Slob with a blog. Vicariously join me on my movie viewing adventures! Visit my blog here: http://jinglebonesmovietime.blogspot.com
297 posts
TOUCH AND GO (Dir: Michael Truman, 1955).
TOUCH AND GO (Dir: Michael Truman, 1955).
Jack Hawkins makes a rare foray into comedy in this lightweight, late period effort from the Ealing Studios.
Following a disagreement with his boss, furniture designer Jim Fletcher (Hawkins) makes the snap decision to emigrate to Australia. Less than enthusiastic are his wife Helen (Margaret Johnston) and teenage daughter Peggy (June Thorburn) with concerns for the family cat and Peggy's new sweetheart.
Aside from the excellent The League of Gentlemen (Basil Dearden, 1960), comedy was not really Jack Hawkins’ forte. Although an otherwise fine dramatic actor, he often seemed a little uncomfortable in domestic situations and was at his best as stoic men of action. Oddly, Hawkins was far more convincing as a naval officer or a pilot than he ever was as husband or father and his performance here is rather broad and lacking in subtlety. In fairness, he is given little to work with in a role which involves little more than expressing exasperation at his wife and daughter.
Scenarist William Rose was an accomplished comedy writer; responsible for Ealing classics such as The Maggie (Alexander Mackendrick, 1954) and The Ladykillers (Alexander Mackendrick, 1955) and later co-scripting Hollywood epic It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (Stanley Kramer,1955). So it is all the more surprising that Touch and Go doesn’t quite deliver the goods. Its attempts at humour are somewhat laboured and never raise the hoped for big laughs in a plot which offers no surprises; the denouncement can be guessed within the first 10 minutes. Which is not to suggest the movie is without merit. It ambles along nicely enough and certainly provides some mild chuckles. The muted colour palette is attractive and the atmosphere is cosily nostalgic.
Viewed today Touch and Go is a quaintly dated period piece. It does not rank among the greatest of Ealing Studios movies but neither is it a complete failure. Ultimately, it is just a little undistinguished and lacks the bite of other Ealing comedies. Still, it is a pleasant enough time waster that will certainly be of interest to Ealing completists.
100+ movie reviews now available on my blog JINGLE BONES MOVIE TIME. Link below.
More Posts from Jingle-bones
THE LION KING (Dir: Roger Allers & Rob Minkoff).
The 1990s Disney Animation renaissance continued with The Lion King, their biggest hit (when adjusted for inflation) to date.
The movie tells the story of young lion and future king Simba (voiced by Jonathan Taylor Thomas as a juvenile and Matthew Broderick as an adult). Simba’s father Mufasa (James Earl Jones) is killed by his brother and Simba’s uncle Scar (Jeremy Irons). Scar leads Simba to be believe he is responsible for Mufasa’s death and goes into hiding. Believing Simba has been killed by Hyenas, Scar takes his place as king of the Pride Lands. However, Simba is rescued by comic relief duo meerkat Timon (Nathan Lane) and warthog Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella). When adult Simba learns of his uncle’s despotic machinations he returns to fight Scar, reclaim his crown and restore order to the Pride Lands.
Majestic seems a fitting word for The Lion King. Recalling earlier classic The Jungle Book (Wolfgang Reitherman, 1967) with its animal cast, particularly in the characterisation of Scar, a upper-crust Disney villain in the Sheer Khan mode. The movie feels both fresh, in its break from the fairytale genre, yet classic Disney with its anthropomorphised animal antics.
It is easily one of the Studio’s most visually appealing features of the 1990s. It’s beautiful backgrounds of African landscapes is the match of the superior character animation. This is highlighted particularly in the opening scene as the African animal populous gathers to welcome the newly born Simba to the Pride Lands. So impressed were the Disney execs by this scene, that it was used wholesale as the movie’s trailer. Happily the rest of the film has no problem in living up to this breathtaking beginning.
With outstanding animation, excellent voice work and a handful of hit songs by Tim Rice and Elton John, The Lion King reigns as one of Disney’s greatest post-Walt animated feature films.
Visit my blog JINGLE BONES MOVIE TIME for a longer, more in-depth review of The Lion King. Link in bio.
THE LAVENDER HILL MOB (Dir: Charles Crichton, 1951).
A classic comedy from the golden age of the Ealing Studios.
Mild mannered bank clerk 'Dutch Holland' (Alec Guinness) concocts a daring gold bullion robbery. Engaging the help of souvenir maker Al Pendlebury (Stanley Holloway) they execute the crime and disguise the gold in the form of miniature Eiffel Towers. However, things do not go to plan when a casement of the souvenirs is accidentally opened and sold to group of British schoolgirls.
Released the same year as The Man in the White Suit (Alexander Mackendrick), The Lavender Hill Mob is less satirical, but equally humorous as it gleefully sends up Ealing’s own popular crime dramas such as The Blue Lamp (Basil Dearden, 1951) and Pool of London (Basil Dearden, 1951). Director Charles Crichton effortlessly apes the quasi-documentary realist approach of those movies. The heist itself is as thrilling as it is humorous and makes excellent use of its real life London backstreets and warehouse locales. Crichton also manages to out Hitchcock Hitchcock with a vertigo inducing sequence which sees Guinness and Holloway make a dizzying descent down the steps of the Eiffel Tower. Significantly for a British film of the era, it was rewarded by the American Academy, winning the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for TEB Clarke’s excellent script.
