Dark Passage (1947)

Vincent Parry (Humphrey Bogart) has just escaped prison; he was incarcerated for murdering his wife.  He is on the side of the road and must risk getting a lift.  He waves down a car.  The driver is a talker and becomes increasingly suspicious of his passenger.  The radio report decides the issue.  Parry pummels the driver and steals his clothes.  Before he can abscond with the man's car, Irene Jansen (Lauren Bacall) stops in her station wagon and urges Vincent to hide under the tarp in the back.  Soon, they are back at her apartment in San Francisco and he is baffled why she has helped him.  She had attended the trial and thought he was innocent.  Thanks to some fortunate breaks, Vincent meets a plastic surgeon who offers to change his looks.  After the surgery, Parry recuperates at Irene's apartment.  Once the bandages are off, it's time to find out who really killed his wife.

The movie is awkward and the story doesn't flow well.  First, Bogart doesn't "appear" for the first half.  Either the scene is filmed from his point of view or his face is hidden in shadows.  After the surgery, he is now in view, but his face is concealed by bandages.  Next, there are the convenient and inconvenient meetings.  That Parry finds the one cabby in all of San Francisco who has a plastic surgeon friend is just a bit hard to swallow.  As far as suspects for his wife's murderer, there aren't many available from the characters we meet.  Clifton Young is quite good as the blackmailer.  Agnes Moorehead, whom I had only ever seen as Endora, Samantha's obnoxious mother on Bewitched, plays an annoying busybody who is determined to make sure everyone else is as unhappy as she is.  It is a wonder any of the characters were on speaking terms with her.  The level of paranoia is high.  That Vincent thinks he is going to be arrested any moment is fine, but that a random police officer busts his chops over a stupid comment about the races was a bit much.  That Irene sympathized with his plight was fine but falling for him was rushed.  Maybe she had a crush on him since the trial, so she was primed to fall for him.  Meh.

This is the weakest of the Bogart & Bacall movies.

Johnny Cash sings Bonanza!

Bonanza was a staple throughout my youth.  It was in syndication on KTLA (Channel 5) and I watched it regularly.  The catchy theme music has always stuck with me.  Today, I discovered there are lyrics!  Here is Johnny Cash singing Bonanza!

Recollections of Mexico and Buena Vista

In January 1847, Lt. Henry Washington Benham arrived at the mouth of the Rio Grande.  The Mexican War had been ongoing for 8 months, the most recent battle being Monterrey (September 1846).  Benham found Major General Scott appropriating much of General Taylor's army, which he planned to use for his invasion by way of Vera Cruz.  Most of the troops left to Taylor were volunteers with limited training.  Benham was to join Taylor's weakened army and even weaken it further; he was to deliver orders to send yet another regular army artillery battery to Scott.

Benham joined a wagon train bound for Monterrey and found the teamsters to be a villainous bunch who created a lot of hard feelings among the locals.  Upon reaching Monterrey, Benham joined with Captain Thomas Sherman, an artillery officer, and departed for Saltillo.  The pair arrived at General Zachary Taylor's encampment in Agua Nueva in the first week of February.  Even then, there were rumors of a massive army on the way.  On the evening of February 20th, the approaching army was confirmed.  Taylor's base at Agua Nueva was indefensible and a hasty retreat was made to the pass at Buena Vista.

As a member of the engineers of fortifications, Benham soon found himself crisscrossing the planned battlefield.  He served as a courier and scout.  He provides an account of the battle that paints a picture of competing blunders.

First, Santa Anna dispatched his cavalry to the field, assigning them to his rightwing.  However, the US Army had barely begun to take positions.  Had the Mexican cavalry pressed down the road, it would have been an immediate victory.  In fact, Taylor was not even on the battlefield yet, having withdrawn to Saltillo the previous evening.

Second, O'Brien's battery was giving the Mexican army a drubbing and had cleared an area forward of its current position.  O'Brien set to move his guns forward.  However, the volunteer regiment that served as protection for the battery, mistook the connecting of guns with horse carts as a sign of retreat.  Soon, the volunteer regiment was in flight and the Mexican army pressed into the gap.  Only the advance of the Mississippi Rifles under Jefferson Davis, Captain Sherman's artillery, and May's Dragoon squadron averted disaster.

