"Witness For The Prosecution" with Charles Laughton, Marlene Dietrich and Tyrone Power

This is an adaptation of the Agatha Christie play written for the screen and directed by Billy Wilder. The story is a murder trial in London at the close of the Second World War.

Charles Laughton stars as the beleaguered and aging Barrister Sir Wilfrid, who has just been released from the hospital. He is recovering from a severe heart attack and cannot take on any more important and exciting cases. A private nurse, played by Elsa Lanchester, follows him about to ensure that he takes his pills and does not smoke his favorite cigars. Much of the film has him outwitting her efforts.(Laughton and Manchester were real life husband and wife.)

Tyrone Power plays an innocent man accused of a capital crime. He meets and befriends an elderly widow who turns up dead one week after having named him heir to her estate. The only person who can provide him with an alibi is his wife, Marlene Dietrich, who plays her character with an icy coldness. She claims that her marriage to Leonard Vole (Power) was a sham and this allows her testimony to be used against her husband, much to his detriment.

Billy Wilder drew remarkable performances from both Tyrone Power and Marlene Dietrich. Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester are superb in their respective roles and the whole production is flawless.

Ultimately setting her husband free with false testimony and a surprise witness, the ending is explosive as the full realization of what has transpired is laid bare before your eyes. In a climactic scene worthy of Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder pulls off an ending in which the schemers become their own victims.

With one of the best courtroom scenes ever filmed, this is a movie not to be missed.

"Ace In the Hole" with Kirk Douglas and Jan Sterling (1951)

This film was originally released under the title "The Big Carnival", and is loosely based on the true story of Floyd Collins, who became trapped in the Sand Caves in the Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky on January 30, 1925. His misfortune became a media circus, as hundreds of radio broadcasters, and newspapermen, raced to the scene. The story was updated for the film, which was directed by Billy Wilder, who also wrote the screenplay with Lesser Samuels. The story concerns a former big city reporter, Chuck Tatum, played by Kirk Douglas, who finds himself in a small town in New Mexico when a mine collapse strands a local miner, Leo Minosa, played by Richard Benedict, inside. His wife, Lorraine Minosa, played by Jan Sterling, is the struggling owner of the local restaurant, who soon finds herself at the center of a sensational news story.

The reporter, who has found a rear way into the mine, keeps that information to himself, as he seeks to exploit the story for all that it is worth. Tired of working for a small paper in Albuquerque, he dreams of making it back to the top of his profession; even at the cost of the trapped man's life.

The film is almost a harbinger of things to come in relation to today's 24/7 news cycle, where the ratings become more important than the story, overshadowing the importance of our own humanity.

Tight direction by Billy Wilder, amid the sparse desert landscape make this film a winner, as the media descends on the small town, setting up a death watch that will sell papers, and maybe even re-launch a news career.

For more background on the true story of Floyd Collins and the Sands Cave tragedy, here is a link to Wikipedia;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floyd_Collins

Yom HaShoah - lo nishkach - לא נשכח

"Stalag 17" with William Holden, Otto Preminger

This is a film that I associate with Christmas. It's not the warm and fuzzy type of Christmas movie you would normally expect. While I enjoy those types of films, and will be reviewing some of the classic ones as we near the holiday, I prefer the more unusual Christmas movies, the ones which explore the human condition more than the tinsel on the tree.

In this film the entire story takes place around the time of the holidays, only this time in a German POW Camp, Stalag 17. The time is less than 2 weeks before Christmas of 1944. In this 1953 film directed by Billy Wilder, fellow Director Otto Preminger plays Commandant Klink of Stalag 17, a POW Camp located somewhere in Germany. He is pure Nazi, right to the bone. They couldn't have picked a better actor. The film is based entirely upon the Broadway play of the same name, in which Robert Strauss and Harvey Lembeck, who play the roles of Harry Shapiro and "Animal", appeared. They are both excellent in this screen adaptation.

Someone in the barracks at Stalag 17 is a stoolie. Several men have already died attempting escapes. No one knows who it is, but everyone suspects it to be Sgt. Sefton, played by William Holden, a shrewd black market trader who has fresh eggs for breakfast while his fellow prisoners subsist on gruel. He is not very well liked. He flouts his wealth, mocking the others as "saps."

Overseeing the entire barracks is Sgt. Schultz, (if you're thinking of "Hogan's Hero's", forget it. In this film, Klink and Schultz are both real Nazi's, with no shred of honor, or humor. This is a drama.) He is a cruel and calculating man who masquerades as the men's "friend", but his real purposes are sinister and without merit.

