The Heroes of Telemark (1965) - Excitement abounds in boy's dream K. Douglas war adventure

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A fabulous painted poster full of scenes of drama and action for Anthony Mann's The Heroes of Telemark

The story of how the German lead on the nuclear front during World War II in their hydro plant in Norway was stopped in the last second by Norwegian resistance fighters and British soldiers.

 

The Heroes of Telemark is written by Ben Barzman (Oasis (1955)), Ivan Moffat (Giant (1956)) and Harold Pinter (Reunion (1989)), based on the novels Skis Against the Atom (1953) by Knut Haukelid and But for These Men (1962) by John Drummond, and directed by Anthony Mann (Dr. Broadway (1942)).

Kirk Douglas (Spartacus (1960)) is a fantastic scientist/old pig here, who only thinks of himself, but who (of course) transforms into the greatest hero of the Telemark nonetheless. (Telemark is a region in Southern Norway.) As a Norwegian he is, naturally, incredibly unbelievable, and his greased-up hairdo doesn't move a quarter of an inch throughout the truth-based action adventure.

At one moment black and white footage of planes are placed in the film in what comes off as a silly ploy. But otherwise this is a highly thrilling war movie in the vein of The Guns of Navarone (1961) and Where Eagles Dare (1968). It may be second to those films, but The Heroes of Telemark has a rare and exciting cross-country skiing chase that puts the nerves on alert!

 

Related posts:

Anthony Mann: El Cid (1961) - Charlton Heston unites Spain in Mann's glorious epic 

Cimarron (1960) - A fine epic western settler adaptation 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 5-5.6 mil. $ (different reports)

Box office: 1.65 mil. $ (North-American rentals; according to Variety, 1967)

= Uncertain

[The Heroes of Telemark premiered 23 November (London) and runs 130 minutes. Shooting took place from November 1964 - ? in England and Norway, including in Oslo. The North-American rental gross listed above says little about the actual box office gross. The film was among the 15th highest-grossing of the year in the UK. William Darby's Anthony Mann biography records that the film made "modest box office business". Mann returned with A Dandy in Aspic (1968). Douglas returned in The Lucy Show (1966, TV-series) and theatrically in Cast a Giant Shadow (1966); Richard Harris (Ravagers (1979)) in The Bible: In the Beginning... (1966). 7.1k+ IMDb users have given The Heroes of Telemark a 6.5/10 average rating.]

 

What do you think of The Heroes of Telemark? 

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) - Lancaster/Douglas nearly burn through the celluloid in Sturges' iconic western

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A star-touting, hot-colored poster for John Sturges' Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

In a little small town in the West the sheriff Wyatt Earp rides in and gets mixed up in the local troubles of Doc Holliday.

 

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral is written by Leon Uris (Battle Cry (1955)), inspired by the actual 1881 gunfight and 1954 Holiday magazine article The Killer by George Scullin, and directed by John Sturges (The Man Who Dared (1946)).

It opens with a beautiful credits sequence and the wonderful title theme by Dmitri Tiomkin (score) (Rio Bravo (1959)) and Ned Washington (lyrics) (High Noon (1952)), sung by Frankie Laine (Thunder in the East (1952)). Burt Lancaster (The Scalphunters (1968)) and Kirk Douglas (Top Secret Affair (1957)) are splendid together in a radiant production.

Entanglements and romance prolong the film beyond what was necessary, and some of its magic is thus lost. But Gunfight at the O.K. Corral is still an iconic, style-assured western that's as near to becoming a caricature and a pastiche on itself as it possibly can without actually being one.

 

Related posts:

John Sturges:  The Eagle Has Landed (1976) - Sturges' enjoyable, last man's adventure
Chino/Valdez, Il Mezzosangue/Valdez the Half BreedThe Valdez Horses (1973) - Bronson is his own man only in Sturges' good spaghetti western 

The Great Escape (1963) - Sturges' further manly exploits in war-adventure classic 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 2 mil. $

Box office: 10.7 mil. $ (likely North America alone)

= Some uncertainty but at least a big hit (returned at least 5.35 times its cost)

[Gunfight at the O.K. Corral premiered 29 May (New York) and runs 122 minutes. Shooting took place from March - May 1956 in Arizona, including Phoenix, and in California, including Los Angeles. The film includes countless historical inaccuracies. It reportedly earned 4.7 mil. $ on its first run and 6 mil. $ on a re-release; it is unclear but likely that this was just in North America, meaning that the world gross was likely in the 15-17 mil. $ range at least, which would change the film's status to that of 'huge hit' or even 'mega-hit'. It was nominated for 2 Oscars: It lost Best Sound to Sayonara and Editing to The Bridge on the River Kwai. Sturges later made sort-of sequel Hour of the Gun (1967), which is more historically accurate, about the gunfight's aftermath, with other stars. Sturges returned first with uncredited work on Saddle the Wind (1958) and in official front with The Law and Jack Wade (1958). Lancaster and Douglas returned together again in their next movie, Sweet Smell of Success (1957). Gunfight at the O.K. Corral is fresh at 83 % with a 6.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Gunfight at the O.K. Corral?

