Author Topic: Once Upon a March in the West - 2015  (Read 33513 times)

Jared

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Re: Once Upon a March in the West - 2015
« Reply #40 on: February 27, 2015, 12:49:37 AM »
The Rope and the Colt
aka
Cemetery Without Crosses


Thought I would start things things out with a spaghetti Western, and this one was ok I suppose.

After the murder of her husband by the brutal Rogers family, a woman hires a gunslinger who she obviously had some past sexual history with. He reluctantly agrees and they embark on a violent kidnapping plot.

I had the beats of the plot down, but the movie feels pieced together somewhat badly in a few places, in ways where I was getting characters mixed up and things like that. Hard to tell what exactly occurs in some of the action scenes. I get that these things happen fast because they want to show the speed of the gunslinger, but the scene needs to be framed a little better so you can tell who is doing what to who. Maybe I was just a little confused as my toddler was making my house feel like a rodeo.

Its shorter than most spaghetti westerns, but there are some scenes when it takes it time. When the two heroes of the story are perhaps rekindling their love for each other while their scheme unfolds, I felt like I was watching them give each other knowing nods for about 5 minutes. Strange.

A good start to the month.

1SO

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Re: Once Upon a March in the West - 2015
« Reply #41 on: February 27, 2015, 01:58:11 AM »
I have that one on my Watchlist too. I'm usually good for a couple of spaghetti westerns every year, though most turn out to be pretty bad. I'm also planning to watch Day of Anger, starring Lee Van Cleef. I'm also planning to watch my first Blaxploitation Western which has a title I have to figure out how to post tastefully.

PeacefulAnarchy

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Re: Once Upon a March in the West - 2015
« Reply #42 on: February 27, 2015, 12:19:56 PM »
I have a few westerns I want to catch up on, so I'll participate.
I never seem to get through as much as I hope to with these, so I'll keep my watchlist short:
A Bullet for the General
Une corde, un Colt...
My Name Is Nobody
Jeremiah Johnson
3 Bad Men
Union Pacific
Rawhide
The Tin Star

1SO

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Re: Once Upon a March in the West - 2015
« Reply #43 on: February 27, 2015, 10:45:37 PM »

They Came to Cordura (1959)

Lead actors Gary Cooper, Rita Hayworth and Van Heflin were on the downslope of their career when Cordura was released, though the real culprit here is co-writer/director Robert Rossen, and his next film is the excellent The Hustler. The film was taken out of his hands when his cut come in 30 minutes longer. I've seen cases where slow movies play better in a longer cut, but it's hard to imagine what an extended version could do to save this.

Last month, I had nothing but praise for Rossen's unique approach to war in A Walk in the Sun. This attempts a similar effect, a military film about bravery with characters who are the opposite of heroes. This extends to Cooper's character, a Major who awards medals to others but may be himself a coward. Joining them is a woman accused of treason for letting Mexican rebels onto her land. Of course everyone involved knows there was no way she could keep dozens of armed bandits off her property. That she showed true bravery in choosing not to flee. This should add up to a good movie, but it does not.

The characters don't take on any added dimension off the page. They remain stuck in limited boxes, constantly threatening each other and complaining that they can't go on any further. Their conversations run in circles, going nowhere. I'm a fan of Gary Cooper, but I was channeling verbALs with this one. He barely seemed interested, and quite a few lines sounded flat, like he was reading them from cards off camera. Hayworth, who I'm not a fan of, might give the best performance. I wonder if later in life she realized that she couldn't get by on her looks anymore and started to do some real acting.

While there are guns and confrontations, the adventure is muted. Even the opening horse charge is more messy than exciting. I usually don't notice Day for Night filming, but so much of the film takes place in the evening and the lighting is really poor overall. With a muted brown look to the film, the night scenes look like day scenes covered in ash and dust. Nothing about this film beyond the basic theme made me want to engage with it. It would've been an easy film for someone to steal - Richard Conte? - but nobody's trying.
RATING: * 1/2


While looking for a screenshot, I came across this promotional image.

