Some Like It Hot
Ranked the #1 comedy by the American Film Institute, legendary director Billy Wilder and writer I.A.L. Diamond collaborated to create this daring comedy classic that challenged the repressive atmosphere of the 50’s. At a time when censorship and decorum reigned supreme, this film tackled sexuality head on with hilarious gender bending antics that few films have come close to topping.
The story begins in prohibition Chicago during the Roarin’ Twenties where two down-on-their-luck musicians (Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon) run afoul of gangsters and have to take it on the road disguised as female musicians in an all-girl band on its way to the sunbelt. TC and JL in drag should be entertaining enough, but Wilder has added Marilyn Monroe as the band’s sexy, bombshell vocalist who hopes to marry a millionaire when they arrive to play at a Florida resort. TC decides to court MM disguised as an oil fortune heir (with the perfectly mimicked voice of Carey Grant) and the deception and entanglements mount till the gangsters arrive for a convention and the movie takes on the feel of a slapstick silent movie.
Anyone starved in the 90’s for a good script will revel in the clever, risque dialogue, peppered with sexual innuendo and double entendres, and the superb acting by all of its stars. And while not a musical, it features several wonderful performances by MM and the soundtrack throughout is “hot”.
Had it not been running against one of the biggest Oscar winners of all time, Ben Hur, it would surely have garnered more trophies from its 6 nominations than its single award for best costumes.
Extras include a very candid Tony Curtis reminiscing with Leonard Maltin about Monroe and Wilder and how he and Lemmon developed their female personas.
Apocalypse Now
Fans of Francis Ford Coppola’s, Apocalypse Now, will be pleased to know that he has buffed up his masterpiece on the Vietnam War and re-released it at this years Cannes Film Festival as Apocalypse Now Redux, adding nearly an hour of additional footage. Despite all the criticisms that it is indulgent, over ambitious and flawed, I think more of this movie has to be a good thing. It is still the best “art film” on the subject of war and its impact has not waned over more than 20 years.
The story of its making is Hollywood legend; from the epic shooting schedule and the typhoon that destroyed the sets in the Phillipines, to the rampant drug use on set, near fatal heart-attack of star Martin Sheen and Marlon Brando’s bloated appearance and salary of $1 million. (All of this, by the way, brilliantly recorded in a documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Film Maker’s Apocalypse which is in itself a highly entertaining film. Here’s to hoping it ends up as an extra on the new release when it hits DVD.)
The movie itself is a surreal evocation of the horror and madness of war, as U.S. Army assassin Capt. Willard (Sheen) is tasked to “terminate” a rogue officer Col. Kurtz (Brando) who has apparently gone mad in the jungles of Cambodia and is accused of murder. As Willard makes his physical and mental journey up river, he wrestles with the moral dilemmas of war and the realization that he may find himself in the same head space as Kurtz.
“Charging a man with murder in this place was like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500.”
Coppola masterfully orchestrates scene after scene of surreal genius, with an Oscar going to cinematographer Vittorio Storaro for his outstanding visuals. Something I’ve always enjoyed about this film are the distinctive voices of its male leads: Sheen’s dead-pan narration; Robert Duvall’s (Best Actor) gung-ho enthusiasm as Col. Kilgore; Dennis Hopper’s drug adled babble; and, of course, Brando, at his mumbling, mesmerizing best. Though he is not on screen long, Brando is a powerful presence, looming in the shadows at the edge of light and dark, good and evil.
Flawed? Who cares! This is one of the great movies of all time.
