Monthly Archives: June 2026

The Front Page (1974)

Posted on June 29, 2026 | Leave a comment

By Richard Winters

My Rating: 6 out of 10

4-Word Review: Reporters covering an execution.

In 1928 Chicago convicted killer Earl Williams (Austin Pendleton) is set to be put to death over the accidental shooting of a police officer. All the reporters from the press are there set to cover it as it happens except for Hildy (Jack Lemmon) who plans on getting married to Peggy (Susan Sarandon) and get out of the reporting business once and for all much to the chagrin of his tenacious editor Walter (Walter Matthau). Problems ensue when Earl escapes from his cell. All the other reporters take to the streets presuming he must be hiding somewhere in the city, but instead he breaks into the press room when only Hildy was there. Hildy soon realizes that Earl isn’t the cold-blooded killer that everyone has made him out to be and decides to jump back into being a reporter to cover the big scope just as his fiancée sits outside in a taxi waiting to take him away on a train to their honeymoon.

The film is based on the 1928 hit stage play of the same name that was remade into a movie twice before this one and then once after in 1988. While this one isn’t as poor as the 80’s version, which starred Burt Reynolds and Kathleen Turner, it isn’t as good as the first two. This version, which director Billy Wilder later admitted he wasn’t proud of, is rather slow and doesn’t manage to hit its stride until the second hour. I remember watching His Girl Friday, which was the second film version, and finding each and every scene and line of dialogue to be hilarious while here there’s only a sprinkle of occasional laughs. Part of the problem is that the older versions had a rapid fire pace, but in this movie, everything is slowed down and stagy and the blame could be put squarely on Wilders as he insisted all the words of dialogue needed to be heard clearly versus having overlapping conversations where one character would occasionally talk over or interrupt the other, which would’ve helped the scenes move along faster.

Lemmon is only funny when the characters he plays are in some sort of anxious bind and he responds to it in a nervous, hyper sort of way. Here though he’s way too relaxed. He walks into the scene like he’s not even a part of the cast. While everyone else is frantic to get an edge on the story he sits back like he’s more of an observer who really doesn’t have anything to do with the main plot, and the contrast is not humorous or interesting. It would’ve been better had he still wanted to cover the story, but his soon-to-be wife wouldn’t let him and thus there could’ve been a funny balancing act of him trying to keep her happy while still trying to do his job behind her back.

The film also suffers from the miscasting of Carol Burnett, who has later admitted to this being one of her weakest performances. The problem is that she’s too one dimensional coming off like some angry, emotional woman who has nothing funny to say. Had it been played by a younger woman with a physical appeal who could’ve elicited her lines in a softer way that would’ve made her seem less embittered. Switching the roles where Susan Sarandon played Molly who could’ve conveyed a less angry inflection while Burnett could’ve shined as the nagging fiancée, which she’s more adept at.

The rest of the supporting is the one thing that helps keep it afloat. Matthau again scores, but more for his body language like the scene where he gives Sarandon a knowing stare down when it finally hits her that deep down the man she wants to marry is really more in love with his job. David Wayne is amusing as an effeminate reporter who drinks his liquor with a straw and Vincent Gardenia steals every scene he’s in as a hyper nervous Sheriff though in the end it’s probably Austin Pendleton that I liked best if only for the moment where he smiles into the camera as his picture is being taken despite the fact that he’s only hours away from being executed.

My Rating: 6 out of 10

Released: December 18, 1974

Runtime: 1 Hour 45 Minutes

Rated PG

Director: Billy Wilder

Studio: Universal

Available: DVD, Blu-ray, Amazon Video. YouTube

 

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Posted in 70's Movies, Black Comedy, Movies Based on Stageplays, Movies that take place in Chicago, Remakes

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Endangered Species (1982)

Posted on June 23, 2026 | Leave a comment

By Richard Winters

My Rating: 4 out of 10

4-Word Review: Investigating mysterious cattle mutilations.