The Fury (1978) - De Palma's telekinetic powers run amuck!

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A mysterious, stressful poster for Brian De Palma's The Fury, which hints at the telepathic powers involved in the plot

Kirk Douglas (A Lovely Way to Die (1968)) plays a father, whose son is kidnapped by a secret governmental department inside the CIA, who want him for his telepathic abilities. With the help of a young woman with a similar talent, Douglas searches for his son.

The Fury is written by John Farris (Dear Dead Delilah (1972)), based on his own same-titled 1976 novel, and directed by great New Jerseyite filmmaker Brian De Palma (Hi, Mom! (1970)), whose 11th feature it is. It is an odd b-film, reminiscent of the better films Carrie (1976), - also by De Palma, - and David Cronenberg's Scanners (1981).
The story wallows in pseudo-science and is weak. John Cassavetes (Machine Gun McCain (1969)) plays a part in The Fury, SPOILER and when he literally explodes in sensational details in the ending, the film attains its tentative third ♥ in my assessment. But The Fury is surely no-one's finest hour.

Related posts:

Brian De Palma: Carlito's Way (1993) - De Palma's best gangster movie
Carrie (1976) or, Don't Bully the Strange Girl! 

Watch a short TV teaser for the film here

Cost: 5.5 -7.5 mil. $ (different reports)
Box office: Reportedly 24 mil. $
= Box office success - maybe even a big hit (cost returned 3.2 - 4.3 times)
[The Fury was released 10 March (USA) and runs 118 minutes. De Palma cast Douglas, a major star, because he had felt that his previous telekinesis movie Carrie had suffered at the box office for missing a major star. Shooting took place in Israel and in Los Angeles, California and in Illinois, including Chicago, from July - August 1977. The hotel scene was shot in Chicago's Plymouth Hotel, which would also be used in John Landis' masterpiece The Blues Brothers (1980). Later stars Dennis Franz and Daryl Hannah make their movie debuts in The Fury, and Jim Belushi is an extra. SPOILER The first take of Cassavetes' body exploding wasn't successful, and it took nearly a week to prepare a second take. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch better than this one. De Palma returned with Home Movies (1979), again with Douglas, who returned before that in The Villain (1979). Cassavetes returned in Brass Target (1978). The Fury is fresh at 80 % with a 7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Fury?

The Villain/Cactus Jack (1979) or, The Wackadoodle West!

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The cartoon-style western poster for Hal Needham's The Villain

QUICK REVIEW:

Arnold Schwarzenegger (Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)) is Handsome Stranger, who has to help Miss Charming with a money transport, while Cactus Jack fights "Indians" and tries to get the money!

Kirk Douglas (Spartacus (1960)) really does what he can in the title role of this slapstick western spoof by legendary stunt-man/director Hal Needham (Smokey and the Bandit (1977)). Schwarzenegger is odd and looks hilariously clueless in his campy cowboy-outfit. The film is mostly pretty bad; forced and weird. Very little gets introduced or explained. The flirt between Arnold and Swedish Ann Margret (Grumpy Old Men (1993)) is charmless and without legs.
Made three years before Schwarzenegger's breakthrough (Conan the Barbarian (1982)), this film is interesting mostly as movie curio. It was released in the US as The Villain and in the UK and Australia as Cactus Jack. Its Looney Tunes/Blazing Saddles (1974))-inspired crazy comedy falls through, while the overly instructive music keeps on telling us that it's all just gaga fun.
- A few of the Indian scenes, with Paul Lynde (Bewitched (1965-71)), - whose last acting credit this was, - as Indian chief 'Nervous Elk', are admittedly funny. You can see one of them in the clip below.

Ann Margret and Kirk Douglas in Hal Needham's The Villain

Arnold Schwarzenegger in Hal Needham's The Villain

This is also the film in which Kirk Douglas does this

... and this

Watch a 2-minute clip with Ann-Margret, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Paul Lynde as the Indian chief from the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Unknown

What do you think of The Villain?
And Needham's directorial brand of low-brow entertainment?