It's shameful to think there was a time not so long ago when move tickets could be sold on the possible sexual assault of a female character.

Antares

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Re: Once Upon a March in the West - 2015
« Reply #44 on: February 27, 2015, 11:46:42 PM »
The Shootist (1976) 84/100 - As I've been moseying through this marathon of John Wayne westerns, I'm finding myself more enamored with the evolution of the Wayne iconic mystique towards the end of his career and life. More grandfatherly than grandiose, Wayne has finally come to realize that a bit of subtlety can go a long way. The Shootist is the film that John Wayne was destined to make, when he first strapped on a pair of six guns back in the early thirties. All the bravado, the swagger and arrogance of youth has withered away, leaving a man who must meet his fate in the twilight of his years. This has to have been a deeply personal film for Wayne because the essence of his character, J.B. Books, was being played out in real life by Wayne himself. After having a whole lung removed in the mid-sixties from cancer, Wayne could empathize with a man who was tired and wanted to go out on his own terms. In other westerns from his later period, he was hampered by weak co-stars, but in this outing, he's surrounded by a formidable ensemble. Lauren Bacall has a chemistry with Wayne that is both touching and deeply heartfelt. James Stewart, in a small role as the doctor who diagnoses the gunfighter, imparts a wisdom in his bedside manner than goes against the common advice of someone from his profession. And finally, Ron Howard, who I thought was miscast decades ago when I first watched the film, impressed me more this time as I paid close attention to him in key scenes with Wayne. But this is Wayne's film and he does not disappoint. You know what's going to happen to him and you're sad to know that he won't be coming back, both on screen and in real life. If I had to recommend a film to someone on this planet that's never watched a John Wayne film, I'd most definitely start with this one.

Original rating 74/100
« Last Edit: July 26, 2018, 11:17:41 AM by Antares »
Masterpiece (100-91) | Classic (90-80) | Entertaining (79-69) | Mediocre (68-58) | Cinemuck (57-21) | Crap (20-0)

1SO

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Re: Once Upon a March in the West - 2015
« Reply #45 on: February 28, 2015, 12:05:16 AM »
I agree about the weak co-stars in his later films. It turns up here too with Hugh O'Brian and Bill McKinney. They could've used more of Richard Boone's restraint.

You do realize how odd it would be for someone to start watching John Wayne with the film that's meant to be the tombstone on his career? Conventional wisdom would suggest Stagecoach, and I'd agree even though I'm mixed on the film. Then you should at least get Rio Bravo, The Searchers and Red River in before watching The Shootist. None of these are as good as Liberty Valance (or The Quiet Man) but they make a more direct route to this final film.

1SO

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Re: Once Upon a March in the West - 2015
« Reply #46 on: February 28, 2015, 09:57:01 AM »
Like the days of flieger and Jerry Lewis, I am aiming to watch all 61 features containing Dan Duryea, hoping to say something good about all of them. He was in 16 Westerns and last night (thanks to youtube) I watched 2 of them, hoping for another discovery along the lines of Rails into Laramie. (That leaves 4 more to go.)

River Lady (1948) stars Yvonne De Carlo ("The Munsters"), as a saloon girl manipulating the men in the town to get herself set up with enough money to get out of her showgirl life. This could've been a more interesting film with a better handling of gender roles and what disrespectful things women have to do to get respect in the old west. However, Universal was only interested in churning our product, fast and cheap. Nobody strays from Western playbook 101, including Duryea as a crooked businessman with a pencil moustache. The weasel hardly needs such added slimeball touches.