Ruben (Robert Urich) is a recovering alcoholic who quits his job as a cop and decides to move to rural Colorado with his teenaged daughter MacKenzie (Marin Kanter).  Along the way their vehicle breaks down in the small-town of Buffalo.  They decide to make their temporary home there and Ruben meets up with Harriet (JoBeth Williams) the newly elected sheriff. He learns that she’s investigating, with the help of local newspaper reporter Joe (Paul Dooley), some mysterious cattle mutilations that has been plaguing the area. Ruben, who grows fond of her, helps her in the pursuit for answers and comes to determine that it may have something to do with a nearby abandoned military complex as well as a neighboring cattle baron Ben (Hoyt Axton) who seems awfully worried about anyone snooping around.

The film’s direction, done by the still budding Alan Rudolph, is probably the best thing to recommend about what’s otherwise a pedestrian story. I liked the soundtrack, which despite the setting being quite rural, has a cool sci-fi vibe, and the grainy cinematography gives it a documentary feel. Rudolph’s use of capturing dialogue, which was clearly inspired by his mentor Robert Altman, is cool too as the camera will focus on one person, but we’ll hear the conversation of two other characters who are not in the shot. Unfortunately, the plot is unimaginative, and the mystery portion becomes too obvious.

Urich is miscast in the lead, the part was intended for Robert Mitchum who would’ve been far superior. Urich’s a nice guy and all, but not convincing as a brash, hard-edge cop making his entire performance come off as affected. His character arch, which focuses on an alcoholic trying to redeem himself, both with his career and relationship with his daughter, is too formulaic to be either gripping, or compelling though it’s interesting to hear him casually utter the slur ‘faggot’ at one point as it would be impossible for someone in a movie today to say that and still be deemed the hero.

I also didn’t feel an outsider was needed here as Urich seems to come up with all the clues that you’d think somebody living in the town would’ve deduced far earlier. A good example is when he follows some trucks to the military complex and starts to connect this to the cattle killings, but any other resident could’ve done this too and most likely would’ve. Most small-town people are characteristically suspicious of government agencies, so knowing that there was an abandoned federal outpost nearby would’ve made that area number one on their suspect list and would not have required the assistance of some big city cop to get them there.

Jobeth looks awkward and uncomfortable in her police uniform. I dug the idea of having a female sheriff, which hasn’t been done too much, so it offers a unique angle, but it approaches it in an illogical way. For instance, it has her attempting to break up a male bar fight by her trying to somehow tackle one of the men, who immediately fling her away as if she were a rag doll and it looks as pathetic as it sounds. Clearly, she should’ve gone into that with some backup by male deputies, or a taser, but for her to go in it alone and think somehow, she can ‘handle it’ makes both her and the film look like it has no common sense.

I will though give some credit to the scene where Urich is in her shower and he makes a pass at her and she in returns gives him a gut punch, which was unexpected as I was afraid it was going to turn into some sort of sappy, stereotypical love scene, which does occur later, but I at least enjoyed the momentary attempt to go against the grain.

Spoiler Alert!

I did enjoy Axton’s bad guy part. He performance isn’t anything spectacular and his poisoning moments, where he brushes his teeth with a contaminated toothbrush that causes his gums to bleed looks more like he’s just swishing around red Kool aid in his mouth. I also thought it was ridiculous that Urich would force Axton to drive the pick-up at gunpoint when he was clearly in a weakened and distressed state that could’ve killed them both. However, his death scene, where he kneels on the highway and has his abdomen burst out of his body, is awesome and the film’s best moment though it could’ve been extended.

The ending unfortunately offers no resolution. It has the night helicopters of the bad guys flying away while JoBeth and Urich remain on the ground watching helplessly. To sit through nearly 2-hours of this thing, which is at times a bit slow, there needed to be more of a finale. Preferably nabbing the baddies and breaking open the case and the fact that this doesn’t happen makes the whole thing feel like one big waste of time.