Third, nearly a thousand Mexican cavalry got lost in the smoke of battle and found themselves hemmed in and in serious threat.  At this moment, two Mexican officers proposed a parley.  This was a ruse that bought a brief one-sided ceasefire that allowed the Mexican cavalry to escape back to the Mexican lines.

Fourth, it appeared that the Mexican army was withdrawing.  Therefore, three volunteer regiments - constituting 1500 men - advanced.  The battlefield was a series of arroyos, thus requiring the advancing troops to descend into the arroyo before climbing to the opposite ridge.  Too late they discovered that the Mexicans had vanished into an arroyo and were now descending on them from the high ground or pressing them into the open where Mexican Lancers commenced to slaughter.  This time, O'Brien's battery was captured.  Of note, his guns were recovered some months later during Scott's campaign to Mexico City.

In his brief retelling of the battle, he has criticism of both Taylor - whom he lays the blame for the charge into the arroyo - and Wool - whom he states had ordered a suicidal cavalry charge but remanded it before it was begun.  He further accuses Taylor of nearly inducing a panic by ordering Washington's battery to be ready to retreat.

During the Civil War, Benham proved to be an unreliable subordinate, who repeatedly disobeyed orders.  With that in mind, how accurate is his retelling of Buena Vista.  He wrote his recollections in 1871, noting that it was the 24th anniversary of the battle.  It is also of note that he was top of his West Point class in 1837.  Did this color his views thereafter, that he was better than others?  Generally, his writing is clear and informative.  However, he has a habit of name-dropping (he seldom fails to mention all the officers at Buena Vista who went on to be generals in the Civil War) and reporting gossip (the blundering orders of Taylor and Wool).

A short and interesting read for any student of the Mexican-American War.

One Man's Hero (1999)

On a US Army base somewhere near the Mexican border, Sgt. John Riley (Tom Berenger) visits a handful of men who will be whipped later for unnamed offenses.  They are all Catholics and mostly Irish.  Leaving them, he meets with the company captain and requests a pass to attend mass; Riley is also Irish and Catholic.  The captain is quite abusive toward the Catholics, viewing them as loyal to Rome rather than the US flag.  He sees them as traitors to England and wonders what Riley has in common with them.

"One man's hero is another man's traitor I reckon, sir," he replies.

Riley gets his pass and goes to mass.  He discovers quite a few soldiers - none of them with passes - are also attending the mass.  Part way through, the padre must leave.  The padre arrives at the US Army base to help the condemned men to pray.  Moments later, Riley and the other soldiers from the mass arrive and 'rescue' the men from their whipping.  Soon, they are in Mexico, where they are attacked by Cortina, a Mexican bandit and freedom fighter.  Riley meets Marta (Daniela Romo), a Mestizo woman, falls in love. The US deserters are housed by Cortina until the Mexican Army arrives.  Both Cortina and Riley are drafted into the Mexican Army to fight the gringos.  The Saint Patrick Battalion is formed with Major Riley in command.  They fight valiantly at Monterrey, but the US Army carries the city.  They fight again at Buena Vista (this battle is given only a vague montage that does not include General Santa Anna), before having to retreat.  They suffer ignominious defeat at Churubusco, seeing all the men either killed or captured, including Riley.  As Riley deserted before war was declared, he 'only' suffers 50 lashes and branding.  Many of the other San Patricios are hanged.  Riley returns to Cortina's mountain camp to resume his relationship with Marta.

The movie paints a picture of John Riley that does not match history.  First, he was a private, not a sergeant who was on the fast-track to the officer corps.  He had joined the US Army in 1843 and was still a private in 1846.  He did not desert as some noble effort to rescue men from a whipping, but simply swam the Rio Grande shortly after the US Army arrived across from Matamoros.  Speaking of that, the opening scene is ludicrous.  The army was camped at the Rio Grande and were mostly in tents.  Upon leaving the camp - which was near the nascent Fort Texas - they would have been met by Mexican cavalry.  The meeting with Cortina (Joaquim de Almeida) in mountains (?!) was nonsense.  Then there is the crazy idea that he was going to go back, as he was 'only AWOL, not a deserter.'  He entirely overlooked his role in assisting others to desert, during which arms were raised against the US Army. Though he was an officer of the San Patricio Battalion, he was not its commander; that was Colonel Francisco Moreno, who does not appear.  The entire side story of Riley's involvement with Cortina was pure fiction.  Also, John Riley was only 30 years old, whereas Tom Berenger was 50; perhaps that is why he was promoted to Sergeant for the script.

