My Week of Movie Watching

A Life at Stake – Mediocre Noir from 1954 concerns a struggling architect (Keith Andes) who falls into a business relationship with a wealthy man and his sultry wife (Angela Lansbury), and quickly deduces that he will be targeted for murder for insurance money. This one is mainly notable for the peculiar casting of Lansbury as a femme fatale. Andes was an interesting actor – Handsome and virile, he never really got a role that could have put him over the top. He is the main problem here, because his character is so curt and unlikeable that you don’t have any rooting interest in him. As well, there’s a sidebar romance with Lansburys’ younger sister (Claudia Barret) that is pretty superfluous. As Film Noirs go, you can do a lot better. Go and watch Double Indemnity if you want an insurance Noir.

The Truth about Women - Rom/Com/Drama from 1957. Laurence Harvey plays a man telling the story of his romantic life to the boyfriend of his daughter. The story is told in chapters, and includes a radical new-age woman who wants to live together first, a Turkish slave girl, and a married Parisian aristocrats. In plot and narration style, the film reminds one a bit of Powell and Pressburgers’ The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. It is not quite in that league, but it is an enjoyable watch. Harvey is good, and is much warmer and more engaging here than he often was in other roles. Recommended.

L’Avventura – I hadn’t seen Antonioni’s masterpiece for a few years, and wanted to look at it again in anticipation of doing a commentary on The Passenger. I feel that you get a little more each time you come back to this film. This time, my attention was drawn to how the landscape and surroundings mesh with the mood of loneliness and spiritual emptiness. The rugged rock of the island and sterile abandoned buildings are both used to induce feelings of smallness and despair. For most of the film, there are just one or two characters in the composition. In those few instances where there are multiple people, the film uses the crush and hubbub to create a feeling of unease, such as when Claudia (Monica Vitti) is swarmed by dozens of leering men, or when Claudia and Sandro (Gabriele Fazetti) are in a crowded hotel, and the background conversations intrude on them (and us). Not the easiest film to warm to, but worth the effort. Highly recommended.

Spies – Early silent effort from the great Fritz Lang. Spies concerns a race between police and a nest of Russian spies to obtain a treaty which may lead to war. At the centre of the story is a romance between a cop (Willy Fritsch) and a beautiful spy (Gerda Maurus). This one is long – over 2 hours – and honestly dragged for me in a couple of spots. On the plus side, it contains a lot of the same visual artistry that marked Metropolis. Worth a look.