This is the ninth entry in my series of thumbnail reviews of films I’ve watched on the Criterion Channel streaming service. I finished off this set of 10 films between February and early April 2022. It includes three films featuring Harry Belafonte in the cast (including his film debut), another satire from Spanish auteur Luis Garcia Berlanga, a Swedish drama with Ingrid Bergman in her first lead role, an all-time Hollywood classic from Joseph L. Mankiewicz, a Douglas Sirk melodrama, an Italian farce about sexual impotence, a truly unpleasant rural drama from the great John Ford, and an Italian anthology film featuring Silvana Mangano.
Island in the Sun (1957): Set on the fictional Caribbean island of Santa Marta, this star-studded film is an adaptation of Alec Waugh’s novel of the same name. The ensemble cast includes James Mason, Harry Belafonte, Joan Fontaine, Joan Collins, Dorothy Dandridge and Stephen Boyd. The story revolves around the members of the wealthy plantation-owning Fleury family and the intersection of their lives, both romantically and politically, with others on the island. These include an ambitious black union leader (played by Belafonte), a retired war hero, the island’s governor, and his eligible bachelor son. Another sub-plot involves a romance between an aspiring young mixed-race woman (played by Dandridge) and the progressive-minded aide of the island’s governor. With two interracial romances portrayed in the film, it was controversial enough to be banned in some parts of the US; to put it in perspective, this was ten years before the Sidney Poitier starrer Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. The plot and commentary on race politics was a key reason that Belafonte chose to be cast in the film. And of course, he gets to sing the song, Island in the Sun, which turned out to be one of his greatest hits. This was the third film of Belafonte’s career and coincidentally, he had costarred with Dandridge in all of them. Director Robert Rossen had previously received a Best Director Oscar nomination for All The King’s Men, and a few years later would go on to direct Paul Newman, The Hustler, one of the landmark films of his career.
Bright Road (1953): Since it was Harry Belafonte month on Criterion, it was inevitable that I would watch, Bright Road, his film debut. Belafonte establishes himself as a charismatic on-screen presence, even in a small supporting role as the principal of a rural black elementary school in Alabama. Most of the screen time however, goes to the legendary Dorothy Dandridge and the child actor Philip Hepburn. Dandridge plays an idealistic new teacher at the school, who takes it upon herself to encourage a problematic student to realize his potential. This big-hearted, low budget film is based on a short story and sticks to the source material, avoiding unnecessary padding, and coming in at a runtime of just 69 minutes. The following year, Dandridge appeared in the musical, Carmen Jones, and became the first African-American to be nominated for a Best Actress Oscar. Her two other notable screen roles are in Island in the Sun (see above) and the immortal Porgy and Bess opposite Sidney Poitier. Sadly, these watershed films did not help her career, and she died in 1965 of a drug overdoes at the age of 42.
Odds Against Tomorrow (1959): My third Harry Belafonte film in a row was this emotionally-charged noir crime thriller which ranks as one of the finest examples of the genre. It stars perennial bad boy Robert Ryan as Earl Slater, a racist criminal hired by a crooked ex-cop to pull off a bank heist, and partnered with a black man (Belafonte), who he naturally detests. Slater’s prejudice is so deeply entrenched that no rational argument or element of pragmatism can overcome his hatred towards his partner. Belafonte’s character is no pushover either, and gives as good as he gets. Naturally, the tensions, bickering and threats come in the way of the meticulous preparations required to pull off the robbery. Director Robert Wise invests as much time in fleshing out the characters and their back stories, as he does in the tautly filmed heist sequence. The standard aspect B&W cinematography adds to the claustrophobic feel of the film. Wise’s next effort was the diametric opposite in every way – West Side Story, for which he won Oscars for directing and Best Picture. He repeated the trick a few years later with The Sound of Music. One of the most versatile directors in Hollywood history, he was equally proficient with action, horror and sci-fi genres, but notably started his career as a film editor, with an early career highlight being the Oscar nomination he received for Citizen Kane.
The Executioner / El Verdugo (1963): The ever-entertaining Spanish thespian José Isbert stars in this amusing drama as Amadeo, a public executioner whose approaching retirement will make him ineligible for government accommodation. His solution is to convince his daughter’s fiancé to replace him, assuring the man that there are hardly any executions conducted and he will never actually have to do the deed. Things don’t quite work out as planned for the ill-starred fiancé-turned-husband, played by Italian acting icon Nino Manfredi. Isbert, as the highly persuasive and garrulous father-in-law and Manfredi, as the hapless milksop are a treat to watch together, while Spanish actress Emma Penella plays the daughter trying to make the best of the situation. The final act features some striking and symbolic imagery by cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli, who went on to work on three Sergio Leone films. This was the third of director Luis Garcia Berlanga‘s films that I found on Criterion, and I am so grateful to have been introduced to this remarkable director’s oeuvre. The film was nominated for a Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
Intermezzo (1936): This Swedish drama was 20-year-old Ingrid Bergman’s first lead role in a film; her luminous performance brought her to the attention of Hollywood producer David O. Selznick, leading to its English language remake in 1939 and her rapid climb to international stardom. In the film, Bergman plays a Anita Hoffman, a piano instructor who provides home lessons to the daughter of a famous concert violinist, Professor Brandt (played by Gösta Ekman). Impressed by her talent, the violinist invites her to accompany him on his next concert tour. During their travels, they fall in love and Anita Hoffman must choose between following her heart, or sacrificing her love to safeguard Prof. Brandt’s family. Bergman was a few years away from maturing into the beauty that the world fell in love with in Casablanca, but she certainly lights up the screen with her presence. The chemistry between her and her older costar heralded her future screen pairings with the leading men of Hollywood, including Humphrey Bogart, Gregory Peck, Gary Cooper and Cary Grant.