On other points, the story is closer to history.  The San Patricio Battalion did participate in battles of Monterrey, Buena Vista, and Churubusco.  For time and the sake of the fictional side story, the battle of Cerro Gordo was eliminated.  The battalion suffered a heavy blow at Churubusco, but was still active during the defense of Mexico City.  The captured San Patricios were indeed hanged for desertion.  This was notable as they should have faced a firing squad.

Though it was a small role, James Gammon was terrific as General Zachary Taylor.  He had the look of Old Rough and Ready and rode Old Whitey, a white horse.  Should have shaved off the mustache, but he was otherwise terrific.  Where Berenger was too old to play Riley, Patrick Bergin was too young to play General Winfield Scott.  His General Scott plays the Fuss and Feathers sobriquet as though it was the only feature of Scott.  In addition to being a brilliant general, Scott was a skilled diplomat.  The fate of the San Patricios is pinned on Scott like a scarlet letter in this telling, whereas it was only on account of Scott that Riley wasn't also hanged.  One odd thing was that none of the San Patricios, other than Riley, were historical.  A list of officers and men is available, but the makers chose not to include them.  Likewise, Captain Caine (Stephen Tobolowsky) and Lt. Colonel Benton Lacey (Mark Moses) are fictional.  Lt. Col. McIntosh commanded the 5th Infantry at the time Riley deserted.  The script has created fictional US Army officers whose sole purpose is to create sympathy for Riley; Gaine to justify desertion and Lacey to argue that Riley is a good and noble man.

The sets are disappointing.  The city of Monterrey is obviously a hastily built stage in the Mexican desert.  The battles are small scale.  It appeared that Cortina's cavalry command at the battle of Monterrey was just a couple of dozen men.  The San Patricio Battalion looks to be a score of men who operate 4 cannons.

Mediocre.  Skip.

Hawks (1988)

The movie opens with Deckermensky (Anthony Edwards) taking a test drive in a SAAB in England.  His aggressive driving is soon a cause for concern to the salesman (Geoffrey Palmer), especially when Decker detours into a quarry.  Decker orders the salesman out of the car and then races toward a cliff edge.  He hits the brakes and skids to a stop only feet from his doom.

Bancroft (Timothy Dalton) is a cancer patient in a UK hospital.  He sees that his new roommate, Decker, is asleep.  Bancroft is both charming and obnoxious, leaning more toward the obnoxious.  When Decker is awake, Bancroft is a source of both the worst of the news and also a voice to fight against the inevitable.  He is particularly harsh when Decker talks suicide.  Bancroft tells a tale of his youth when he and a band of friends called themselves the Hawks.  They were merry pranksters who sought to find humor in everything.  He recruits Decker and the pair are soon inseparable.  Bancroft decides it is time to pursue a dream that Decker mention: go to a high-end brothel in Amsterdam!  To do so, they steal an ambulance.

Elsewhere, Hazel (Janet McTeer) is having a breakdown.  She is pregnant thanks to an affair with a Dutch tourist.  Her friend, Maureen (Camille Coduri), convinces her to let the father know.  The pair set out for the Netherlands.  Sadly, Maureen's car breaks down, but an ambulance stops to assist.

The movie swings from humor to tragedy.  Cancer patients are a strange choice for the main characters of a comedy.  The strangest part was that Decker is an American Football player who happened to be in Europe for a tour.  Why has he remained in England for treatment rather than return to the US?  His parents visit but he declines to return with them.  Why?  Then there is the oddity that Bancroft is obsessed with the wife who left him in his hour of need.

Made between Dalton's two appearances as James Bond, this is huge departure from that role.  That he dons a clown nose and has rainbow hair adds to the craziness.  It has its moments, but the downs outweigh the ups.  Just okay.

Blake's 7 (series 2)

Picking up at the cliffhanger from last series, Avon demonstrates that the Liberator would have to be in an entirely different part of the galaxy to meet the prophecy.  Let's just avoid that area.  Easier said than done.  The true owners of the Liberator finally arrive to recover their advanced ship and bring it home.  Yes, it is exactly that part of the galaxy they were supposed to avoid!  All looks grim, but Orac has some tricks to make the prophecy true-ish.  The efforts to destroy the Federation escalate as do the attempts by the Federation to eliminate Blake and his band.