My Rating: 4 out of 10

Released: September 10, 1982

Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes

Rated R

Director: Alan Rudolph

Studio: MGM

Available: DVD, Blu-ray, Amazon Video, YouTube

 

 

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Posted in 80's Movies, Movies Based on Conspiracy Theories, Movies with a rural setting, Mystery, Thrillers/Suspense

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Number One with a Bullet (1987)

Posted on June 15, 2026 | Leave a comment

By Richard Winters

My Rating: 2 out of 10

4-Word Review: Mismatched cops fight pushers.

Nick (Robert Carradine) is a renegade cop who plays by his own rules and uses unorthodox ways to not only nab the bad guys but also getting them to confess. He gets matched up with Frank (Billy Dee Williams) who’s more on the cultured side and enjoys the company of beautiful women. They are assigned to transport a known snitch named Boudreau (Alex Rebar) so that he can help the cops identify dangerous drug dealers, but before he can give any names he gets killed forcing the two to use their local leads to get them inside information as to who the hit man was and who ordered it.

Initially I thought this was a rip-off of Lethal Weapon as it has the same basic storyline and set-up and since it was produced by the Cannon Group, whose output of movies were never that original anyways, it seemed to make sense, but to my shock this one actually was filmed first, in April-May of 1986, while the other one was shot in the fall of ’86. Either way it’s basically the same thing though the one with Mel Gibson/Danny Glover fares a bit better.

The main complaint here is the over-the-top nuttiness of the Carradine character, that was originally meant to be played by James Belushi who might’ve been better. It’s not so much that Carradine gives a bad performance, he actually does okay for what’s asked, but as a protagonist I really couldn’t stand the guy. I didn’t see him as a ‘hero’ but more of a problem. His interrogation of the suspects is just plain ridiculous and at one point hangs a guy upside down from a tall building and then just leaves him there. I realize with Dirty Harry it made cops who do these things seem ‘cool’, but in reality, it would and should get them into a lot of trouble and the fact that he’s constantly able to get away with it with almost no consequence except some minor exacerbation from their superior, played by Peter Graves, just makes the thing even more absurd. The truth is if these suspects got a good lawyer than all the information that they stated while being tortured would’ve been thrown out since it was under extreme duress when they gave it, so then Carradine’s ‘tough guy’ efforts would’ve become more of a detriment and not a solution as it gets portrayed here.

Aside from this he’s also just a complete jerk especially with the way he treats he’s so-called friend and buddy Williams. For instance, when they’re up in a plane, Williams tries to meditate since he has a fear of flying, but instead of showing him any sympathy Carradine just makes a joke out of it. He also ruins one of his potential dates by insinuating to the lady that Williams was gay, which makes you wonder with friends like these who needs enemies. Carradine’s relationship with his ex, played by Valerie Bertanelli, is creepy too. He comes off more like a stalker who can’t move on and in need of a restraining order to keep him away.

What tops it off even more is the blandness of the bad guys as they all take the term cliche to new heights. The stereotypes are so strong here it becomes literally cartoonish and almost like an unintended parody. They acted and looked the same. Each new one they came upon seemed just like the last one and I ended up not caring whether they ever were able to bring in the kingpin or not and the tired, overused scenario just gets more irrelevant and boring as it goes on.

I did feel that Billy Dee Williams was fantastic and likable and had the movie just been centered around him, without the stupid ‘psycho’ sidekick, I probably would’ve enjoyed this better. He gets horribly underused as Carradine is given most of the screentime when it should’ve been in reverse. The jazz score is good too, but other than that there’s nothing to recommend. It’s just another B-rate 80’s cop comedy/drama that adds nothing to what was already a tired formula.

My Rating: 2 out of 10

Released: February 27, 1987

Runtime: 1 Hour 43 Minutes

Rated R

Director: Jack Smight

Studio: The Cannon Group

Available: DVD, Blu-ray, Tubi

 

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Posted in 80's Movies, Black Comedy, Buddy Movies, Police Drama

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Five Days One Summer (1982)

Posted on June 9, 2026 | Leave a comment

By Richard Winters

My Rating: 6 out of 10

4-Word Review: Mountain climbing with niece.

