High Noon (1952) - Cornered sheriff Cooper in Zinnemann's iconic western

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A fabulous old-timey poster made with superb craftsmanship for Fred Zinnemann's High Noon

Newly-wed, soon-retiring sheriff Will Kane of the small town of Hadleyville in New Mexico Territory gets himself an unwelcome piece of news, when it becomes clear that a murderer that he put behind bars and who swore him dead has been released and is presently returning to town on the noon train!

High Noon is written by Carl Foreman (The Key (1958)), partly based on the short story The Tin Star (1947) by John W. Cunningham (Warhorse (1956)), and directed by Austrian-Hungarian/American master filmmaker Fred Zinnemann (Redes (1936)).

It is an iconic American film with Gary Cooper (Dallas (1950)) as the man who must do the right thing in a town that's not worth much. Grace Kelly (Fourteen Hours (1951)) is wonderful as his Quaker wife; Katy Jurado (Evita Peron (1982, TV movie)) is good as the Mexican beauty Helen Ramírez that's between Cooper and Lloyd Bridges (Cross of Fire (1989, TV movie)) on the brink of madness. With a very disillusioned Lon Chaney Jr. (Apache Uprising (1965)) and a kinkily scowling Lee Van Cleef (Arena (1953)) in his screen debut, the film also has wonderful, clear images (cinematography by Floyd Crosby (Tales of Terror (1962))) and a strikingly composed, strong score by Dimitri Tiomkin (The Unforgiven (1960)).

High Noon at times may seem so iconic as to feel distant to me, but it is certainly a formidable western.

 

Related post:

 

Fred Zinnemann: From Here to Eternity (1953) - Zinnemann, Taradash and Jones' Hawaii-set classic

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 730k $

Box office: Reportedly 12 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 16.43 times its cost)

[High Noon premiered 1 May (London) and runs 85 minutes. Reportedly Foreman had made a 4-page outline that was similar to Cunningham's story, so that he purchased the rights to it before writing the script. Meanwhile he was questioned at the HUAC (House Un-American Comittee) in Washington over past membership of the Communist Party. Failure to name names designated him an 'uncooperative witness', and Foreman consequently left the US, as this landed him on the Hollywood blacklist. Cooper was paid 60k $ and an unspecified percentage of the film's profits for his performance. Shooting took place from September - October 1951 in California. The film made reportedly 3.4 mil. $ at the North-American box office in 1952. Howard Hawks and John Wayne were vocally opposed to the film and its alleged un-American values and made Rio Bravo (1959) in response. It was nominated for 7 Oscars, winning 4: Best Actor, Editing, Song (High Noon (Don't Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin') by Tiomkin and Ned Washington) and Score - Drama/Comedy. It lost Best Director to John Ford for The Quiet Man, Picture to The Greatest Show on Earth and Screenplay to Charles Schnee for The Bad and the Beautiful. It also won 4/7 Golden Globe nominations and a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Zinnemann returned with The Member of the Wedding (1952). Cooper returned in Springfield Rifle (1952). High Noon is certified fresh at 94 % with an 8.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of High Noon?

Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993) - Laugh your pants off

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+ Best Big Hit Movie of the Year + Best Spoof of the Year  

 

Star Sheen fires off a shocked rooster from a bow on this dead-pan hilarious poster for Jim Abrahams' Hot Shots! Part Deux

Harley Topper has gone into exile somewhere in Asia, but he is brought back home to the States for an important mission: Save the soldiers, who were supposed to save some American hostages of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, but who has instead also been taken hostages themselves.

 

Hot Shots! Part Deux is written by co-writer/co-producer Pat Proft (Ringo (1978, TV-movie)) and great Wisconsinite filmmaker, co-writer/director Jim Abrahams (Airplane! (1980)). It is the sequel to the pair's huge hit Hot Shots! (1991).

This comedy hits the mark: One almost cries out in laughter, and everything just seems tighter than in the already hilarious first film: The gags, the references, the guest appearances (including Rowan Atkinson (The Lion King (1994))!) and the howlingly funny scenes. Charlie Sheen (Scary Movie 3 (2003)) is a riot in Hot Shots! Part Deux.

 

Related posts:

Jim Abrahams: 1993 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Hot Shots! (1991) - Abrahams and Co. present another rip-roaring spoof comedy

Top 10: Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

Airplane! (1980) - The deadpan/spoof/crazy-comedy classic!