He Rides Tall (1964) features a more unrestrained Duryea (which means the self-amused laugh is in full effect.) This is to balance a piece of deadwood named Tony Young, who stars as the sheriff who guns down a rancher's jerk, punk kid and must tell the boy's father, knowing that the powerful man will attempt some form of personal revenge. Duryea uses this as an opportunity to get away with the rancher's young wife and I think some of the ranch too. It isn't that clear. There are some nice Noirish visual touches in the last 15 minutes, but the script is all over the place, as are the performances.
BOTH FILMS: * *
« Last Edit: February 28, 2015, 10:00:46 AM by 1SO »

oldkid

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Re: Once Upon a March in the West - 2015
« Reply #47 on: February 28, 2015, 11:49:07 AM »
There are some classics I have to catch up with:

The Naked Spur
The Ox-Bow Incident
The Wild Bunch
The Outlaw Josey Wales

Also a couple comedies:
Paint Your Wagon
Support Your Local Gunfighter


"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

1SO

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Re: Once Upon a March in the West - 2015
« Reply #48 on: February 28, 2015, 11:35:42 PM »


The Unforgiven (1960)

This is one where if there was a committee, I would excuse myself from it. I do not wish the condemn the film, but I can't quite recommend it either. On the one hand, director John Huston delivers a well-crafted, tough morality play about frontier living and two-faced intolerance. There are a number of uneasy meetings in the beginning and some violent confrontations in the end. This is a western with guns a blazin', but it rests heavily on the cast.

Audrey Hepburn is not someone you think of to play a free spirited pioneer girl, but she's a good enough actress to be credible. She almost gets the heavy dramatics right too, but breaks into hysterics at a critical moment. Audie Murphy does his finest dramatic work, though I'm still more partial to his enigmatic presence in No Name on the Bullet. Burt Lancaster is solid and Lillian Gish... well she's always great.

If somebody has a link supporting films with an unhurried build-up, I would love to read it. This film provides an interesting example, where I can avoid calling the first hour slow, though that's certainly what it is. The first hour is like an Agatha Christie story's pre-murder section. We meet the characters, figure out the relationships, get hints of secrets and wait for everything to go pop. It's a technique that works because the extra time pays off extra dramatic dividends on the back end, but getting through it tends to be a slog. They could've put the big event earlier, but then the back end would've suffered. The only right way to play it is to somehow convey all that initial information in less time. A technique I've also seen work, but I've also seen it create underdeveloped characters.

So I'm stuck in the middle. If I recommend The Unforgiven and somebody watches it they will certainly complain about the lengthy set-up. If I don't, some dang fool who listens to me might put off a dramatically rewarding experience. In truth, the only real flaw with the film is that it's about racial tolerance yet it uses bloodthirsty savage indians to make its point. The rest is really going to depend on you.
RATING: * * 1/2

Jared

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Re: Once Upon a March in the West - 2015
« Reply #49 on: March 01, 2015, 02:20:30 AM »
The Lusty Men

Robert Mitchum plays a retired rodeo star who ends up working as a ranch hand and befriending a couple played by Susan Hayward and Arthur Kennedy. When the Kennedy character decides to get into rodeo himself, despite his wife's reluctance, Mitchum comes along as a friend and adviser. Tensions start to boil between the three as the Kennedy character's star rises.

I really liked this movie. Been just watching a ton of film noir over the last year or so and Mitchum and Hayward are amongst my favorites in that genre...and it certainly translates over to the Western genre as well. The movie just really gets into the topics of masculinity and who actually cares about it in its heaviest doses. Mitchum just oozes with it, even though he is just a broken down has been, while Kennedy is constantly feeling the need to prove himself. The wonderful performance is by Hayward though. While her character is kicked around quite a bit, she exudes a lot of strength.  I think of what a thankless role the worried wife seems to be in so many movies, but she is just strong enough to persevere and steal the movie.

The rodeo scenes themselves are pretty well done. Seems like the probably just used a lot of actual rodeo footage throughout to get some of the really dangerous stuff, but it is integrated almost seamlessly and builds a lot of tension throughout. 

 

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