;
13. Mamie Van Doren.

It lacks only a scene in a malt shop to fill out the Eisenhower-era roster. I am willing to overlook that due to the unbelievable cast. Mamie is just one of the draws, if you can believe it. See also: Russ Tamblyn; John Drew Barrymore; Jerry Lee Lewis (playing piano on a pickup truck!); Charles Chaplin, Jr.; William Wellman, Jr.; Michael Landon; and Jackie Coogan as the Drug Kingpin! Note I never said it was a *good* cast, merely an unbelievable one. And it's directed by Jack (Creature From the Black Lagoon) Arnold! Huzzah!!

MST3K skewered their share of these kind of films; perhaps with this one, like Plan 9, they saw too great a challenge in improving upon it, and passed it by. (Although it would've been great fodder, and interesting to see what they could've come up with.)

So... if you want to bask (or perhaps wallow) in all that is JD, pick this up. It will make you smile; it will also likely make you wince with discomfort. If you want a good movie, one that will make you think, get East of Eden.

P.S. The tape is not that great, but what in the sockhop do you expect?

One of the greatest movies ever made. It has everything including teen-age girls having marijuana withdrawals to the most bizarre lexicon of teen jargon you have ever heard. Mamie Van Doren--what else can I say. In a stroke of casting genious, we have Jackie Coogan (yes, Uncle Fester) as Mr. "A", the biggest drug dealer in town. Five stars--check it out.

I seen this movie at least two times and found it very entertaining. Great subplots and characters. I felt the movie had a major undertone to it regarding personal service and hospitality versus non personal, efficiency,corporate driven profits which defines the hospitality business as it today.

The opening sequence was a very original one, and the character of the Duchess Of Lanbourne, may have been a thinly veiled characterization based in part on the Duchess Of Windsor (Wallis Simpson). The costumes worn by Merle Oberon in this film appear similar to the fashions worn by the Duchess Of Windsor herself during the late 1960's.

I love this movie! It's a wonderful escape back to an era when hospitality was in and everyone not only knew how, but were expected to "dress" (it makes me want to buy white gloves and hats just to do lunch).

Catherine Spaak and Merle Oberon are luminous in Edith Head gowns, although Catherine's posture is noticably askew (her mother should've reminded her to sit up straight). Rod Taylor's performance is marvelous, but somewhat restrained for his typical style. However, no one does a love scene with more tenderness than Rod, so it's small wonder Spaak would dump McCarthy for Taylor regardless of money!

Melvyn Douglas is at his best as the curmudgeon hotelier (stroke and all), Kevin McCarthy is the takeover louse you love to hate and Karl Malden almost steals the entire movie as the hotel thief who just can't make a killing. There are also delightful performances by bit players throughout the movie; McCarthy's "oily" sychophantic male secretary and the hotel staff, especially the errant bell captain who's on the take.

The background music is sometimes annoyingly loud (the editors should have caught that!), but Carmen MacRae's all too brief appearances as the hotel saloon singer make up for any soundtrack problems. Carmen could "turn a lyric" as well as Ella!

With all of the sub-plots, you just can't wait to see what happens next and of course, what's not to love about a mostly happy ending.

My only complaint is the common mistake of mispronouncing New Orleans. If you've spent any time there, you already know it's pronounced New "Or-luhns" not New "Or-leeeens". LOL

I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw the score to this movie described as "dreadful"! I turned on this movie shortly after it started, and probably would have turned it off if the wonderful score hadn't grabbed my attention. The music and the Technicolor beauty drew me in, and the complexly woven plot kept me watching intently, rather than just listening to the music! And the end was great; I thought it was triumphant; very uplifting! If you want to watch two hours of distilled style, a portrait of a bygone era when men still wore suits and hats, when style and luxury hadn't lost out to cheap plastic imitations, get this movie!

The cover is misleading it shows Bret (James Garner) with his brother Bart (Jack Kelly), but Bart's not in this episode. The show is okay, but not as enjoyable as "Shady Deal at Sunny Acres."

maverick is a gambler and this is truer to the story line and is very entertaining it's clean fun to watch and maverick gets a taste of his own medicine buy it enjoy it!

If someone asked me to choose one episode of "Maverick" that superbly illustrates my favorite television series' strengths, this might be it. James Garner's fascinatingly complex character Bret Maverick is on full display and Diane Brewster as Samantha Crawford, Maverick's primary female nemesis, is introduced in this episode in all her slipperiness and duplicity in a plot that revolves around a New Orleans riverboat gambling contest that hinges on an obscure poker rule of the day. The principals later segue by stagecoach to a western town with a crooked casino, where they encounter Leo Gordon as Mike McComb, Maverick's strapping Irish ally. Jodie Foster's character in the recent Mel Gibson movie version was based on Samantha, and Ms. Brewster's performance is a revelation, forcing the viewer to bemoan the policy of that period preventing most television actors from moving into theatricals. Warners' unsung but mesmerizing stable of character actors are peppered throughout the show to good effect, as is always the case with this series, and this episode has a classic feel, with lustrous lighting and photography and fascinatingly nuanced performances. This is one to watch repeatedly and serves as a superior companion to the movie version.