All About Eve (1950): All About Eve usually finds itself included in the lists of “greatest films of all time”, and rightfully so. The narrative centers around the power play between a successful Broadway actress, Margo Channing (Bette Davis), and an ingénue (Anne Baxter) who tries to insinuate her way into Channing’s personal and professional life. The supporting cast includes veteran character actors Thelma Ritter and George Saunders, and future star Marilyn Monroe in a minor role. The script is packed with acerbic dialogue and melodramatic scenes, which provides the perfect sandbox for the seasoned cast. Hollywood loves movies about showbiz, and typically rewards them with Oscar glory. But even by those standards, this film was an extraordinary success, garnering a record 14 Oscar nominations, and winning six, including one for Best Picture and two to Joseph L. Mankiewicz for Directing and Best Adapted Screenplay. He had won the same two awards the previous year for A Letter to Three Wives.
Imitation of Life (1959): The last of Douglas Sirk’s amazing run of 1950s melodramas, addresses complex themes of racial identity and white guilt. The plot of the film involves multiple dysfunctional relationships, particularly involving parents and their children, a recurring theme in Sirk’s films. The acting is top-notch from Lana Turner (as a struggling single mother Lora Meredith, who becomes a Broadway star), Juanita Moore (as Annie, her black housekeeper and confidante who enables Lora’s success) and Susan Kohner (as Annie’s fair-skinned daughter, Sarah Jane, who is able to pass as white, and is ashamed of her mother). I appreciated the film for its tackling of difficult subject matter, but I found the unrelenting negativity to be heavy going as a viewer seeking “entertainment”. Moore and Kohner received Oscar nominations for their emotionally charged performances as mother and daughter. Incidentally, Koehner is the mother of Hollywood directors Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz.
Il bell’Antonio / Handsome Antonio (1960): Sitting firmly in the genre of Commedia all’italiana, Marcello Mastroianni stars as a small-town playboy with a big secret – he’s impotent. His parents, proud of their son’s macho reputation, marry him off to the local village beauty (Claudia Cardinale), but their son’s inability to consummate the union leads to disbelief, shame and consternation for the entire family. A scathing commentary on gender politics and the unabashed patriarchy of Sicilian society of the time, the story was adapted from a novel by celebrated playwright and filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini. Mastroianni is his usual deadpan self, an acting style which suits his disingenuous protagonist, and Cardinale is magnetic as the blameless young woman who must fend off insinuations that it’s all somehow her fault. The film was directed by frequent Pasolini collaborator, Mauro Bolognini, whose body of work included five films nominated for the Palm d’Or at Cannes.
Tobacco Road (1941): I was searching for movies by directing legend John Ford, and chanced upon this inexplicably unpleasant film set in rural Georgia. I discovered that this so-called comedy was a significantly toned down adaptation of a novel and Broadway play, so I can only imagine how much worse this film could have been. The plot of the film centers around farm owner Jeeter Lester’s desperate attempts to prevent the bank from possessing his unproductive farm. His schemes are upended by the unpredictable behaviour of his grown-up children – a bumbling son and a nearly feral daughter. It’s difficult to describe how disagreeable every character in this film is, and how desperate I was for its 85 minute runtime to come to an end. Clearly I am in the minority, as the film was a box office success, and the only complaint from critics of the time, was that the film was too sanitized compared to the play! Vivacious actress Gene Tierney and dour leading man Dana Andrews both appear in supporting roles, a few years before they hit the big time as the leads in the 1944 film noir, Laura.
The Witches / Le streghe (1967): This anthology film consists of five segments, each directed by the cream of that era’s Italian filmmakers – Luchino Visconti, Franco Rossi, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Mauro Bolognini and Vittorio De Sica. The film was financed by uber-producer Dino De Laurentiis and all five segments starred his wife, acting superstar Silvana Mangano. The stories also feature well-known actors Alberto Sordi, Totò and Clint Eastwood (this was his next screen appearance after the Sergio Leone trilogy). As expected, some segments work better than others – the weakest was De Sica’s story, An Evening Like the Others, with Eastwood; Visconti’s segment, The Witch Burned Alive was intriguing for its exploration of fame and narcissism; the most annoying was Pasolini’s over-the-top fable, The Earth Seen from the Moon. The anthology format found great favour in the Italian film industry in the 50s and 60s, with films like The Gold of Naples (1954), Yesterday Today and Tomorrow (1963), Ro.Go.Pa.G. (1963) and Boccaccio ’70 (1970) attracting the top directors and stars of the time.
Here are the links to the previous thumbnails: #1-10, #11-20, #21-30, #31-40, #41-50, #51-60, #61-70 and #71-80.
Chronophlogiston 
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