His Girl Friday is not only the best comedy but the fastest and most intelligent. Perfectly cast actors play against the idealistic newspaper reporting backdrop, where the story becomes theme for the punchline. As perfect a presentation of improv as anything ever made, complimented by seamless direction and razor sharp editing. His Girl Friday grows in stature and humor every watch.
Reviews tagged ‘david’ by Calvin Kemph 🤠 Patron
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Dark Passage 1947
Dark Passage is a Nicecore Noir. Delmer Daves just seems to believe in humanity’s better side. It’s established in all of his side characters. They all initially want the best for the on-the-run Bogart. Especially Bacall who radiates stardom and on-screen vibrancy in his presence. Everyone works hard even at their bit parts. The doctor is great! The cabbie is so much fun! There is a pretty good grounding with the cinematography despite the experimental 40 minute start that withholds…
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Out of the Past 1947
The film has a sharp tongue and fast witted dialogue. Jane Greer’s Kathy may be our most diabolical femme fatale.
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The Treasure of the Sierra Madre 1948
Neo western that is very much alive in its feeling, tense score, and expert acting. What a joy to uncover lost feelings about this one. Sits right up there with some like The Wild Bunch as formidable examples of Westerns based out of the country. And is maybe our greatest example of that, while it careens closer to the Thriller territory as it develops its bones are of the West, as multi-disciplined as its form is.
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The Third Man 1949
The Third Man remains astonishingly inventive. The zither music swims beautifully against the bombed-out backdrop of postwar Vienna. It withholds singular magic in its setting, being an irreplaceable postcard of the postwar city, just the way it was, was ripe for its exploration of its many tunnels and underground. The fun of the movie is how it makes you wait - Welles does not come for an hour and then in the final moment - as the image leaves the…
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The Wild One 1953
This is a shocking story. It could never take place in most American towns — but it did in this one. It is a public challenge not to let it happen again.
So goes the opening title card. It would never happen again in a million years, so goes the following narration.
Like a million baby faced bad boys wouldn’t have to be their own Brando. Like the film intends to hold this question over its plot, as a matter of…
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12 Angry Men 1957
Takeaway from this viewing: Lumet shows complete expertise over spacing. We begin with high angles and center in claustrophicly over the actors, before the pressure cooker of a room cools with the rain and we level back 180-degrees from the start, and feel all the relief of total change and so many pent up emotions freed from the room. A classic by every measure.
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3:10 to Yuma 1957
Conviction story enunciated by throbbing one-stringed rhythms. A derivation of High Noon but a better-looking movie, a noir with cowboy hats, hinging on the psychology and morality of its two actors. One of the great Western stories and so easy to understand why it works, the bold Elmer Leonard story & expert, clean cinematography.
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Help! 1965
Accidentally watched this with friends (I jumped into their screening and they had the good taste to be watching this, and I had the good fortune for it to be just starting.) Now, I did think about leaving, but every gag seemed to be designed with authentic intention, the comedy mining something true and worth saying about how the Fab Four are sometimes funny and sometimes a little weirdly radical. It has several questionable moments, especially stereotyping in broad swaths…
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How the Grinch Stole Christmas! 1966
Any expansion of this story misses the point entirely. It is the very concise Seuss-driven language that is the main attraction here. There are several Christmas works that are better, but few that are so linguistically clever or inventive, creating a new character that not just works, but remains in the literary tradition of the season. How the Grinch Stole Christmas is good, because it’s short, because it’s enriched by Chuck Jones, and because it has the writing to back it up.
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The Graduate 1967
No matter how many times you’ve seen The Graduate... it always feels like the first time. It is stuffed with great character writing (Buck Henry RIP), sharply refined symbols, and the finest coming of age story of cinema. A counterculture act of generational rebellion, The Graduate is the perfectly timed ‘60s movie that gets the moment and the movement right. Exceptional and well rounded. Ben is all of us.
Having seen it many times as a young adult, watching as…