 

Watch a 2-minute clip from the movie here

 

Cost: 25 mil. $

Box office: 133.7 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 5.34 times its cost)

[Hot Shots! Part Deux was released 21 May (USA) and runs 86 minutes. Sheen was paid 4 mil. $ for his performance, and worked out voraciously to beef up for the part. Shooting took place from October 1992 - January 1993 in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #2, behind Sliver, to a 10.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weekends in the top 5 (#5-#5), grossing 38.9 mil. $ (29.1 % of the total gross). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch under this one. Abrahams returned with An Introduction to the Ketogenic Diet (1994, video documentary), ...First Do No Harm (1997, TV movie) and theatrically with Mafia! (1998). Sheen returned in Deadfall (1993). Hot Shots! Part Deux is rotten at 56 % with a 5.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hot Shots! Part Deux?

Hot Shots! (1991) - Abrahams and Co. present another rip-roaring spoof comedy

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A simple poster for Jim Abrahams' Hot Shots! which promises, hilariously, 'the mother of all movies!'

Topper Harley has a complex due to his father, Buzz's fatal jet plane accident, but once the US Navy require him back in duty, he can only respond in the positive. - But it turns out that there's something amiss in the US military...

 

Hot Shots! is written by Pat Proft (Mary (1978, TV-series)) and great Wisconsinite filmmaker, co-writer/director Jim Abrahams (Airplane! (1980)).

Charlie Sheen (Bad Day on the Block (1997)) is best here in the scenes in which you feel he is riffing comedically and not only playing what's in the (already funny) script. Lloyd Bridges (The Lloyd Bridges Show (1962-63)) is certainly also hilarious as the mad admiral, on-par with the master of dead-pan laughs, Leslie Nielsen. Jon Cryer (Weather Girl (2009)) has a funny minor role as a pilot nicknamed Dead Meat.

Hot Shots! is totally nuts. It is crammed full of gags, many of which don't provoke laughs; but those that do incite uproarious laughter. Hot Shots! is simply a funny comedy, end of story.

 

Related posts:

Jim Abrahams: Top 10: Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

Airplane! (1980) - The deadpan/spoof/crazy-comedy classic! 
 

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 26 mil. $

Box office: 181 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 6.96 times its cost)

[Hot Shots! premiered 26 July (Los Angeles) and runs 84 minutes. Shooting took place from January - April 1991 in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #1 to a 10.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it held on to the #1 position for another 3 weekends and then spent a further 3 in the top 5 (#4-#4-#5), grossing 69.4 mil. $ (38.3 % of the total gross). The success sparked sequel Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993), again by Abrahams and starring Sheen. This was Abrahams' return. Sheen first returned in Loaded Weapon 1 (1993). Hot Shots! is fresh at 84 % with a 6.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hot Shots!?

Airplane II: The Sequel (1982) - Movie recycling, - not so hip

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Santa in his sleigh gets involved on this holiday-targeting poster for Ken Finkleman's Airplane II: The Sequel

The Sequel takes place in the future, where a moon mission gets off course due to a homicidal computer, so that the passenger rocket steers straight for the sun! With a bomb!

The Sequel is basically the original comedy classic Airplane! (1980) all over again, but with less original material, (because most of it is simply recycled here), and no Leslie Nielsen. The ZAZ creators of the original (Jim Abrahams, plus brothers Jerry and David Zucker) had nothing to do with the follow-up, and it suffers in freshness and creativity, - and in its basic story.
Even so, this thin cup of tea attracted stars Rip Torn (The Mouse (1996)), William Shatner (Range 15 (2016)), Raymond Burr (Mallory: Circumstantial Evidence (1976, TV movie)) and most of the rest of the original cast back, and Lloyd Bridges (Winter People (1989)) single-handedly secures the film's third star with his hysterical acting.
It is written and directed by Ken Finkleman (The Newsroom (1996-05)).

Related post:

Airplane! (1980) - Classic deadpan/spoof/crazy-comedy!

Watch a trailer for the movie here

Cost: 15 mil. $
Box office: 27.1 mil. $ (North America only)
= Uncertain, likely a box office success (returned 1.80 times its cost domestically alone)
[Airplane II: The Sequel opened 10 December (USA) and runs 85 minutes. Finkleman was also hired by Paramount to write Grease 2 (1982). Shooting took place in Los Angeles, California. The film opened #2, behind The Toy, to a 5.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd week. Its gross is down 67 % from the original's 83.4 mil. $ domestic gross, - on a budget that was only 23 % the size as the one for The Sequel. The world gross should nevertheless secure the film profitability. Roger Ebert gave it a 2/4 star review, translating to a notch harder than this one. Finkleman returned with Head Office (1985). Robert Hays (Starman (1986-87)) returned in Trenchcoat (1983), Julie Hagerty (The Winner (2007, TV-series)) in Lost in America (1985), and Bridges in 8 TV credits before he returned to cinemas in Weekend Warriors (1986). Airplane II: The Sequel is rotten at 42 % with a 5.33/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Airplane II: The Sequel?