When the men in the barracks gang up on Sefton, and beat him, thinking he is the stoolie, they set off a chain of events which leads to the discovery of the real mole, on Christmas Eve, just in time for a planned escape by several of the prisoners. With the holiday only hours away, someone is about to pay for those who have died, while others are on their way to freedom.

A real surprise twist at the end makes this an excellent film at any time of the year. But now, as Christmas approaches,, the film is somehow more poignant, as we watch these men struggle with their burdens, each one bearing their individual cross, during a time of year which normally holds joy for most.

This film won the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in 1954 for William Holden, who initially refused the part. In addition it also won Nominations for Best Supporting Actor for Robert Strauss, as well as a Nomination for Best Director for Billy Wilder. If you've never seen this one, check it out. Here is a clip from one of the lighter moments in the film;

"Stalag 17" with William Holden and Otto Preminger

This is another film that I associate with Christmas. The whole story, once again, as in "The Thin Man", takes place around the time of the holidays, only this time in a German POW Camp, Stalag 17. The time is 2 weeks before Christmas of 1944. In this 1953 film directed by Billy Wilder, fellow Director Otto Preminger plays Commandant Klink of Stalag 17, a POW Camp located somewhere in Germany. He is pure Nazi, right to the bone. They couldn't have picked a better actor. The film is based entirely upon the Broadway play of the same name, in which Robert Strauss and Harvey Lembeck, who play the roles of Harry Shapiro and "Animal", appeared. They are both excellent in this screen adaptation.

Someone in the barracks at Stalag 17 is a stoolie. Several men have already died attempting escapes. No one knows who it is, but everyone suspects it to be Sgt. Sefton, played by William Holden, a shrewd black market trader who has fresh eggs for breakfast while his fellow prisoners subsist on gruel. He is not very well liked. He flouts his wealth and mocks the others as "saps."

Overseeing the entire barracks is Sgt. Schultz, (if you're thinking of "Hogan's Hero's", forget it. In this film, Klink and Schultz are both real Nazi's, with no shred of honor, or humor. This is a drama.) He is a cruel and calculating man who masquerades as the men's "friend", but his real purposes are sinister and without merit.

Here is the set-up to the film, once again, courtesy of youtube;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hExHLM2raJA&feature=related

When the men in the barracks gang up on Sefton, and beat him, thinking he is the stoolie, they set off a chain of events which leads to the discovery of the real mole, on Christmas Eve, just in time for a planned escape by several of the prisoners. With the holiday only hours away, someone is about to pay for those who have died, while others are on their way to freedom.

A real surprise twist at the end makes this an excellent film at any time of the year. But now, as Christmas approaches,, the film is somehow more poignant, as we watch these men struggle with their burdens, during a time of year which normally holds joy for most.

This film won the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in 1954 for William Holden, who initially refused the part. In addition it also won Nominations for Best Supporting Actor for Robert Strauss, as well as a Nomination for Best Director for Billy Wilder. If you've never seen this one, check it out.

The Making of Some Like It Hot by Tony Curtis with Mark Vieira

This is a delightful book. "Some Like It Hot" has long been a favorite of mine and to get a glimpse behind the scenes through the eyes of one of the principal actors is a treat!

Mr. Curtis spares nothing in his recollections of the filming of one of Hollywood's best loved masterpieces. There is a little bit of "kiss and tell" here, but not too much. The book is more a narrative of what it was like working with the creative genius of Billy Wilder.

The book is filled with anecdotes and tidbits of information about not only the movie but Hollywood itself. The rift between George Raft, who plays one of the gangsters, and Edward G. Robinson is explored. This goes back to the filming of "Manpower" with Robinson and Raft as Linesmen in love with the same woman, Marlene Dietrich. In reality they were both smitten with her and came to blows on the set. There was a Life photographer there who got it on film. Due to this , Robinson turned down the part to play opposite Raft in "Some Like It Hot."

The parts of the book that are the most entertaining involve Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon learning how to dress and act like women. The big surprise for Mr. Curtis was how well Jack Lemmon adapted to the role. He revelled in it!

The creative process is explored extensively. Billy Wilder never made a film with a complete script. He would film what he had and then rewrite or revise as necessary. This gives his films the spontaneity they are known for.

Filled with photographs from the studio and some of the authors own collection this book is a great read for holiday travel. The color photos are a real treat as the movie was shot in black and white.

The freindship between Marilyn Monroe and Tony Curtis is beautifully expressed. This will be of interest to all Monroe fans. He has a unique ability to let you peek inside without being sleezy. He obviously recognizes Marilyn Monroes faults but also gives her credit for the complex and sensitive person she was.

Originally I picked this off the shelf as a quick selfish read. It turned out to be so much more than that. I'm glad I took the time to look behind the magic of the movie and see how it was accomplished.