Zodiac (2007)

The true story of a serial killer in the San Francisco area makes for compelling viewing in Zodiac.

Solid casting with Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey, Jr., in the leads is a big plus in this solid 2007 thriller from director David Fincher (The Social Network, Panic Room).

The killer, Zodiac, kills his first two victims in 1969. More follow. There's threats of taking out a school bus filled with children. Hundreds of suspects are investigated.

A cartoonist with the San Francisco Chronicle, Robert Graysmith (Gyllenhaal), becomes obsessed with the investigation. He pinches garbage out of crime reporter Paul Avery's garbage. He's played by Downey, Jr.

Ruffalo is Insp. David Toschi, who along with partner Insp. William Armstrong, tries to find out who's responsible.

It's Graysmith who perseveres with the case, pouring over documents related to the investigation long after police have put the case on the back burner. That's because the search was still continuing in 1991. Graysmith's dedication puts his marriage to Melanie (Chloe Sevigny) on the rocks and threatens to fill his apartment with boxes of information about the murderer.

There's also a generous amount of humour in this film to balance the horror of brutal violence doled out to young couples and cabbies.

DVD of Zodiac I watched was just the film. No extras. There's a two-disc edition with interviews with Zodiac investigators. That sounds interesting.

RATING: 8/10

FUN FACTS: John Carroll Lynch, who appears as murder suspect Arthur Leigh Allen, made his film debut in Grumpy Old Men with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau.

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

Hey, this kid can dance.

Mention James Cagney's name and chances are it's his gangster roles that people will remember - white heat , The Roaring Twenties, The Public Enemy.

But give a chance for this fine biopic by Michael Curtiz (Casablanca, The Sea Hawk) from 1931 of American composer George M. Cohan.

Granted, it's a glowing look at the amazingly prolific career of the Rhode Island native. He wrote more than 300 songs including The Yankee Doodle Boy, Mary is a Grand Old Name and You're a Grand Old Flag. Cohan was known as 'the man who owned Broadway' in the early 1900s because of all his shows that were on the boards. President Franklin D. Roosevelt presented him with the Congressional Gold Medal in 1936. Wow. Cohan lived quite the life.

Yankee Doodle Dandy is great entertainment - good music, fine dance and some wonderful performances from the likes of Cagney, as Cohan, Walter Huston and a very young Joan Leslie.

Cohan grew up performing, and travelling widely, with The Four Cohans. The family act featured his parents and sister. Cohan oozes confidence, but his cocky ways irritate promoters and Broadway producers. He gets his break with Little Johnny Jones in 1904 and his career takes off.

Talk about a multi-tasker. Cohan wrote his songs, produced and starred in his many shows.

Cagney is a joy to watch here, especially when he decides to woo stage hopeful Mary (Joan Leslie), who thinks he's a much older man. Watch his dance moves when he's still in full makeup.

Yankee Doodle Dandy celebrates America and its people. See this film.

RATING: 8/10

FUN FACTS: From Cagney by Cagney, published in 1976

"Psychologically I needed no preparation for Yankee Doodle Dandy, or professionally either. I didn't have to be a song-and-dance man. I was one."

Cagney read the script and wasn't impressed by the film's lack of humour. He wanted Julius and Phil Epstein (Strawberry Blonde, The Bride Came C.O.D.) "to liven it up and inject humor."

He studied dance with Johnny Boyle, who appeared in The Cohan Revue of 1916.

Cohan, who died five months after the film was released, gave Yankee Doodle Dandy his blessing.

Yankee Doodle Dandy was nominated for eight Oscars, including best picture and director, and won three (actor, sound, recording).

Joan Leslie is still alive at this writing. Her television appearances include The Incredible Hulk and Charlie's Angels!

Eddie Foy, Jr., is yet another actor who appears in Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood. I have to see this film.

Douglas Croft appears as a young George M. Cohan. He also played Lou Gehrig as a boy in The Pride of the Yankees and was Robin in a 1943 version of Batman.

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)

Rio Grande is still tops in my books.

I've watched all the titles in director John Ford's cavalry trilogy in recent weeks.

Fort Apache had too much comedy for my taste. I didn't buy the romance between John Agar and Shirley Temple - even though the couple was married in real life at the time.

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is better than Fort Apache, but comes nowhere close to Rio Grande's power.