Douglas Jackson has ingredients for potentially fascinating brew with Len Deighton's cockney cool, determinedly UNSUPER SPY,Harry Palmer. Fans of classic IPCRESS FILE and its lesser but sturdy brothers-in-espionage, "Funeral in Berlin" and "Billion Dollar Brain", were thoroughly entertained by Michael Caine's rife-with- attitude, smart ass insolence portrayal of a first-class COLD WAR British black marketeer soldier who is rail-roaded into becoming a second class servant of the British SIS.

MIDNIGHT IN ST. PETERSBURG,is...in my estimate...classy exercise in bogosity.Yes,the cast is excellent.Harry Palmer, now very high priced post-Cold War private investigator, even has implied help of 007 himself in person of protege/assistant,Jason Connery as cultured,hard-fighting,Russian speaking interpreter, Nick.The Russian locales are authentic. Plot involving terrorists and Russian Mafia cliques violently crossing and double-crossing over smuggled cache of nuclear-bomb quality plutonium would seem to provide SPY BACK OUT IN THE COLD conflict to rival Le Carre. But the movie doesn't work. Post-Cold War tension is Nada to the max. There's never real sense of danger/suspense generated and when denouements finally arrive,"Who Cares?" is the attitude of this viewer who seemed to detect it in spy-turned-detective Palmer throughout the MIDNIGHT case.Harry Palmer's personna and exploits are successfully tapped in other films:FOURTH PROTOCOL...based on Frederick Forsyth's thriller(starring James Bond/Pierce Brosnan as Russian mole planted to plant a nuclear bomb to blow-up half of London and all of the NATO alliance);and BLUE ICE,a virtual Ipcress File reprise, where Harry's last name is "Anders" to fool Len Deighton's secret literary agent and copyright guardian. Both these movies are the right stuff. If Harry Palmer weren't featured, MIDNIGHT IN ST. PETERBURG would not cut it even as curiosity.That it does is tribute to how cool Michael Caine was(still is). But as Col.Ross might have said, apprising this pile of ersatz spy stuff,"CLOSE THE DOOR PALMER!"(3 stars is generous)

This film has all the things a russian spy flick needs the mafia the military and thugs. Full of action a great wacth.

If you liked funeral in Berlin,the ipress file, and bullet to Bejing you will love this movie!

This is a nice movie. There is good music, a solid plot, and it has fun adventure. There is a sad part, but the rest of the movie is fine. Children will thoroughly enjoy it! I like watching this masterpiece from time to time.

I have watched this movie only once in my life time, when I was about 4 years old and I was visiting some family members in John Day, Oregon (where the movie was filmed). I loved it so much that I remember everything about it and I'm glad that I have finally found a copy so that I can enjoy watching it with my children.

I was priveledged to see this movie made in 1971. It was filmed in the community I grew up in (John Day Oregon). It's a joy to watch it so many years later and be able to see the town I new when I was 11. I'm biased, but I think it's a wonderful family film and it's fun seeing Michael Douglas and Jodi Foster so early in their careers.

This is a nice movie. There is good music, a solid plot, and it has fun adventure. There is a sad part, but the rest of the movie is fine. Children will thoroughly enjoy it! I like watching this masterpiece from time to time.

I have watched this movie only once in my life time, when I was about 4 years old and I was visiting some family members in John Day, Oregon (where the movie was filmed). I loved it so much that I remember everything about it and I'm glad that I have finally found a copy so that I can enjoy watching it with my children.

I was priveledged to see this movie made in 1971. It was filmed in the community I grew up in (John Day Oregon). It's a joy to watch it so many years later and be able to see the town I new when I was 11. I'm biased, but I think it's a wonderful family film and it's fun seeing Michael Douglas and Jodi Foster so early in their careers.

I saw this movie for the first time the other nite-it sure kept me in suspense. My eyes were glued to the tv till the end. I thought it was a very good movie and have even watched it couple times since.

"Shattered Silence" was originally a 1972 ABC Movie-of-the-Week (that's what TV movies used to be called) titled "When Michael Calls...". First let me clear something up: Elizabeth Ashley plays Michael's *aunt*, not his mother. Michael's mother was put into a mental institution and wound up committing suicide 15 years ago. Distraught, Michael ran away from the home of his Aunt Helen (where he and his brother had been sent to live) and wound up perishing in a blizzard. Or did he?

Now "Auntie-my-Helen" (Michael's special name for her) is calling her up and begging for a ride home, because "it's awful cold where I am." Michael's creepily sinister little-boy voice sounds like Freddy the Flute (from HR Pufnstuf) and you'll feel chills go up your spine when during a middle-of-the-night call to his aunt he begins wailing, "Auntie-my-Helen, I'm dead, aren't I? I'm dead, I'm dead!"

Now Helen's got to figure out if someone is playing a joke on her or wants to do her real harm...or is it possible that Michael could somehow still be alive? Lots of twists and turns in the plot, and truly chilling moments distinguish this excellent example of the made-for-TV thriller genre. Why can't they make movies for TV like this any more?

The only reason I'm giving this four stars rather than five is that the print itself is pretty awful...the film is scratched and murky, and the sound isn't so hot, either. Still, what can you expect from a 30 year old telefilm? It's not like AFI is going to be spending a lot of money to restore TV movies, even though they are a part of our pop culture heritage.

I was in this film and played Michael Douglas's neice. He was great to work with (although it was a long time ago). I would like to get a copy of this film to show my children.
Sincerely, Karen Pearson