Dial M for Murder Alfred Hitchcock 1954 USA1st time; TV An ex-Tennis champion plots with an old friend to murder his wife, but his plan goes wrong and he has to backfoot… One setting, essentially, and a thriller told in two halves, the first constructing "the perfect crime" and the second re-constructing it, or deconstructing it, as a plausible work of fiction. The first half works best because everything is meticulous and convincing; the second half is interesting for its self-reflexivity, but lacks conviction and seems a rather unnecessary way to save Grace Kelly, since the cop who solves the case has no purpose or reason to do so.
From Russia With Love Terence Young 1963 UKNth time; TV SPECTRE recruit a Russian spy to kill James Bond and steal an encoding machine. Possibly the best Bond film, the second of the lot, grounded enough to be taken seriously, though marred by camp one-liners and obvious gags - it is at its best when it is being brutal, the fight scene on the train being the main attraction. There is one throwaway scene in Turkey, in which Bond is invited to watch two near-naked gyspy women settle an affair by fighting one another; it has all the crowd-stroking hilarity of a risible Russ Meyer catfight.
Tom Jones Tony Richardson 1963 UK1st time; TV In 18th century England, the adopted son of a nobleman causes havoc, follows his love to London, and is followed in turn by those who wish to hang him. On the surface there's no evident reason why this should work: a period piece which does not want to be taken seriously, high production values seem overlooked in favour of bawdy humour, and the frequent breaking of the fourth wall seems contrary to the box-office takings at the time. It is an original film, possibly or probably influenced by John Fowles's novel The French Lieutenant's Woman, with a narrator who knows everything about everyone; in turn it has possibly or probably influenced Winterbottom's Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story and Jeunet's Amelie. Energetic and exceedingly witty, its irresistible charm stems from its hero, who seems to have been directly placed from the present day into a time where society's moral tirades get in the way of simple love.
Last edited by Capo de La Cosa Nostra; 12/22/0606:15 PM.
...dot com bold typeface rhetoric. You go clickety click and get your head split. 'The hell you look like on a message board Discussing whether or not the Brother is hardcore?
