Category Archives: Old-Fashioned

1964, Cowboy, Old-Fashioned, Revenge, Violent, Western

A Fistful of Dollars (1964)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

The first film in director Sergio Leone and star Clint Eastwood’s “Man with No Name” trilogy finds a world-weary gunman in a town torn apart by warring gangs. He agrees to work for both sides, ultimately pitting the two factions against each other. Marianne Koch and Gian Maria Volontè co-star in this groundbreaking Western, inspired by filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s classic Yojimbo and featuring a famous score by Ennio Morricone.

47 years ago, when Clint Eastwood was 34 years old, this historical spaghetti western made quite a splash. And to think that today Clint Eastwood is still going strong as an actor and director.

When the film begins, the lines delivered by the Mexican bell-ringer are very stilted and I was tempted to stop watching. But there is still something very watchable in this film. Could it be the violence ? At one point Clint gets beaten to a pulp by those nasty villains who laugh menacingly while they do it. Probably the fun of the film is watching both the American and Mexican gangs being wiped out slowly but surely. That Clint sure knows a lot of neat tricks!

Sex is not an issue and is, in fact, very chaste and traditional. Our Clint will surely help a beautiful damsel in distress and at the mercy of that villainous Ramón.

Call it a film history lesson or whatever, but I had fun watching!

1976, Brazilian, Comedy, Could be boring, Explicit sex, Explicit sexual discussion, Mostly About Sex, Nudity, Old-Fashioned, Vulgar

Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands (1976)

1 Comment

From NetFlix:

Proving that bad boys are hard to shake, this fanciful Brazilian comedy follows the adventures of Dona Flor (Sonia Braga), a conventional girl who weds a handsome ne’er-do-well (José Wilker) whose only saving grace is his talent in bed. When he dies suddenly, Flor remarries — but to his polar opposite: an exceedingly dull pharmacist (Mauro Mendonça). Soon, she finds herself longing for hubby No. 1 … and next thing you know, his ghost appears.

“Dona Flor” is the most successful Brazilian film ever made. For more history see wikipedia. Because I am studying Brazilian Portuguese I watched this historical film. Today’s audience would probably find the film dull even though it is completely about sex. In fact the nudity and the sex scenes are fairly chaste. Unless you are a determined afficionado of Brazilian film history, skip this one. I was just grateful to understand some small amount of the Brazilian.

1971, Drama, Explicit sex, Horror, Love Story, Nudity, Occasional gore, Old-Fashioned, Revenge, Suspense, Violent

Play Misty for Me (1971)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

Silver-tongued radio disc jockey Dave (Clint Eastwood) can’t help but notice the persistent calls from a female to “play ‘Misty’ for me.” But when a chance meeting with infatuated fan Evelyn leads to a brief and steamy love affair, Dave quickly learns he’s in for more than a little night music. Evelyn will stop at nothing — even the return of one of Dave’s old flames — to have him all to herself. The film marks Eastwood’s directorial debut.

1971 was a long time ago (38 years ago to be exact). Recently I reviewed “Gran Torino”, another Clint Eastwood film. His voice today is really rough but back in the day he had a silver whisper voice. And of course, his looks have changed a bit. This stalker film predates the stalker film of all times, “Fatal Attraction”. Techniques have evolved. Whereas this film has a “happy ?” ending, today the stalker would cleverly frame the stalkee for some crime and destroy the life of the stalkee, or something equally dreary. An awful lot of film footage was wasted by today’s standards. You spend too much time walking through a dark room waiting for someone to pounce. You have to sit through some on-stage musicians that have nothing to do with the plot. For 1971 the really beautiful naked love scene in the forest pond was probably quite daring. Finally, the stalker (Jessica Walter) was the best actor in the film, although not quite Glenn Close.

1990, British Mystery Series, Detective, Mystery Film, Old-Fashioned

Inspector Alleyn Mysteries: Set 1 (1990)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn (Patrick Malahide) is a sophisticated detective who’s comfortable among society types in 1940s Britain but equally able to navigate the trenches when duty calls. His skills come in handy when he’s handed cases that mystify his colleagues — such as the murder of an artist’s model, the mysterious death of high-powered politicians and barristers and the blackmailing of an upper-crust debutante.

