The Black Orchid
BBBB (out of 5) Sophia Loren is in mourning after the death of her husband, working day and night to make ends while her son is upstate in a juvenile detention centre. Anthony Quinn espies this sad… Continue reading
Tag Archive: Hal Pereira
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The Mating Season
BBB.5 (out of 5) John Lund plays an ambitious worker at an Ohio industrial company who meets and marries a gorgeous socialite (Gene Tierney) after he saves her from falling down a cliff. The… Continue reading
Detective Story
BBBB (out of 5) A New York police headquarters is the nexus of intense activity in this smooth adaptation of the hit Broadway play by Sidney Kingsley. William Wyler keeps it stagebound without… Continue reading
Ace In The Hole (The Big Carnival)
BBBB.5 (out of 5) A stunning piece of news media satire, told with so healthy a dollop of cynicism that it is no wonder it found itself bereft of any affection from audiences… Continue reading
When Worlds Collide
BB.5 (out of 5) It must have dazzled the kids in 1951, but this film has not aged nearly as well as Forbidden Planet or The War Of The Worlds (heck, it hasn’t aged… Continue reading
Stalag 17
BBBB.5 (out of 5) Inmates in a prisoner-of-war camp in World War II Germany are the subject of this excellent drama, directed by Billy Wilder. The group of men are all stuck together… Continue reading
Double Indemnity
BBBBB (out of 5) One of film noir‘s greatest peaks is this fantastic Billy Wilder murder mystery. A joe-schmo insurance investigator (Fred MacMurray) on a routine door-to-door sales route talks to a married… Continue reading
Fun In Acapulco
BBB (out of 5) Another Elvis Presley music-fest that serves as a collection of music videos in the days before MTV. Girls! Girls! Girls! ended with him as the happiest captain of a sailboat… Continue reading
Girls! Girls! Girls!
BB.5 (out of 5) The producers of this film seem to be slightly aware that acting wasn’t exactly Elvis’ strong suit: every possible opportunity to start another song is crammed into the running… Continue reading
Blue Hawaii
BB.5 (out of 5) Elvis Presley gets out of the army and returns home to Honolulu, avoiding his wealthy parents in favour of basking in the sun and surf with his gorgeous, presumably native… Continue reading
Artists And Models
BB.5 (out of 5) Splashy colours and some fun songs don’t do much for this forgettable Martin and Lewis comedy. Dean Martin plays a cartoonist who is down on his luck for his inspiration… Continue reading
A New Kind Of Love
BB.5 (out of 5) Definitely not a new kind of movie. Joanne Woodward plays a dowdy fashion designer specializing in affordable knock-offs of Parisian haute couture, who meets up with cynical journalist Paul… Continue reading
Teacher’s Pet
BBB (out of 5) Hard bitten newspaper man Clark Gable is asked to do a guest lecture for a journalism class and refuses. He believes that being a newspaper man is something one learns… Continue reading
The Country Girl
BBB.5 (out of 5) Strong film version of Clifford Odets’ play about an over-the-hill alcoholic singer (Bing Crosby) whose attempts at a comeback in a big Broadway musical seem to be thwarted by… Continue reading
The Odd Couple
BBB.5 (out of 5) Neil Simon’s most popular play is turned into a film that solidifies Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau‘s success as a comedy team, later spawning a popular television series. Lemmon plays a… Continue reading
Barefoot In The Park
BBB (out of 5) Neil Simon’s hit play transfers to the screen with charming results, obviously maintaining its small scope of space but never feeling cramped. Jane Fonda is delightful as the new bride… Continue reading
The Bridges At Toko-Ri
BBBB.5 (out of 5) One of the first big-budget anti-war movies. William Holden is a soldier in Korea who begins to question the futility of American involvement in their civil war when, as part… Continue reading
Love With The Proper Stranger
BBBB (out of 5) Steve McQueen plays a loose-living New York City musician who thinks he’s going to have a great day when he gets himself a high-paying gig. The prospect of enjoyment… Continue reading
Desire Under The Elms
BB (out of 5) Boring adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s play features an early English-speaking performance by Sophia Loren. Anthony Perkins plays a farmboy whose widowed father (Burl Ives) brings home a foreign woman (Loren)… Continue reading
The Nutty Professor (1963)
BBBB (out of 5) Jerry Lewis is an absolute riot in this comedy which he also directed and co-wrote. He plays a hopelessly nerdy science professor whose specialty is thinking up lab experiments that… Continue reading
Ministry Of Fear
BBBB (out of 5) Fritz Lang’s powerful visual style has not abated by the time he makes this Hollywood classic, a superbly enjoyable wartime thriller that does not dwindle even when its plotting… Continue reading
Road To Bali
BBB (out of 5) Bing Crosby and Bob Hope reunite for their second-last Road adventure, well past the prime of the series’ popularity and the only one filmed in colour. It’s a forgettable collection of hijinks… Continue reading
The War Of The Worlds
BBB.5 (out of 5) The original invasion! Following the stultifying radio show performed by Orson Welles in the 1930s, Hollywood came along and adapted H.G. Wells’ terrific little story to the big-screen. Essentially… Continue reading
Robinson Crusoe On Mars
BBB.5 (out of 5) A spaceship orbiting Mars has to eject its two human pilots and one monkey passenger in order to avoid a head-on collision with a meteor. Paul Mantee finds himself stranded… Continue reading
