Home from the Hill (1960) or, Family Scandal!

♥♥

 

A classy poster for Vincente Minnelli's Home from the Hill, which tries to paint it out to be the next big thing

The skies almost come down for a young man in the story here, when he learns that his and his family's good friend is really his father's bastard son. With enormous abhorrence he now distances himself from his old man.

 

Home from the Hill is written by Harriet Frank Jr. (Hombre (1967)) and Irving Ravetch (Hud (1963)), adapting the same-titled 1958 novel by William Humphrey (Proud Flesh (1973)), and directed by Vincente Minnelli (Cabin in the Sky (1943)).

It takes a good while before you reach the point in the story indicated above, because the film gets spiced with a lot of hunting symbolism, including a wild boar hunt. George Peppard (Damnation Alley (1977)), George Hamilton (Roots (1977, miniseries)) and Robert Mitchum (Maria's Lovers (1984)) are all terrific here, but their efforts don't make a great film, regrettably.

The focus is generally on the youngest son's hysterical wish to sentence his father's past behavior, - but ask yourself exactly how interesting or sympathetic this driving vehemence really is? Minnelli lets the melodrama go overboard at least once in Home from the Hill, and he seems most primed on surface in this dated, overlong, conservative film. Home from the Hill is an example of one of the Hollywood peacock movies that the youth at the time (and some adult moviegoers too) were getting fed up with.

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 2.3 mil. $

Box office: 5 mil. $

= Flop (returned 2.17 times its cost)

[Home from the Hill premiered 3 March (New York) and runs 150 minutes. Shooting took place from April - July 1959 in Texas, Mississippi and in California. The film made 3.2 mil. $ (64 % of the total gross) in North America, and the Eddie Lannix ledger recorded a 122k $ loss from the film. It was shown in the main competition in Cannes, was nominated for a BAFTA and won 3 National Board of Review awards, among other honors. Minnelli returned with uncredited directing work on All the Fine Young Cannibals (1960) and as official director with Bells Are Ringing (1960). Mitchum returned in The Night Fighters (1960); Eleanor Parker (Escape From Fort Bravo (1953)) in The Gambler, the Nun and the Radio (1960, TV movie), Buick-Electra Playhouse (1960, TV-series) and theatrically in Madison Avenue (1961). Home from the Hill is fresh at 90 % with an 8.10/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Home from the Hill?

El Dorado (1966) - Hawks, Duke and Mitchum's great western

♥♥♥♥♥

The classy, painted poster for Howard Hawks' El Dorado

QUICK REVIEW:

A gunfighter for hire and a drunken sheriff, who are old friends, help each other through heartaches and drinking bouts while rescuing the town of El Dorado from a malicious rancher.

El Dorado is written by Leigh Brackett (Rio Lobo (1970)), loosely based on Harry Brown's novel The Stars in Their Courses (1960) and directed and produced by Indianian master filmmaker Howard Hawks (His Girl Friday (1940)).
John Wayne (Rio Bravo (1959)) and Robert Mitchum (The Last Tycoon (1976)) are both delightful, and they are accompanied by a young, fresh-faced James Caan (Silent Movie (1976)) in this marvelous, classic horse opera. It's very simple: El Dorado is a joy of a western.

Related posts:

Howard Hawks: The Big Sleep (1946) - The sexiest noir carousel you will ever ride
Top 10: The best adaptations reviewed by Film Excess to date
Top 10: The best B/W movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Bringing Up Baby (1938) - A screwy gathering

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 4.6 mil. $
Box office: 12 mil. $ (North America only)
= Uncertainty (but at least a box office success)
[El Dorado was released December 17 (Japan) and runs 126 minutes. The film was shot in Arizona and Utah in October 1965 - January 1966. The release was delayed, so the film wouldn't clash with the Steve McQueen-staring western Nevada Smith (1966). The poem recited in the film, (mispronounced by Caan), is Edgar Allan Poe's Eldorado (1849). The film was cheered by audiences and critics, even though its plot is very similar to Hawks' also John Wayne-starring Rio Bravo. The plot is also very similar to the plot of the pair's Rio Lobo (1970), which is Hawks' last film. Roger Ebert has given the film a 3½ star rating, equal to Film Excess' 5 hearts. The international box office isn't known for the film, but it was popular in important markets like France and Spain, wherein more than 2 mil. paid admission in each country, so the film might rightfully rank as a big hit. El Dorado is fresh at 100 % with a 7.9 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of El Dorado?

Dead Man (1995) - Jarmusch's bold, poetic, rich Americana masterpiece

♥♥♥♥♥♥

Johnny Depp is Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man

QUICK REVIEW:

William Blake arrives with train to the little town of Machine, where he doesn't get the job that he had expected. Instead he gets into a fix that makes him kill a man, and he is thereafter hunted through the wilderness with an Indian named Nobody by his side.

Dead Man is a fairytale-like, postmodern, philosophical western in B/W (photographed by the great Robby Müller (Breaking the Waves (1996))) with a superb ensemble cast, led by Johnny Depp (Donnie Brasco (1997)): Gary Farmer (Twist (2003)) as Nobody, Crispin Glover (Back to the Future (1985)), Lance Henriksen (Aliens (1986)), John Hurt (The Elephant Man (1980)), Robert Mitchum (The Night of the Hunter (1955)) - in his last screen performance, - Iggy Pop (Persepolis (2008), voice), Gabriel Byrne (Miller's Crossing (1990)), Jared Harris (Mad Men (2009-12)) and Mili Avital (The Human Stain (2003)). - And that's not even all of them!
Neil Young (Year of the Horse (1997)) has composed an outstanding score, which perfectly compliments the psychedelic feel that master filmmaker writer-director Jim Jarmusch's (Down by Law (1986)) characters spark.
Whether Dead Men hits you like a spiritual kick in the gut or as a more intellectually meaningful offering, the film is a rich, rewarding and very unique experience. - And one that requires an open mind.
It is possibly Ohioan Jarmusch's best film, equaled perhaps only by Mystery Train (1989).

