The Maltese Falcon

1941 - Dir: John Huston - 1 hours 36 minutes

Shown at The FeckenOdeon on 27th October, 2012

The great American film critic Roger Ebert (of the Chicago Sun-Times) sums this film up:

"Among the movies we not only love but treasure, The Maltese Falcon stands as a great divide. Of course film noir was waiting to be born. It was already there in the novels of Dashiell Hammett, who wrote The Maltese Falcon, and the work of Raymond Chandler. ''Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean,'' wrote Chandler, and that was true of his hero Philip Marlowe (another Bogart character). But it wasn't true of Hammett's Sam Spade, who was mean, and who set the stage for a decade in which unsentimental heroes talked tough and cracked wise."

 

• This was the first film directed by John Huston who continued to make daring and stylish films for the next 40 years including "The African Queen", "The Misfits" and finally, before his death in 1987, "The Dead" - which featured his daughter Angelica.
• This is Humphrey Bogart’s defining movie - up to this point he’d survived on a diet of B picture gangster roles but this gave him the opportunity to create his signature character. Bogart was one of Hollywood’s finest craftsmen and starred in 73 films over 29 years.
• This film contains the first screen appearance of Sydney Greenstreet, a distinguished actor, who had worked in the London and New York theatre since 1902. Throughout his stage career, his parts ranged from musical comedy to Shakespeare, and years of such versatile acting on two continents led to many offers to appear in films. He refused until he was offered this part at the age of 62. His movie career lasted just 8 years but in that short time he starred in 23 films. He died in 1954. He was a large man and it is said that Jabba the Hutt in Star Wars was based on him.
• A second Maltese Falcon had to be made after Bogart dropped the original during the first few days of filming.

Hellzapoppin

1941 - Dir: H.C.Potter - 1 hours 24 minutes

Shown at The FeckenOdeon on 27th October, 2012

Made in the same year as "The Maltese Falcon" this was an even greater success at the box office. It’s based on a hit Broadway show that caught the mood of a public intent on having a laugh just in case the future proved to be nothing to laugh at at all. Its free-flow form, jumps in logic, machine gun one-liners and general madcappery set the pace for many comedies and TV shows in the USA and beyond. The original stage production was part musical comedy, part revue, with wild sight gags, zany props, audience participation sequences, dirty jokes, and never-ending gunshots. There was no plot, and in fact no two performances were exactly alike. When Hellzapoppin' was optioned by Universal, the original intention was to film the play as it stood (minus the more ribald one-liners), but the studio got cold feet and grafted on a conventional plot and romantic interest….an idea sent up in the opening sequence. The inclusion of A list stars like Martha Raye and Mischa Auer were obviously intended to add polish and gloss - and vaudeville old hands Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson take great glee in scuffing the gloss and roughing up the polish. It remains unique - a delightful outpouring of anarchy joyfully debunking the Hollywood myths of style, refinement and perfection. Go home Stinky!

Salmon Fishing in The Yemen

2012 - Dir: Lasse Hallström

Shown at The FeckenOdeon on 19th October, 2012

The Yemen Tourism Promotion Board said they had been "inundated" with requests about the Western Asian country following the cinema release of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. Benjamin Carey, Yemen Tourism's UK spokesman said : "There's been a real surge in visitors to our website since the film. One negative is that salmon fishing isn't actually that popular in Yemen, but there are excellent sea fishing opportunities in the country. Also, unfortunately the EU is currently advising against travel to Yemen, which we think is excessive. Some places are very hospitable….. but I wouldn't advise people to go to certain places at this time."

The book upon which this film based was partly a satire on the Blair government but the message has been softened - the main relic here of that intent is Kristin Scott Thomas’s hilarious turn as the prime minister’s press adviser. Some commentators have speculated that has been adjusted to scoop the same "grey pound" as the highly lucrative "Best Exotic Marigold Hotel". As tonight’s audience is likely to exactly fit that bill we can only thank the producers for recognising that we exist. Perhaps the message may at last get through to the major studios that older folk like a night out at the movies just as much as their grandkids do…. Interestingly "Salmon Fishing" veers away from the book in much the same way "Marigold" did. Both of them are more downbeat on the page than they are on the screen. That’s not to say that the films aren’t good in their own right - perhaps we need a cheerier view in these depressing times.

Lasse Hallström made his name directing videos for Abba (somebody had to!) But broke into the mainstream with the Oscar nominated "My Life as a Dog" (1985). His first English language success was "What’s Eating Gilbert Grape" (1993) - an atmospheric and moving account of life in rural America which kick started the careers of Leonardo DiCaprio and Johnny Depp (shown in FeckenOdeon 2 in 2010). Other notable Hallström films include "The Shipping News", "The Cider House Rules" and "Chocolat". It has been said that Mr Hallström is too serious a soul to direct a comedy and indeed one could wish for a lighter touch - perhaps his association with the perpetrators of "Mamma Mia" and "Super Trouper" scarred him for life?

Ewan McGregor gives a solid workmanlike performance but the undoubted star of this film is Kristen Scott-Thomas - demonstrating that she’s heading for at least The Peggy Mount Award for services to the great tradition of Women of Character (Comedy). Ms Scott-Thomas (or Mme Oliviennes in real life) has lived in France since she was 19, speaks fluent French and has a dual career playing funny British women and sultry French temptresses. She has been awarded both the O.B.E. and the Legion d’Honneur.