New Stuff: Double Indemnity

 

The Movies I Watched in October

Als Hitler das rosa Kaninchen stahl 2019  6

The Born Losers 1967  5 

The Color of Money 1986  6 

The Day Mars Invaded Earth 1962  5

Deadline - U.S.A. 1952  6

Double Indemnity 1944  10

 

Dune 2021  6

Fear X 2003  7

 Force of Evil 1948  7

 Hangover Square 1945  7

Hedda Gabler 1962  6 

Hell's Highway 1932  6

Invasion U.S.A. 1952  5 

Jodorowsky's Dune 2013  7

Murder by Contract 1958  7

My Favorite Brunette 1947  6

Never Fear 1950  6

Night and the City 1950  7

 

Nightmare Alley 1947  6 

Outrage 1950  6

The People Across the Lake 1988  6

A Personal Journey With Martin Scorsese Through American Movies 1995  10

Prime Time 2021  6

The Return of Dracula 1958  6

Schitts Creek Season 1-5 2015-2020  7

Tell Them Willie Boy is Here 1969  6

Tenet 2020  6

They Live by Night 1948  8

 

They Made Me a Fugitive 1947  7

 Thieves Like Us 1974  7

 

Le vieux fusil 1975  6

You, Season 3 2021  7

The Fortune Cookie (1966)

A crooked lawyer persuades his brother-in-law to feign a serious injury.

Typically black Billy Wilder comedy outstays its welcome a bit, but the star duo Lemmon-Matthau is worth the watch.

Halliwell*: "Flat, stretched-out, only occasionally effective comedy which relies too much on mordant attitudes and a single star performance."

Maltin***: "Biting Wilder comedy...Matthau's Oscar-winning performance hits home."

Sabrina (1954)

A playboy becomes interested in the daughter of his family's chauffeur, but it's his more serious brother who would be the better man for her.

Billy Wilder delivers with his usual expertise, humor and pacing in this entertaining comedy romance, and Audrey Hepburn is perfect in the title role, but the casting of the two much older male leads makes it all seem quite implausible.

Halliwell*: "Superior comedy, rather uneasily cast."

Maltin***1/2: "...good vehicle for Hepburn...Offbeat casting works in this fun film."

One, Two, Three (1961)

In West Berlin during the Cold War, a Coca-Cola executive is given the task of taking care of his boss' socialite daughter.

Wild and keen Cold War spoof is fast-paced, and its humor is keen, cynical and - accurate; the cast seems to be enjoying the madness.

Halliwell**: "Back to Ninotchka territory, but this time the tone is that of a wild farce which achieves fine momentum in stretches but also flags a lot in between, teetering the while on the edge of taste."

Maltin****: "Hilarious Wilder comedy...Cagney is a marvel to watch in this machine-gun-paced comedy..."

Stalag 17 (1953)

 

When two escaping American World War II prisoners are killed, the German POW camp barracks black marketeer is suspected of being an informer.

A typical Billy Wilder mixture of humor and drama, an ensemble piece,  highly entertaining, but politically a bit dubious, if not dated.

Halliwell**: "High jinks, violence and mystery in a sharply calculated mixture; an atmosphere quite different from the understated British films on the subject."

Maltin****: "The pinnacle of all WW2 POW films...Wilder brilliantly blends drama with comedy to show monotonous, anxiety-ridden life of POWs."

 

The Apartment (1960)

A man tries to rise in his company by letting its executives use his apartment for trysts, but complications and a romance of his own ensue.

One of Billy Wilder's best films and a classic: a brilliantly cynical comedy (if you want to call it that) and romance about two  kindhearted losers amidst a bleak and immoral world, wonderfully played by MacLaine and Lemmon.

Halliwell**: "Overlong and patchy but agreeably mordant and cynical comedy with a sparkling view of city office life and some deftly handled individual sequences."

Maltin****: "Superb comedy-drama that manages to embrace both sentiment and cynicism."

Witness For the Prosecution (1957)

A master barrister in ill health takes on a man as client who is accused of having murdered an elderly lady.

Congenial adaptation of an Agatha Christie play full of humor, suspense and some surprise twists and topped by some stellar lead performances.

Halliwell ***: "Thoroughly likable though relentlessly over-expanded movie version of a clever stage thriller. Some miscasting and artificiality is condoned by smart dialogue and handling, one celebrated performance, and a handful of surprises."

Maltin ****: "Fantastically effective London courtroom suspenser from Agatha Christie play."

The Seven Year Itch (1955)

When his family goes away for the summer, a so far faithful husband is tempted by a beautiful neighbor.

Slow-paced, but mildly entertaining sex comedy.