The romance doesn't work here either. 2nd Lt. Ross Pennell (Harry Carey, Jr.) and Lt. Flint Cohill (Agar) are both wooing Olivia Dandridge (Joanne Dru). There's a lot of squabbling, but not much romance. The yellow ribbon in Dandridge's hair suggests she has a fella in the cavalry, but she won't identify her sweetheart. Is it Pennell or Cohill?

Capt. Nathan Cutting Brittles (John Wayne) is nearing the end of his command days. The timing is not great. Various Indian tribes are putting aside old differences and teaming up to drive settlers from their land. Ten thousand warriors are itching for a fight. General Custard and his men have been wiped out. Brittles is ordered on patrol, in part to make sure Dandridge and Abby Allshard (Mildred Natwick) get out of harm's way.

Brittles, literally just days away from punching out, struggles for success on his mission. He's frustrated because everything he was supposed to accomplish fails. It's not the way he wants to leave his post.

Death gets plenty of attention in this film. Brittles regularly visits the grave of his wife. How she died we don't know. A United States' paymaster is killed in an Indian attack. One of Brittles' men is gravely injured by the Indians. Time is tight for the life-saving surgery he needs. Another veteran trooper is killed in battle.

Victor McLaglen's characters have a definite thirst for liquor in each of these films. What starts out as a fun way of Top Sgt. Quincannon hitting the bottle for a quick jolt turns into an extended sequence involving civilian clothing, plenty of booze and six other cavalry members. This scene goes on much too long.

Fortunately, things pick up when Brittles decides to keep serving the cavalry after his official retirement. He rides into the Indian camp to make an appeal to Chief Pony That Walks (Chief John Big Tree) to avoid war. When that fails, Brittles has a Plan B that's impressive to watch.

There is, again, some beautiful images in this colour film. Wayne is great as a veteran leader at the end of his days. Natwick and Ben Johnson offer solid support work.

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon has its moments, but Rio Grande is easily the best of Ford's cavalry films.

RATING: 7/10

FUN FACT: Last week I lamented Fred McMurray's last film role was in disaster maestro Irving Allen's The Swarm. Poor Joanne Dru. Her last appearance on the big screen was Super Fuzz in 1980 with Ernest Borgnine and Terence Hill.

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon was Chief John Big Tree's second last movie appearance. His career began in 1915 with Author! Author!

Rio Grande (1950)

There's a lot of rivers to cross in Rio Grande.

The actual body of water is the biggest one.

Apache Indians are causing major problems for Lt. Col. Kirby Yorke (John Wayne) and his United States cavalry troops. But his orders stop him from pursuing the Apache when they cross the Rio Grande into Mexico, and safety.

Plenty of symbolic crossings have to be made too. Yorke's estrangement from his wife, Kathleen (Maureen O'Hara), is long-standing. He hasn't seen his son, Jeff (Claude Jarman, Jr.) in 15 years. The younger Yorke wants to serve in the military too, but he fails at West Point. Instead, he enlists in the cavalry and is posted as a trooper to serve under his father. He's with two other new recruits - Travis Tyree (Ben Johnson) and Sandy Boone (Claude Jarman).

Kathleen shows up because she wants to get her son out of the service. Neither he, or Kirby, agree with her mission.



"What kind of man is he?" Jeff asks his mother of Kirby.

"He's a very lonely man," she replies.

Tyree is wanted by a deputy federal marshal (Grant Withers) for manslaughter. He's on his own journey too. Will he be taken into custody or make a bid for freedom?

Rio Grande is a much more satisfying view than Fort Apache, the first of director John Ford's cavalry trio. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is the second installment. The on-going humour that dragged down Fort Apache is much more muted here. The romance between Wayne and O'Hara is on solid ground compared to young lovers Shirley Temple and John Agar in Fort Apache.

The most impressive action scene in this film isn't a battle between the Apache and cavalry, but a training sequence when troopers stand, and ride, two horses. This long-time movie fan has never seen such a stunt before. It's jaw-dropping viewing.

Sons of the Pioneers make several welcome appearances with low-key music that enhances the film's mood, especially a romantic tune when Kirby and Kathleen first dine together.

Military folly was explored in Fort Apache. What stands out here is Kirby's early warning to his son not to expect a life of glory in the military, but one of sacrifice and hardship. How many times do you see those themes trumpeted in recruiting posters? An early scene as the movie opens finds wives of soldiers watching anxiously as Yorke and his men return from a mission. Who is dead? Who is wounded? Who is safe? That's war.

Rio Grande ends this trilogy in fine form.

RATING: 8/10

FUN FACTS: Hey, that's Karolyn Grimes, Zuzu Bailey from It's a Wonderful Life, as Margaret Mary.