As the criminal mastermind with the meek exterior, Guinness delivers another excellent performance; eliciting audience sympathy for a character which could have easily evoked apathy. Stanley Holloway is equally effective in the less showy role of co-conspirator. They make for a winning comedy team here, ably supported by Sidney James and Alfie Bass as fellow Mob members.
The Lavender Hill Mob made more impact internationally than any other Ealing film. Its theme of longing to escape from day to day drudgery is clearly a universal one. Like the best of the Ealing comedies it has hardly dated, despite its obvious post-War trappings.
Excelling in all areas: writing, directing and acting, The Lavender Hill Mob is another Ealing masterpiece.
Check out my blog JINGLE BONES MOVIE TIME for a longer, more in-depth review of The Lavender Hill Mob! Link below.
THE SHAGGY DOG (Dir: Charles Barton, 1959).
Walt Disney's first live-action comedy movie, suggested by 'Bambi' author Felix Salten's novel 'The Hound of Florence'.
Wilby Daniels (Tommy Kirk) discovers an ancient Borgian ring which magically transforms him into a shaggy Bratislavian sheepdog. Unfortunately for Wilby he has no control over when or where he will change. Also unfortunate is Wilby's father (Fred MacMurray) is a dog hating postman! As if this wasn't problem enough, Wilby is soon mixed up with Russian spies in what is undoubtedly one of the oddest concepts for a movie of all time!
Two years before the release of The Shaggy Dog, the Disney Studios scored a massive hit with Old Yeller (Robert Stevenson, 1957). This set the standard for a series of boy and dog movies such as Big Red (Norman Tokar, 1962) and The Biscuit Eater (Vincent McEveety, 1972). On the surface The Shaggy Dog might appear to be another boy and dog movie but the twist here is that the boy IS the dog. This weird set up was a welcome riposte to horror movie I Was a Teenage Werewolf (Gene Fowler Jr, 1957) and set the template for the seemingly endless steam of kooky comedies released by Disney for the next two decades.
Fresh from Old Yeller, Tommy Kirk was one of Disney's most appealing juvenile stars and here shows a knack for quirky comedy. MacMurray too, though a highly capable dramatic actor, had a flair for light comedy.
The plot is ludicrous, certainly, but it is very funny. Much of the humour comes from sight gags such as the dog putting on pyjamas and cleaning his teeth. Honestly, there is little I find funnier that a sheepdog driving a hot rod! The pre CGI effects that allow Wilby to turn canine are neat, low tech but effective.
The Shaggy Dog would eventually make over $12 million at the US box office, a massive return on an investment of around $1 million and 60 years after its original release has lost little of its peculiar charm. Disney comedies were notorious for their reliance on formula. Here the formula still feels fresh. It may not be high art but it is highly entertaining.
On a side note, the movie was computer colorized in 1986. While I highly recommend this enjoyable shaggy dog story I would implore you to watch it in its original beautiful black and white.
Check out my blog JINGLE BONES MOVIE TIME for more reviews of vintage Disney classics! Link below.
BUGSY MALONE (Alan Parker, 1976).
Alan Parker’s feature film directorial debut is really something special. A musical homage to 1930’s gangster movies with a cast made up entirely of children really shouldn’t work, but it does.
Gang warfare rages in Prohibition-era New York as hoods Fat Sam and Dandy Dan battle for supremacy in the city. Armed with newfangled splurge guns (whipped cream firing machine guns), it looks like Danny Dan’s mob is winning. Speakeasy owner Sam engages good guy Bugsy Malone to help in his fight against Dan, while Bugsy has his sights set on aspiring showgirl Blousey Brown.
Recalling both the classic Warner gangster flicks and early backstage musicals, Bugsy Malone is itself a film which largely avoids categorisation. It is a love letter to the Hollywood of the 1930s. The beautifully detailed sets of dimly lit back alleys and colourful speakeasies faithfully recalling the era of Cagney and Robinson. Paul Williams superb jazz inspired score provides perfect accompaniment to the visuals, while the witty, quick fire dialogue would befit a period screwball comedy. The soft focus camera work and plethora of brown on display gives the feel of an old sepia tone photograph and adds to the era atmosphere.
An assured and charismatic performance from Scott Baio as Bugsy is surprisingly his first screen appearance. As was true of much of the cast. Florrie Dugger is touchingly melancholic as Bugsy’s gal Blousey in her only movie, while John Cassisi embodies gleeful roguishness as Fat Sam, one of only a handful of acting roles for the youngster. Only Jodie Foster, in the supporting role of showgirl cum moll Tallulah, was a veteran performer and gives the first rate professional performance you would expect. But to the credit of the cast and director Parker, none of the kids put a foot wrong and are never upstaged by the more experienced star.
There really is nothing else like Bugsy Malone in cinema history. As artful as it is entertaining and equally enjoyable for children and grownups; a unique, unadulterated pleasure from beginning to end!
Visit my blog JINGLE BONES MOVIE TIME for a longer, more in-depth review of Bugsy Malone! Link below.
