TOY STORY 4 (Dir: Josh Cooley, 2019).

TOY STORY 4 (Dir: Josh Cooley, 2019).

Since the first movie was released in 1995, the Toy Story franchise has proven to be one of the most robust, not to mention most lucrative, Hollywood franchises of all time. The original film, a Pixar Animation Studios production released through Walt Disney Pictures, was a massive critical and commercial success, spawning a further two equally successful sequels. After the fairly definitive conclusion of Toy Story 3 (Lee Unkrich, 2010), the prospect of a fourth entry seemed to many unnecessary, albeit not entirely unwelcome.

Toy Story 4 reunites Woody, Buzz, Jessie and the gang and introduces new character Forky. Forky, made by the toys' new owner Bonnie from a plastic spork, pipe-cleaners and other discarded items, is determined to throw himself into the trash where he believes he belongs. Determined not to let this happen, Woody places himself in charge of the spork, a decision which results in the pair becoming separated from Bonnie and their pals. As lost toys they encounter the sinister doll Gabby Gabby and her ventriloquist dummy cohorts and Woody is reunited with old flame Bo Peep.

Happily Toy Story 4 is a sequel which lives up to its mighty predecessors. Director Josh Cooley and screenwriters Stephany Folsom and Andrew Stanton have created a movie that is by turns witty, exciting and ultimately moving. Its message is certainly as poignant as others in the franchise and comes with a climax that that seems pretty darn final.

It goes without saying that the computer generated animation in Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 4 is beautiful. Once again, the vocal performances, notably Tom Hanks as Woody, Tim Allen as Buzz, Annie Potts as Bo and Tony Hale as Forky, are exemplary.

This latest episode of the Toy Story saga thankfully does nothing to tarnish what is arguably the most consistent franchise of them all, while its finale suggests that this really will be the last we see of the gang. If this is the case then more's the pity, although Toy Story 4 definitely provides them with a high on which to go out on.

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Movie number 64: There Ain’t No Justice (Pen Tennyson, 1939).

A lightweight drama from Ealing’s early years, There Ain’t No Justice stars Jimmy Hanley as mechanic turned boxer Tommy Mutch. After a promising start to his career Mutch quits fighting on learning his bouts are fixed. He later returns to the ring in order to pay a family debt but refuses to take a dive as demanded by a corrupt manager.

Hanley made a career from playing amiable types but is woefully miscast here. As a fighter he is unconvincing in both his physicality and his performance. This unfortunate casting is detrimental to an already dramatically weak picture. It is further hampered by the broad ‘cockerney geezer’ stereotypes of the supporting characters.

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock’s former Assistant Director Pen Tennyson, it is for the most part, not up to the standard of even Hitchcock’s weakest efforts. However, one scene depicting an attempted suicide displays a brilliant use of editing to create tension and is so good it feels like it belongs in a different film. This sequence alone makes the movie worth watching.

Tennyson directed two further, more distinguished movies: The Proud Valley (1940) and Convoy (1940), both at Ealing. He was tragically killed in a plane crash in 1941, ending a career which showed much early promise.

Released the same year as the pugilist classic Golden Boy (Rouben Mamoulian), There Ain’t No Justice is nowhere near as good a movie. Indeed, it’s not very good at all. It lacks the authenticity to appeal to boxing fans and the dramatic impetuous to appeal to movie fans. Worth a look for Ealing completists or for any admirers of Mr Hanley but markedly less rewarding for casual viewers.

7 FACES OF DR LAO (Dir: George Pal, 1964).

George Pal first came to prominence in the 1930s with his series of animated Puppetoons shorts. Switching to live action, first as producer and then director he was responsible for a series of special effects heavy sci-fi and fantasy films, including The War of the Worlds (Byron Haskin, 1953) and The Time Machine (Pal, 1960) which are now rightly deemed classics of their genres. His 5th and final feature as directed was 1964’s 7 Faces of Dr Lao, based upon Charles G Finney’s 1935 novel The Circus of Dr Lao.

Tony Randall stars as the titular Lao, an aged (7322 years!) Chinese gent and owner of a fantastical, magical travelling circus. When the circus stops at the dusty Arizona town of Abalone the townsfolk are taught some valuable life lessons from the highly unconventional exhibits include the mythical soothsayer Apollonius, Merlin the Magician, Pan the God of Love and the fabled Gorgon Medusa. All of whom are portrayed by Randall in a truly mesmerising performance. Aided by some outstanding make-up from William Tuttle who rightly won the Academy Award for his efforts.

Some would rightly question the casting of white American Tony Randall as the Chinese Lao. Yet while the performance does exhibit elements of racial stereotyping it is not malicious. Right or wrong, such casting was perfectly acceptable in the era the movie was made and it would be unfair to castigate it for being out of step with more enlightened viewpoints more than 50 years after release.

7 Faces of Dr Lao is an unusual movie; mixing elements of the western genre with gently moralistic Bradbury-esq fantasy, it is probably fair to say it is a little bit of an acquired taste. If you are a fan of Pal then this movie needs no recommendation. For others, a philosophical fantasy aimed at family audiences might be a hard sell. However, it’s status as one of Pal’s lesser known features is entirely unwarranted. The excellent performances, top quality make-up and effects and feverish, almost surrealist atmosphere of the movie make for a heady mix. In my opinion 7 Faces of Dr Lao is one of the finest fantasies ever committed to celluloid.