J. Carrol Naish, who appears as Lt. Gen. Philip Sheridan, made his last screen appearance in Dracula vs. Frankenstein.

Sons of the Pioneers appeared in nearly 100 films and television shows between 1934 and 1984.

It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947)

Christmas classic?

Nope.

The DVD package for It Happened on 5th Avenue suggested a Christmas film for the ages from director Roy Del Ruth (Why Must I Die?).

This family-friendly film is entertaining, but is nowhere near efforts such as It's a Wonderful Life that truly deserve the stamp of must-see viewing come the holidays.

The story is intriguing - old man Aloysius T. McKeever (Victor More) doesn't care much for work, so he squats in the homes of successful businessmen when they're living outside New York City. Me, even if I was incredibly wealthy, I think I'd wonder why my electricity bill was so high when I haven't lived at one of my estates for months. I'd also wonder why none of my neighbours didn't notice smoke from my fireplace when my place is boarded up for the winter.

McKeever, with only his pooch for regular company, begins to welcome others into the home of industrialist Michael O'Connor (Charles Ruggles).

Jim Bullock (Don DeFore) is a Second World War veteran who needs a place to live. He was tossed from his apartment because the building is being knocked down by O'Connor for another one of his mega-projects. O'Connor's daughter, Trudy (Gale Storm), shows up one day to grab some clothes from her room. McKeever and Bullock don't know she's the unhappy offspring of said businessman. She wants to stay there too. Next up are some army buddies of Bullock's, and their families, who also can't find a place to live in New York City's tight housing market.

Bullock has a plan to help servicemen who need a place of their own. He wants to buy an army base just outside the Big Apple and convert barracks into apartments for other veterans. Pops O'Connor has his own designs on the surplus government property. He gets wind of the idea when he agrees to live with McKeever and the rest of the trespassers in his own place. His former wife, Mary (Ann Harding), also enters the fray when Trudy's dad threatens to have the vagrants arrested.

Trudy, for reasons that eluded this viewer, falls heads over heels for Bullock. There's no chemistry between these characters. Future Gilligan's Island Skipper (Alan Hale, Jr.) and the other vets and their wives have little to do but fold laundry, care for the kids and make themselves at home in O'Connor's spacious digs.

There's some interesting use of physical comedy here and nice riffs on O'Connor being put to work as a labourer in his mansion. Trudy kept her true identity hidden from Bullock, but when was this matter dealt with? I don't know because there wasn't such a scene in this film. There's passing reference to tough times for veterans after the Second World War ended - including the lack of good paying jobs and places to live. But, unlike the tough times highlighted in It's a Wonderful World, there's nothing of real substance here. Everyone sure is happy though.

It Happened on Fifth Avenue is pleasant, but not essential viewing.

RATING: 6/10

FUN FACTS: Charles Lane (It's a Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) and Vera Lewis (The Roaring Twenties) have brief scenes.

Don DeFore was Thorny in television's The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.

The Defiant Ones (1958)

Director Stanley Kramer's drama about cons on the run still packs a punch more than 50 years later after its release.

This 1958 release, just Kramer's third feature, earned nine Academy Award nominations including best picture, director and actor for leads Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier. This black and white production scooped up a pair of Oscars for cinematography and top screenplay.

The Defiant Ones wastes little time launching its story. A truck carrying convicts is involved in a collision at night during a heavy rainfall.

No one is killed, but two cons - John 'Joker' Jackson (Tony Curtis) and Noah Cullen (Sidney Poitier) escape. The pair, fueled by racial tensions, hate each other. They came close to trading blows before the truck goes over an embankment. They're shackled together. "The warden has a sense of humour," offers Sheriff Max Muller (Theodore Bikel) about why the two men are linked by a chain.

Jackson and Cullen have a good headstart thanks to the weather and a delayed search. While tension between the two still simmers, Muller has his own nemesis to deal with. State police officer Capt. Frank Gibbons (Charles McGraw) has his own ideas about how the search should be done. Gibbons is eager to sign on local men eager to hunt down the criminals. He's a little more liberal with how to use the search dogs. Muller is in an election year. If he can't find the wanted men, he could pay a price at the polls. His edginess increases as the search drags on.

Jackson wants to head south. Cullen figures his best chance is to head north where a black man won't look out of place. Their hatred for each other begins to temper. They need each other to succeeed. Cullen and Jackson rely on each other to get out of several tight situations including crossing a river with a strong current and trying to escape a muddy pit.