Unlike the typical series of the time, there is an overarching story here.  The achievements of one episode will feed into the next.  Likewise, the failures of an episode will impact later ones.  It is not the adventure du jour.  Blake has decided to destroy the central control computer of the Federation, which takes multiple episodes to discover.  In the season finale, they arrive to destroy the Star One computer only to discover that an alien invasion from another galaxy is inbound!  Now, Star One is the best defense against invasion.  The situation is so desperate that the Liberator summons the Federation fleet to assist, but they will have to start the fight alone!  See you next series.  Ha!  Another desperate cliffhanger.

Overall, this is a great series.  There is constant dissension between Blake and Avon, which is one of the best parts.  Blake is admirable for his idealism and determination, but Avon is level-headed and often has to save the day.  One of the downsides of the show is that the villains are very often dumb to allow the heroes a chance for survival.  However, this is a two-way street.  Almost as frequently, Blake allows Space Commander Travis or Supreme Commander Servalan survive when he could easily have killed them.  Far too often, he uses half-measures which both increase the risks to his crew and reduces his chance for success.

Saint Jack (1979)

Jack Flowers (Ben Gazzara) is an American living in Singapore in the early 70s.  Though he has a 'job' with Mr. Hing, his true profession is pimp.  His dream job is to run a brothel, but the locals don't like the idea of a foreigner in that position.  Jack seems to know everyone as he wanders the streets.  He makes friends easily, most notably an accountant from Hong Kong, William Leigh (Denholm Elliott).  William follows Jack on his rounds, both witnessing some girls performing for a client and fleeing from angry rivals.  Jack introduces William to the local expat community that includes Yardley (Joss Ackland) and Frogget (James Villiers); they are mostly drunk.  Speaking of alcohol, Jack lives on it.  He is repeatedly told to eat by a matronly Chinese woman and, though he agrees that she is right, pours himself a Scotch.  When things look particularly bleak for Jack, CIA operative Eddie Schuman (Peter Bogdanovich) provides a jackpot opportunity: run a brothel that caters to US servicemen on leave.  Schuman also offers a big score if Jack can get embarrassing photos of a visiting senator (George Lazenby).

Jack is the movie.  There are twists and turns, opportunities and setbacks, successes and tragedies along the way, but not much of a plot.  It is the exploration of the life of a genial but immoral man.  For a man out to make a fortune, he is astonishingly generous.  He gave away the watch he was wearing to a random prostitute so she could gift it to a boyfriend, he offered a music box to another woman he has just met, he buys drinks for virtually anyone he encounters, and yet he is often in financial difficulty that he sold his car.  At one point, he encounters Katie, who says the kids asked about him.  Whoa, he has an ex-wife and kids that he never contacts.  Interesting.  His friendship with William is an annual thing that has three instances.  When in Singapore to check Mr. Hing's books, William and Jack are best friends.  William has plans of returning to England before much longer, but it often seems as though he has a lot more to say but is unwilling to say it.  There is a deeper backstory to William that is only hinted at.

Gazzara is good in the role, managing to be quite likeable for a pimp.  Other than Denholm Elliott, none of the other characters are fleshed out.  It was funny to see George Lazenby, the man who abandoned James Bond after one outing, playing the small role of a US Senator looking for a good time.

Skip.

Marnie (1964)

A raven-haired woman walks down the railway platform with a yellow bag under her arm.  The scene switches to Sidney Strutt who explains to a pair of officers that he has been robbed by a recently-hired employee, a raven-haired beauty named Marion Holland.  He is still detailing the thief when Mark Rutland (Sean Connery) arrives on business.  Strutt tells him about the robbery and even says that he pointed Marion out to him on an earlier visit.  Rutland nods, remembering the attractive woman.  The rave-haired woman dyes her hair blonde and resumes her true name, Marnie Edgar (Tippi Hedren).  She visits her mother, with whom she has a loveless relationship.  Sometime later, an auburn-haired "Mary Taylor" arrives at Rutland & Co. to apply as payroll clerk.  Though she has only one reference, Mark Rutland instructs Sam Ward to hire her.  Mark takes a particular interest in her, taking her to the horse races and introducing her to his father.  Clearly, Mark suspects that she is Marion Holland, which is confirmed when she disappears with the money in the safe of Mr. Ward's office.  However, Mark has learned enough to track her down and catch her.  Now he has her, and he intends to keep her.  Moreover, he wants to know why she is the way she is.

