Reviews by fernando

Lineal, not too respectful -it seems- to the prestigious bestseller source, a bit affected, with too pretty actors and actresses; it has some uniform and coherent and convincing melnacholic nostalgic mood.

Nao gusta muito. I feel that the 'all in a nightmarish hallucination flash forward' scheme, doesn't justify the episodic erratic argument. The end (of the dream) with the nurse friend going to see the sea, is awful. If there is humnour, it is too hidden.

Tres bon Clement. I like the naturialistic, full of details, sometimes histrionic, sometimes bizarre (Perier in his alcoholic crisis with the therapic glasses in his back, pesimistic, approach to Zola. At the end, the naif and sexy detail of little Nana adorning her dirty neck with a lace, announces another dimension, not sad, but evil and brilliant and ¿why not?, legitime.

Fantasy dreamlike but with a comic and wit plot the surpass the naif happy end. Natwick has great ansurd lines, Morgan is a great sidekick to Astaire, and Minelli evolves with his camera through the impossible sets. Tha latin abstraction (the country is called Patria ant people walk with llamas) is rresistible.

Too aged. Its Francis Lai, claudelelouchian noirish style, provoques some unwilling humoru. Lovelove (Jobert) and ridiculous cool Bronson going to a mafia whorhouse in Paris, its too much.

A minor but energic Walsh. He likes its historic character. It´s a pitty the screenplay, based on the bandits autobiography, was not at the same level of the story. McIntire, good Walsh character with two roles.

It has some power ans texts that surpass the Hemingwayana clichés about love, ant romantic death. Is tight, landscape ok, great supporters as Paxinou and Tamiroff. Agony, irony and some subtleties in a Hollywoodd star package.

Sketches by De Sica a'lla italiana but in Paris, with MascLaine in the 7 of them and an international cast. Zavattini goes best in the Lex Barker sketch, with the loving wife evolving her madness till the roofs. Eben Barker is ok. The first with Sellers is insignificant, the second with Brazzi too cliched with the whores. The Wymarck sketch in the opera is ok, as the last one with Caine as detective and confused Shirley.

Nice suspense in spite of the reiterative pannings over the submarine buttons, a little tired sabotage intrigue with Borgnine and McGoohan (idiot plot throws them alone with Jim Brown, while all the team is outside), but one has to understand tha MGM is exhibiting its techonological advances. McGoohan is best of all, Hudson is cool, Borgnine overacts.

Ray Enright is just an artisan, this time for Universal, but there´s some bonus in this tight western: Quantrill in all its evil glory (Donlevy is excellent), his love hate relation with Chapman, the fresh antiherioc boys (Murphy, Long, young Tony Curtis...)