Elmer Gantry (1960): starring Burt Lancaster, Jean Simmons
Burt Lancaster stars in the title role as a charmingly loud and lascivious travelling home appliance salesman who enjoys preaching the word of the Lord as a hobby. When he attends a revivalist tent meeting led by Sister Sharon Falconer (Jean Simmons), he cons his way into the fold and begins to deliver his own fire-and-brimstone sermonizing to the followers. Sister Sharon sees Gantry for exactly what he is, but is convinced he has been sent by God to do his work for her. Or perhaps it's just that she finds him so irresistably charming. It is suggested in the movie that Sister Sharon convinces Gantry to give up his booze and women and lead a clean lifestyle. It's also suggested Gantry is a true believer in the Lord, a little rough around the edges, perhaps, but one of God's flock nonetheless. In this respect, the movie hardly condemns the narrow-mindedness of the fundamentalist, but it does present a side and allows the audience to form it's own opinions. Gantry shows us the birth of tentshow revivalism, the prohibition-era "one nation under God" narrow-mindedness of the day. Elmer openly mocks the Theory of Evolution (just like everyone else did at the time) and accuses those who write negative press about his church of being "atheists". It's not class warfare Gantry wages from the pulpit, but intellectual warfare. He frequently makes reference to the fact that he, like his followers is simple and uneducated (placing this as if it were a virtue) and mocking those who speak "big words" and attend Yale and Harvard. It's a cheap tactic in any time period (sorry Sarah Palin), and is probably the most telling tactic exposed in the movie. This could be the Jim and Tammy Faye Baker story. While the performances are good, at two and a half hours, the movie drags, and it drags at the point (threats of blackmail and infidelity) where it's should generate the most intensity. Add to that a tacked-on dramatic ending, and you have a pretty disappointing film.
**1/2 out of *****
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964): Starring Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead
Alot of very old hollywood stars come out of the woodworks to appear in this 60s horror film. Music was written by Devol, who wrote the theme songs to the Brady Bunch as well as My Three Sons. The movie begins in 1927, as Charlotte's father puts the kibosh on her romance with a married man. Someone runs off with a meat cleaver, and the next thing you know, the married man is hacked up and charlotte's party dress is covered in blood. Jump ahead to 1964, and the city is going to demolish Miss charlotte's house to make way for a new bridge. Charlotte's embarrassed to be wearing her hair in long braids when her cousin shows up at the house not looking like a hillbilly, but like an update modern 60s woman. Thelma the housekeeper thinks everybody is a snooty city slicker (except for Miss Charlotte, of course). These old broads are still pretty attractive, and they chew up the scenery with some very campy (yet very enjoyable) acting, especially Thelma (Agnes Moorehead). It's not a horror film in the traditional sense of the word, but it's enjoyable for no other reason than seeing the performances.
*** out of *****
The Seven Year Itch (1955): starring Marilyn Monroe, Tom Ewell
This is what passed for racy back in the 1950s. That one guy (Tom Ewell), who always seems to wind up making out with the hottest chicks of the day (Jayne Mansfield, Marilyn Monroe) in all these light comedies,despite looking a little bit like a lizard, stars as a happily married 39 year old father of one, who's wife and kid go away for the summer leaving him alone to pursue what every man from manhattan seems to pursue when their wives go away: women. Well, he decides not to pursue them (while all the men around him become "summer bachelors"), demonstrating his moral willpower, that is until marilyn monroe moves in upstairs. Marilyn is like some 22 year old 'lolita', as Sherman projects his fantasies upon her. In fact, this could be called the comedy version of Lolita. The guy is middle-aged and trying to quit smoking and drinking and yet it seems like it's all he does. Meanwhile, she's either completely unaware of his desires or just completely unthreatened by him, teasing him and egging him on (features the famous scene where marilyn stands over the grate and the breeze blows her skirt up a little). The movie makes references to the pop culture of the day: the creature from the black lagoon, Captain Video and even oddly references marilyn monroe. Actually, it is kind of racy, especially when Marilyn removes the boards separating her upstairs apartment from his downstairs apartment. The Seven Year Itch winds up being a very cute movie, and the relationship between the two stars winds up being more complex than initially suggested.
***1/2 out of *****
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Fri Apr 03, 2009 4:31 am