Come Back, Little Sheba
BBB (out of 5) Shirley Booth wanders around her kitchen begging for our affection in this grimy little kitchen-sink drama. She won an Academy Award as a housewife who has to contend with the… Continue reading
The Rose Tattoo
BB.5 (out of 5) Anna Magnani stars as an Italian immigrant housewife living in the American south. She loses her pride-and-joy of a husband in a truck accident and afterwards discovers that he… Continue reading
Shane
BBBB (out of 5) Jean Arthur and Van Heflin play settlers in the Wild West who welcome the visit of a mysterious gunman named Shane (Alan Ladd) when he pulls up to their property gates.… Continue reading
Hud
BBBBB (out of 5) Fantastic western directed by Martin Ritt features Paul Newman at his best, playing among the most memorable anti-heroes in film history. It takes place on a cattle ranch where… Continue reading
Donovan’s Reef
BBB.5 (out of 5) Lighthearted romp that shows the great John Ford having less commanding presence over his narrative but still possessing the accustomed level of aesthetic filmmaking quality that he brought to… Continue reading
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
BBBB.5 (out of 5) An aged James Stewart shows up in a dusty western town to attend the funeral of a man who was supposedly a good friend of his. When the town’s newspaper… Continue reading
Elephant Walk
BBB.5 (out of 5) Reasonably involving drama about a British shopkeeper (Elizabeth Taylor) who moves to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) when a plantation owner (Peter Finch) visits London and sweeps her off her… Continue reading
The Greatest Show On Earth
BBBB (out of 5) Cecil B. DeMille’s tribute to the wondrous world of the Big Top is impressively entertaining, a silly choice for a Best Picture Oscar (the Academy was obviously dead set… Continue reading
White Christmas
BBB (out of 5) The biggest box-office hit of 1954 was this enjoyable musical romp that rides on the success of the titular Irving Berlin song. Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye are holed up at… Continue reading
Vertigo
BBBBB (out of 5) One of the greatest films of all time and Hitchcock’s masterpiece. This impeccably shot, edited, costumed, scored, written and directed thriller about near-necrophiliac obsession features one of James Stewart‘s… Continue reading
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
BBB.5 (out of 5) Alfred Hitchcock remade his own earlier version of this film, and though it’s technically better achieved, it isn’t as exciting as the original. James Stewart and Doris Day play a couple… Continue reading
The Trouble With Harry
BBBB (out of 5) Whereas a lot of Alfred Hitchcock’s suspense films feature a lot of humour in them, none are as darkly hilarious as this enjoyable little number. When a young boy… Continue reading
To Catch A Thief
BBBB (out of 5) Cary Grant plays a famous thief who has retired to an easy life in Monaco. When jewel robbery goes on the rise in his city, he finds himself blamed… Continue reading
Rear Window
BBBBB (out of 5) James Stewart is fantastic as a photojournalist who finds himself with nothing to do after a broken leg leaves him holed up in his apartment, staring at his back-window neighbours… Continue reading
Too Late Blues
BBB (out of 5) Early feature directed by John Cassavetes that shows his penchant for atmosphere and mood, even though the narrative leaves a lot to be desired. Bobby Darin is impressive as a… Continue reading
My Geisha
BBBB.5 (out of 5) Shirley MacLaine plays the wife of a famous director (Yves Montand) who flies to Japan for a surprise visit after he has spent time there preparing for his new production… Continue reading
Pocketful Of Miracles
BB.5 (out of 5) Frank Capra remakes his own Lady For A Day with mediocre results, taking a charming little black and white movie and blowing it up into a ridiculously overproduced Technicolour… Continue reading
Blue Skies
BBB (out of 5) Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby pair up extremely well in this beautifully colourful, enjoyable musical. Astaire is a singing star on the theatrical stage and Crosby is the crooning restaurateur who… Continue reading
Roman Holiday
BBBBB (out of 5) The world was introduced to Audrey Hepburn with this exceptional romantic comedy, and it’s been a love affair between star and audience that even her death in 1992 didn’t diminish.… Continue reading
Sabrina (1954)
BBBB (out of 5) Glossy, charming romantic film that is one of the hallmarks of Audrey Hepburn‘s career. She plays the title character, daughter of a chaffeur who grows up above the garage and… Continue reading
Funny Face
BBB.5 (out of 5) Audrey Hepburn rarely looked lovelier than in this gorgeous musical comedy, inspired loosely by the career of photographer Richard Avedon. One of the most beautifully photographed colour films ever made… Continue reading
Breakfast At Tiffany’s
BBBB (out of 5) Probably Audrey Hepburn’s most beloved performance, she stars as midwestern farm girl turned New York party girl Holly Golightly. She captures the eye of a struggling writer and kept man (George… Continue reading
The Rainmaker (1956)
BBB.5 (out of 5) An unmarried daughter is such serious business that in this film it’s the cause of major drama. Katharine Hepburn is excellent as the vulnerable woman in question, whose spinster state… Continue reading
The Matchmaker (1958)
BB.5 (out of 5) If you can stand Shirley Booth, you’ll love her in this film version of Thornton Wilder’s popular play, which was also the inspiration for the musical Hello, Dolly. Booth… Continue reading