Related reviews:

Jim Jarmusch: Broken Flowers (2005) - Hip search for son and self with Jarmusch and Murray
Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) - Pleasant, precious vignette sit-down with some wonderful people  
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) - Whitaker serves ancient samurai justive in Jarmusch's cool treat 
Top 10: The best B/W movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  

Watch the long trailer for the film here

Cost: 9 mil. $
Box office: 1 mil. $ (US only)
= Some uncertainty
[But most likely Dead Man should, appallingly, be counted as a huge flop. I have only a few international figures for the film's performance: It made 0.8 mil. $ in Australia, and in France, Germany and the Netherlands together, around 600k paid admission to see it. The film premiered in Cannes, and it is highly esteemed among Native Americans, who regard it as an extremely well-researched depiction of their different tribal cultures, use of different native languages etc. Critics reacted very differently to the film: Roger Ebert gave it a paltry 1½ stars; it seems he didn't understand the film at all! - While others, like Greil Marcus, Jonathan Rosenbaum and A. O. Scott, recognize it as a masterpiece.]

What do you think of Dead Man?
Do you think it is Jarmusch's greatest film?

Cape Fear (1991) - Scorsese adds lots of stuff to remake but loses the balance

♥♥♥♥

The overly ominous poster for Martin Scorsese's Cape Fear

QUICK REVIEW:

The 30 year-old original Cape Fear gets a real lift in terms of style, violence, language and sex here, - anything that sets off the red lights at the MPAA, who rate movies in America. Martin Scorsese's Cape Fear is a colorful and entertaining thriller.

Robert De Niro and Nick Nolte wrestle good and evil in Martin Scorsese's Cape Fear

Oscar-nominated Robert De Niro's (Casino (1995)) character as the wronged former inmate, who has come out to take revenge on his ex-defendant, has gotten extra weight in the balance between him and his adversary in the remake, and Nick Nolte (The Thin Red Line (1998)) fails to make it seem an even match at all, which takes some excitement from the ordeal. Also because his part is no longer the hero (with a handicap) that Gregory Peck played in the original. In the 90's version, he comes off as a spineless whiner with a torn family.

Same still as above, only spiced up by an artist

Where the 1962 film focused on the uncontrollable, outer threat, Scorsese's film is a more moral (and Catholic) take on the story, which conclusively SPOILER reveals all humans' sinful nature. Personally I prefer the slightly more romantic view of the older film.
Juliette Lewis was also Oscar-nominated for her supporting role in Cape Fear, but lost (rightfully so) to Mercedes Ruehl in The Fisher King. Cape Fear also has stars Fred Dalton Thompson, Joe Don Baker and from the original film in cameos, Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum and Martin Balsam.
Scorsese returned to real greatness with Casino (1995), his eighth and final collaboration with De Niro. He is in pre-production at the moment with his coming Japan-set, religious period movie, Silence (2015).

Related reviews:

Cape Fear (1962) - Great suspense in effective home-attack thriller
Martin Scorsese: The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) - One helluva movie!
Boardwalk Empire - 1st season (2010) - Luxurious 1920's ensemble gangster treats
The Aviator (2004) - The grand American biopic 
The Age of Innocence (1993) or, Stayin' IN the Pants 

Watch the original trailer - which scandalously doesn't mention Juliette Lewis' name!

Cost: 35 mil. $
Box office: 182.2 mil. $
= Big hit

What do you think of the two Cape Fear movies?
Which do you prefer?

Cape Fear (1962) - Great suspense in effective home invasion thriller

♥♥♥♥♥

The lines are etched up on the exciting poster for J. Lee Thompson's Cape Fear

QUICK REVIEW:

Cape Fear presents any stone-cut patriarch's worst nightmare: An outer threat that he can't protect his family against.
Gregory Peck (Roman Holiday (1953)) is the ultimate law-abiding gentleman family father, and Robert Mitchum (Out of the Past (1947)) is simply unpleasant as the man he has once put in jail. - Very unpleasant in fact.
Something about the family roles bothers me slightly, but Cape Fear is an otherwise great suspense movie; with inventive B/W photography by Sam Leavitt (Anatomy of a Murder (1959)), perfect use of shadows and yet another classic Bernard Herrman (Psycho (1960)) score. A menacing and very good thriller.
SPOILER In Mitchum's attack on Polly Bergen, who plays Peck's wife in the film, the eggs were not scripted, and Bergen's reaction to them is real. Mitchum also really slashed his hand open, and Bergen's back was also cut, and she had back injuries for days after the intense scene was shot.
Cape Fear is directed by J. Lee Thompson, one of Hollywood's hottest directors at the time, who had made the great The Guns of Navarone (1961) the year before.

Related review:

J. Lee Thompson: Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) or, The Final Ape!
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) or, The Ape Uprising

Watch the original trailer here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Unknown

What do you think of J. Lee Thompson's Cape Fear?