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Movie number 74: The Gilded Cage (Dir: John Gilling, 1955).

There are shades of The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941) to this low budget British thriller set in the murky underworld of art forgery.

The film stars Alex Nicol and Michael Alexander as brothers embroiled in murder and an attempted art heist. Punch-ups ensue as the pair endeavour to solve the crime and clear their name.

The Gilded Cage is a decent enough crime thriller from the era of the second feature; solidly, if a mite unimaginatively, directed by John Gilling, who would later direct some noteworthy movies for Hammer Film Productions including Plague of the Zombies (1966) and The Reptile (1966).

With American actors in the lead and a mix of mid-Atlantic accents throughout, presumably in an attempt to appeal to US audiences, its hoped for ‘hard-boiled’ style is a little underdone. It does benefit from use of the actual London locations on which it is set, including Tower Bridge with its pre-Jubilee paint job and a fascinating but all too brief glimpse of St Katherine Docks when it was still a working dock.

The Gilded Cage is no masterpiece but it is a well paced, entertaining flick. Worth a watch, especially for fans of vintage British cinema.

Originally produced by Tempean Films, it would presumably have fallen into obscurity were it not for film archivists Renown Pictures and their dedication to preserving such overlooked works which collectively form an important part of Britain film history.

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ALADDIN (Dir: Guy Ritchie, 2019).

Disney raids its back catalogue once again for their latest remake of an animated classic. Released in 1992, Aladdin (Ron Clements and John Musker) is one of the Disney Studios most critically acclaimed and commercially successful movies. With an excellent musical score, groundbreaking animation and a magnificent performance by Robin Williams as The Genie, it is also a difficult act to follow, not least for Will Smith stepping into the winklepickers of Williams.

This version of the Arabian Nights story of the boy who finds a magic lamp and the genie within who will grant him three wishes sticks close to Disney’s previous telling, although adding a further 40 minutes to its runtime. Surprisingly these extra minutes do not feel superfluous. Jasmine and Jafar both gain a little deeper character development and the Genie gets a love interest. Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Tim Rice’s song score remains mostly intact with the addition of a new number, ‘Speechless’, co-written by Menken with songwriting duo Pasek and Paul.

Brit Guy Richie seemed an unlikely choice of director but acquits himself admirably with his first family friendly musical fantasy. As do the cast; Mena Massoud as Aladdin and Naomi Scott as Jasmine make attractive leads and Smith is reassuringly great as Genie. Thankfully, Disney cast actors who can also sing and the soundtrack is mercifully free of the auto-tuning that has plagued previous features.

What Aladdin lacks in originality it makes up for in spectacle. This is a very good looking movie with lavish song and dance numbers, exciting action sequences and top line special effects. Does it supplant the beloved animated version? Of course not. But it does hold up as a visually stunning, tuneful, wholly entertaining 130 minutes. While perhaps not as essential as its animated predecessor it is still a lot of fun and well worth a watch.

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Movie number 67: City Beneath the Sea (Irwin Allen, 1971)

Originally made for US TV, City Beneath the Sea is an underwater sci-fi adventure from producer/director Irwin Allen, initially pitched as a weekly TV series in 1969. At first unsuccessful, Irwin was able to secure support for a TV movie based upon the idea and City Beneath the Sea duly premiered on the NBC network in January 1971, fulfilling its duel purpose as both a 'Movie of the Week' and as a pilot for a proposed series.

Set in the year 2053, City Beneath the Sea stars Stuart Whitman as commander of underwater city Pacifica. As storage for both the US gold reserve and the valuable yet highly unstable explosive H128, Pacifica is the target of an inside robbery from certain unsavory officials. However, this problem pales in significance to the imminent threat posed by an asteroid (or rather 'planetoid') on a direct collision course with the sub-aquatic metropolis!

A fairly impressive cast was assembled for the movie; joining the likeable, square-jawed Whitman are TV regulars Robert Wagner and Richard Basehart. A little extra cachet is added by blink-and-you-miss-them cameos from Joseph Cotton and boxer Sugar Ray Robinson. Of course it betrays its TV origins; the effects, largely utilising model work, are obvious but appealingly and in no way detract from ones enjoyment of the film. The colourful set design and costumes exhibit a nice 1970's futurist chic. Where the movie fails is in its narrative. The premise, while inherently silly, is a fairly strong one. But the screenplay, by John Meredyth Lucas, suffers from too much exposition and too little action. This, perhaps more than anything, sealed the fate of the property as NBC did not commission any further episodes. It did, however, secure release in UK cinemas retitled One Hour to Doomsday.

Over time City Beneath the Sea has attained a significant and deserved cult following and remains an entertaining kitsch treat, especially for fans of vintage TV sci-fi and of the Allen oeuvre in particular.

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City Beneath the Sea aka One Hour To Doomsday (1971)

City Beneath the Sea aka One Hour to Doomsday (Dir: Irwin Allen, 1971 Originally made for US TV, City Beneath the Sea is an underwa