The year is 1932 and a Scottish doctor by the name of Douglas (Sean Connery) arrives in the Swiss Alps for a vacation with a young woman named Kate (Betsy Brantley) whom he introduces as his wife. The truth though is that she’s really his niece and the two have run off together for a few weeks so that they can endeavor in their affections without the prying eyes of Sarah (Jennifer Hilary) who Douglas is actually married to. The two hire a guide by the name of Johann (Lambert Wilson) to help them climb the mountains. He eventually becomes aware of Kate and Douglas’ ‘arrangement’ and tries to convince her to leave him, which she starts to consider after realizing that Douglas isn’t quite the man she thought he was, but when she brings up the topic of breaking up Douglas refuses to listen insisting that despite the wide age gap the two are ‘perfect’ for each other. Johann then comes to the conclusion that it’s up to him to make Douglas change his mind and plans on doing it while guiding him up the steep climb of Maiden Mountain.

This marked the last film to be directed by the legendary Fred Zinnemann and while the story itself is weak the climbing segments are both breathtaking and intense. The actors were forced to do many of the stunts themselves and everything is quite authentic with nothing done inside a studio or in front of a green screen. The bird’s-eye shots inside an icy canyon that Connery almost falls down into and which Johann spots the shoe of a dead body, is visually impressive and helps the movie standout. If you watch the film for only these moments you should still go away quite entertained and enthralled.

As for the script, which is based on the short story ‘Maiden, Maiden’ by Kay Boyle, it doesn’t work as well. The source of the problem stems with how Kate falls for Douglas. The film fails to have any adequate explanation for why she ‘loves’ him so much and the fact that she starts having these feelings for him as a young child, even though he is already a full-grown adult, ceases to make much sense. Children can certainly like adults in their lives for a variety of reasons, but it’s usually through admiration, or respect, but not as somebody they want to be with romantically. Here though, even while under the age of 10, she’s quite possessive of him and very upset when he leaves, which makes it more like a weird obsession and that she has psychological issues.

Had it been centered around some sort of event, like Douglas had saved her from an animal attack, or accident, or fire, as a teenager and she started to have feelings for him that way, it might’ve been easier to buy into. Or, she could’ve been shown dating men her age, but finding them to be immature and irresponsible, and thus she turns to Douglas because of his money and prestige, but the film doesn’t show or elude to either of these scenarios and thus making Kate a very weird one-dimensional, enigma that at times even comes-off as creepy and unhinged particularly as she angrily glares at Douglas’ wife when she first meets her.

Connery’s character isn’t so great either. It’s hard to sympathize with a guy who beds his brother’s daughter and openly cheats on his wife while she’s living with him in the same home. Johann, the guide is also off-putting. He’s stiff and robotic showing little emotion except for anger and frustration, so the viewer doesn’t care much for him as well and thus by the third act with no one to really root for you become detached from the proceedings causing the climactic finish to have no impact at all.

Spoiler Alert!

The photography at the end is still quite good, but what should’ve been gripping, like watching the two hang on for dear life while boulders and rocks slide down the mountainside all around them, fails to elicit much concern because they’re both unlikable. Seeing one of them fall from the mountain is realistic looking, it resembles even at a distance, a real man and not a dummy, but being coy as to which man it was, didn’t really heighten the tension, or suspense, making this come-off more like a misfire despite the amazing action and cinematography.

My Rating: 6 out of 10

Released: November 12, 1982

Runtime: 1 Hour 48 Minutes

Rated PG

Director: Fred Zinnemann

Studio: Warner Brothers

Available: DVD-R (Warner Archive Collection), Amazon Video, YouTube

 

 

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Posted in 80's Movies, British Movies, Cold Climate/Wintertime Movies, Drama, Foreign Films, Movies Based on Short Stories, Movies with a Hotel setting, Outdoors

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