We were a bit disappointed in set 1 of Inspector Alleyn. Kathy and I found discs 1 and 3 boring. Discs 2 and 4 were better but not great. These period pieces are a bit slow and antiquated. However, subtitles are available which is a plus for many viewers.

1000NYTimes, 1974, Comedy, Detective, Drama, Old-Fashioned, Suspense, Violent, Vulgar

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

1 Comment

From NetFlix:

Mr. Blue (Robert Shaw) and his crew take hostages on a subway car. If Blue and Co. don’t get a million dollars in an hour, Blue will start carving graffiti on the passengers’ foreheads. Quentin Tarantino borrowed a lot from this unsung classic of crime cinema — including criminals using colors for code names — for his film Reservoir Dogs.

This version is the original “Taking”. Note that the numbers in the title are spelled out. I decided to see the first version before seeing the second version. It is recommended in the “NY Times Best 1000”.

For sure, this version does not take itself too seriously and has a grand time making fun of just about everything. For example, the mayor is played as a bumbling idiot with the flu who is booed every time he appears in public. There is a ton of swearing. Walter Matthau runs the show. If anyone out there is too young to remember Walter Matthau, he was the slob half of the “Odd Couple”. Near the beginning of the film, Matthau is showing a Japanese contingent the wonders of the New York subway system but all the visitors can do is bow because it seems they don’t understand English. When notice of the hostage taking arrives Matthau says (about the visitors ) “Get these monkeys outta here”. At that point one of the Japanese answers in perfect English, “We understand. Thank you for everything. This is very exciting”. And so it goes for most of the film. There is music only at beginning and end and it sounds exactly like the music used in the very early James Bond movies. It ends with 10 really clever seconds.

1000NYTimes, 1001BeforeDie, 100Unknown, 1947, Classic, Old-Fashioned

Black Narcissus (1947)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

Secular matters consume five missionary nuns who head to the Himalayas to establish an Anglican school. In the meantime, the quintet’s leader, Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr), must grapple with the envy of one nun (Kathleen Byron), the bitterness of a man (David Farrar) and the cruelty of the elements. The film received Oscars for Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography, in part for its Technicolor innovations.

When I was a young boy I saw the coming attractions for “Black Narcissus”. The scene in which the crazed nun tries to push another nun (Deborah Kerr) over a cliff while the latter is ringing a large hanging bell stayed in my mind for a long time. Needless to say, I was not allowed to see this movie. So here I am years later leafing through the three film catalogs discussed in the page entitled “Unusual Categores” and all three suggest that “Black Narcissus” is an historically important film. So I watched it. I can see why it was an important film way back in 1947, but the movie seems a bit dated. Over the years film acting has changed, in fact I would say it has improved in some ways. Note, however, that I usually have to rely on subtitles due to my poor hearing. But CDs containing old films often do not offer subtitles. Acting may have improved, but diction has suffered. In this older film the actors project their speech much as you would do on stage with the result that I could understand every word. Today’s speech patterns everywhere (workplace, telephone, films) are quicker and somewhat mumbled.

Watch this movie as if visiting another planet. Historically it may be worth the visit.

2003, Comedy, Feel Good For All, French, Old-Fashioned

Seducing Doctor Lewis (2003)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

This comedy follows a small fishing town in Quebec that’s facing tough times as the economy continues to take a hit. The townspeople are thrilled when a major company chooses their locale to build a factory; trouble is, the factory will be built only if the town can convince a full-time doctor to move there. So, a local man (Raymond Bouchard) organizes a no-holds-barred crusade to bring in a big city doctor (David Boutin).

This is “old fashioned” in the sense that it is simply made, presents a gentle reality with no superhuman or digital interference. And yes it is corny at times. But you can just relax and watch it without the feeling that something unpleasant is about to happen.