The Defiant Ones keeps offering viewers unexpected twists in its story. When the cons are caught trying to break into a store, a cold-blooded Mack (well done, Claude Atkins) wants to lynch them. Jackson and Cullen find an ally in another con, Big Sam (Lou Chaney, Jr.). Later, the pair cross paths with a young boy, Billy (Kevin Coughlin) and his mother (Cara Williams). She and Jackson are attracted to each other, but the mother also has an agenda of her own that will draw Jackson and Cullen even closer togehter.

The manhunt closes in on the fugitives. A train to freedom is nearby. The Defiant Ones keeps audiences guessing about the pair's fate until its last moments.

Curtis and Poitier both shine as men who've experienced rough pasts and are quick to fits of rage. Bikel is a low-key law enforcement leader who wants to find the cons, but is more measured in his approach to justice than others. Williams is trapped in a life-long prison of her own.

Films like this, with minimal special effects and accompanying soundtrack, always impress me. Bigger and noisier isn't always better. The Defiant Ones is a taut film packed with very fine performances. Watch it.

RATING: 9/10

FATAL FACTS: The Defiant Ones is the final screen appearance of Carl Switzer. He was Alfalfa in The Little Rascals shorts. Switzer was murdered in 1959.

Kevin Coughlin also died tragically. Internet Movie Database reports he died when he was struck by a speeding driver in 1976. He was 30.

The very first screen appearance for Claude Atkins, although he wasn't credited, was in From Here to Eternity.

Born to Kill (1947)

RATING: 3/10

Born to Kill is a deadly waste of time.

This 1947 film noir from director Robert Wise (The Sound of Music, West Side Story) starts with plenty of promise.

TWO GUYS, ONE GIRL, A BIG PROBLEM

Laury Palmer (Izabel Jewell) is playing two boyfriends off each other. That approach to man management turns out badly when fella No. 1, Sam Wild (Lawrence Tierney), spots Laury with fella No.2 at a casino. Sam's a bit of a loose cannon, the type of man who snaps and acts violently before he thinks.

See some symbolism here? He's wild. The three find themselves in a casino, taking their chances.

Wild murders Palmer and her other beau in a tense scene in the kitchen of the boarding house where she lives. This is Born to Kill's best scene. Wild is a brutal killer.

Helen Brent (Claire Trevor) is a short-term resident of the same building. She's in Reno to get a divorce. We don't learn much about her former better half, but we learn early on she doesn't think much of most men. They're turnips, a term this movie-goer has not heard before, suggesting they are useless or not wanted.

ON THE ROAD TO SAN FRANCSICO

Brent spotted Wild at the casino. There's more symbolism as she places bets for, and against, him as he throws the dice. She finds the two dead bodies, considers calling police, but doesn't. Brent was already due to head back to San Francisco where she lives with her very well-off foster sister, Georgia Staples (Audrey Long).

Wild's buddy, Marty Waterman (Elisha Cook, Jr.) suggests he clear out of town and head to San Francisco while he tracks the police investigation into the murders.

He and Brent meet up on the same train. There are sparks between them.

Born to Kill is a very entertaining film up to this point. But, boy, do the wheels fall off the bus quickly. I appreciate things move along a little faster on the screen than in real time, but come on. Within about five minutes of screen time Staples and Wild are married.

HEY LANDLADY, DID YOU MISS THE CLUE?

Brent still has the hots for Wild. Wild is cold to Staples. With all those romantic entanglements going on, boarding house landlady Mrs. Kraft (Esther Howard) has hired private eye Matthew Albert Arnett (Walter Slezak) to find Laury's killer. Maybe all that beer drinking has affected Mrs. Kraft's short-term memory. Laury did make mention of her physically impressive boyfriend who appeared likely to get very angry if he was double-crossed.

Born to Kill's best moments come from the supporting cast. Cook is the eager-to-help friend who has no qualms covering the tracks of a murderer, including doing some killing on his own, if needed. Howard is a weary older woman who wants justice for the young woman she admired. Slezak is a private eye with ethics that are hard to see. He's eager to look the other way for a price. "I am a man of integrity, but I'm always willing to listen to an interesting offer," he says. "Obstructing the wheels of justice is a costly affair."

OH, BROTHER

The last five minutes of Born to Kill rank as the most ludicrous 300 seconds of film I have watched in some time. I jotted "Oh, brother" in my notepad upon the first viewing. The second time around I sat slack-jawed at how silly things became.

There are many better film noirs to watch. Leave this one in the dark.