DR NO (Terance Young, 1962).

DR NO (Terance Young, 1962).

NOTE: The following is an edited version of a review available in full on my blog JINGLE BONES MOVIE TIME. Check it out! Link below.

The film that launched the longest running franchise in movie history. Sean Connery stars as Ian Fleming’s James Bond 007 in this adaptation of the sixth novel in the series.

Investigating the disappearance of fellow MI6 operatives, Bond heads to Jamaica and is soon on the trail of the titular Dr No, an underground dwelling, Nemo-esq scientific genius with plans to wreck the US space programme. Fist fights, shoot-outs and car chases ensue!

In many respects, Dr No is Bond in its purest form. Before the over reliance on gadgets, before the campy, double entendre laden humour, before the over the top action set pieces. Connery is perfect in the role: suave yet cool, a lover and a fighter. He is surrounded by a classy supporting cast. As Island girl Honey Ryder, Ursula Andress set the standard for Bond girls, emerging like Venus from the ocean in a two-piece swimsuit and creating one of the most iconic images of the entire series. Jack Lord and John Kitzmiller make appealing allies for Bond, while Bernard Lee and Lois Maxwell make their first appearances as Bond’s MI6 boss M and his flirtatious secretary Miss Moneypenny, respectively.

Director Terance Young never lets the pace flag. Dr No is one of the shorter Bonds but Young never wastes a second as he delivers a gripping, intelligent thriller.

Rewatching the movie almost 60 years after release it is fascinating to see how much of what we associate with the series is already present. Refinements were made to the formula over the coming films but I don’t think this series opener was ever bettered. Equalled maybe, but it has a certain economic, raw, unpolished appeal that box office success and bloated budgets would not allow for in the future. Six decades on this is still a fantastic piece of popular cinema. Intelligent in a way action movies rarely are today, shot through with streak of sardonic humour. If you are only familiar with later entries than this original classic should really be next on your Bond viewing list!

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Dr No (1962)

Dr No (Terance Young, 1962) The film that launched the longest running franchise in movie history and made a star of Sean Connery

THE HORSE IN THE GRAY FLANNEL SUIT (Norman Tokar, 1968).

Based on Eric Hatch’s book The Year of the Horse, Walt Disney Productions’ The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit is a lighthearted comedy set in the world of showjumping.

Madison Avenue advertising executive Fred Bolton (Dean Jones) has just 24 hours to appease a client and save a valuable account. He hits upon the idea of sponsoring showhorse Aspercel - named for his client’s brand of indigestion tablets - which his shy daughter will hopefully ride to glory.

Jones, in his 5th film for Disney is an amiable leading man. Diane Baker is equally likeable as his romantic interest. In her sole movie credit Ellen Janov impresses as Bolton’s daughter, while Disney regulars Kurt Russell and Norman Grabowski appear in smaller roles.

Yet despite this quality cast the movie is something of a disappointment.

To describe The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit as a gentle comedy would be an understatement. There are plenty of mild chuckles but few big laughs in a movie that canters rather than gallops to the finishing line. Even its climax at a critical International Horse Show event fails to generate much excitement.

It seems a little redundant to be over critical of The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit. It is well meaning and completely inoffensive yet also predictable and slightly dull. At just shy of 2 hours it is also about 20 minutes too long. In fact it is only the game playing of the appealing cast that saves it.

If you’ve seriously nothing better to do it will while away a couple of hours. Horse lovers will undoubtedly enjoy the equine aspect but, to be honest, it is no champion.

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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.

Movie number 65: The Silent Passenger (Reginald Denham, 1935).

Dorothy L Sayers’ amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey makes his big screen debut in this original story, written by Sayers with screenwriter Basil Mason.

When a man in wrongly accused of murdering his philandering wife’s lover Lord Peter Wimsey steps in to prove his innocence. The action largely takes place on board train from London to Dover and benefits from location shot on actual stations.

Made three years before another great train bound mystery, The Lady Vanishes (Alfred Hitchcock, 1938), The Silent Passenger pales in comparison to the later movie. Yet this slightly creaky thriller actually surpasses its obvious ‘B’ movie origins and really isn’t bad at all. Admittedly, it’s not much of a mystery as the audience know the identity of the murderer from the outset. But its climactic chase through a locomotive repair shop and into the pathway of an oncoming train is genuinely exciting. Peter Haddon hams it up nicely as Wimsey and it has its share of humorous moments as well as minor thrills. It is no classic by any means, but does have an old fashioned charm nonetheless.

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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LADY AND THE TRAMP (Dir: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson & Hamilton Luske, 1955).

The first half of the 1950s was a fairly prolific time for Disney animation. Although production of shorts was dwindling, 1955’s Lady and the Tramp was the fourth feature film released that decade.

The movie draws upon Walt Disney’s love of turn of the century small town America (Disneyland’s loving recreation of the era, Main Street USA, opened the same year) and after Dumbo (Ben Sharpsteen, 1941) is the only other Walt-era animated movie to feature an (almost) contemporary US setting.

The tale of pampered Cocker Spaniel Lady (voiced by Disney regular Barbara Luddy) and street mutt Tramp (Larry Roberts) who fall in love over a plate of spaghetti is a fairly conventional one. However, the novel use of canine protagonists, witty dialogue and inventive scenes, such as the famed pasta-fuelled kiss, lift the familiar story above the mundane.

The artists’ extensive research of real life dogs neatly captures the movement and personality of our furry friends, displaying the most realistic animation in a Disney movie since Bambi (David Hand, 1942).

The first animated feature produced in the new widescreen CinemaScope format, this provided some problems for the artists. With less opportunities for character close-ups and the need to fill otherwise empty space with scenery, the Disney artists created a beautifully detailed, idealised recreation of late Victorian era America. Viewed entirely from a dog’s perspective, the elegant backgrounds and superior character animation combine to make Lady and the Tramp one of Walt Disney’s most visually attractive feature films.

Equally a treat for the ears are a handful of songs co-written by Peggy Lee and Sonny Burke. Lee adds her considerable vocal talent to showstoppers He’s a Tramp and The Siamese Cat Song in one of the greatest Disney musical scores.

Lady and the Tramp is a warm-hearted, intelligent romance with first rate animation, vocal performances and music; a lovely and lovingly crafted jaunt into America’s (idealised) past.

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