Here is a story about a psychologically damaged woman.  Marnie hates men, distrusts people, and has no compunction about lying or stealing.  That she fears lightning, abhors the color red, and often suffers nightmares is just a mystery to her.  Mark, the amateur Freud, hired her as a curiosity, but has since come to love her despite her hostility.  Can he untangle her psychological issues before she runs away again.  He is certain that the next person to catch her will not be as understanding as him; no, next time will be prison.

A middle of the road Hitchcock movie.  Worthwhile if only to see Connery play something other than a gun-wielding action hero.  It was quite funny to see Alfred Pennyworth (Alan Napier) from the Batman TV series (1966-68) playing Sean Connery's father.  Just okay.

Censorship Confirmed

Twitter acting by itself to suppress free speech is not a 1st amendment violation, but acting under orders from the government to suppress free speech, with no judicial review, is

Elon Musk

The Twitter Files have been posted, at least in part, and it shows collusion between Twitter and the Biden Campaign.  After Biden's election, it shows continued collusion to silence critics.  In fact, indications are that both parties had access to backdoor channels to censor Twitter posts.  Censorship by proxy.  That the town square of the modern era is hosted on private platforms has created an incentive toward censorship.  As Musk says, Twitter has every right to censor users for whatever reason.  However, once government enters the picture, censorship becomes the tool of a tyrant.  China, Iran, and North Korea have strong controls on what the people may read or hear, the better to control their views.

How might 2020 have played out if the playing field was level?  90% plus of stories on Trump were negative.  In the case of the Hunter Biden laptop, the media buried the story rather than have a negative story against Biden.  Would it have made a difference?  MAGA folks say it would have made all the difference.  Maybe.  In any case, those who spiked the story certainly thought it would make a difference.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022)

The story opens with Kraglin (Sean Gunn) explaining how Yondu (Michael Rooker) had ruined Christmas for a homesick young Peter Quill (Chris Pratt).  As it is currently the Christmas season on Earth, Mantis (Pom Klementieff) wants to treat Peter to a great Christmas.  She enlists Drax in her plan.  What gift could they get Peter?  Well, Peter has often spoken of a hero back on Earth.  Yes, they will bring Kevin Bacon as a Christmas present!  Thus decided, Drax and Mantis travel to Earth where they have a hilarious adventure as they hunt for Kevin Bacon.  Also joining the fun are Nebula (Karen Gillan), Groot (Vin Diesel), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), and an alien band with a Christmas song that misunderstands everything about the yuletide season.

Highly recommended.

Gold (1974)

Deep underground at the Sonderditch gold mine in South Africa, a team drills into rock and plants explosives.  Something goes horribly wrong and the men are trapped under a cave-in.  Underground Manager Rod Slater (Roger Moore) arrives at the mine and demands to know what has happened and why the mine's general manager was involved in the project; the general manager is administrative.  King (Simon Sabela), a senior miner, was key in rescuing many of the injured.  King and Slater bond during the crisis.  Meanwhile, Director Steyner (Bradford Dillman) is nervous that his plot to flood the mine may be revealed.  Manfred Steyner is married to Terry (Susannah York), who happens to be the granddaughter of Hurry Hirschfeld (Ray Milland), the owner of the mine.  Oh, the tangled web!

The villains and their dastardly plot to flood the mine and thus raise the price of gold is revealed from the start.  The movie shows how they plan to do it and whether it can be stopped.  Moore is his usual charming self, though with a troubled backstory of brawling, college expulsion, an ex-wife who takes a third of his salary, and an illegitimate child that costs him as well.  Of course, beyond hearing about these facts, none of it influences the rest of the movie.  With his history of womanizing, his initial fling with Terry looked to be in character until it turned serious.  Bradford Dillman is terrific as an oily executive, a role that he repeated in a couple of Dirty Harry films.  That the character has an aversion to cigarette smoke and is constantly washing his hands was a great quirk.  John Gielgud has a role as the chief conspirator, but is only seen in Europe or North America.  Steyner is his agent in the field.

The first film that Roger Moore made after becoming James Bond (Live & Let Die - 1973).  Of interest, Steven Spielberg was the first choice for director, but Moore vetoed the choice!  Instead, Peter Hunt - who had directed On her Majesty's Secret Service - was selected.

A competent and enjoyable thriller and good popcorn fun.