Reviews of movies directed or written by John Huston.
Wednesday, August 8th 2007
Grade: C-
Synopsis: At an army base in the south, a Major’s wife (Elizabeth Taylor) carries on an affair while her husband (Marlon Brando) becomes increasingly obsessed with a young private (Robert Forster).
Reflections in a Golden Eye is an interesting, but flawed, film that has lost much of its edge since its release.
The movie starts promising. Director John Huston does a fine job introducing the characters and establishing a quietly unsettling atmosphere that seems to permeate through every scene.
Then the movie stumbles through a long sequence involving Julie Harris’s character that keeps both Taylor and Brando off the screen and the movie starts to drag. And it keeps dragging right up to the abrupt and –by today’s standards—almost laughable conclusion. MORE »
Posted at 4:25 PM in Movie Reviews and John Huston.
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Wednesday, August 8th 2007
Grade: B+
Synopsis: A defrocked priest (Richard Burton) ekes out a living as a tour guide in Mexico with the help of a widower (Ava Gardner).
The Night of the Iguana is a movie that grips you. Director John Huston takes Tennessee Williams’ play and makes it his own, and gets some great performances out of his leads in the process.
Richard Burton plays his role to perfection as a man too flawed for his own dreams. His simmering struggle with his own inequities is every bit as relatable today as it was thirty years ago. Equally impressive is Ava Gardner, whose tough but vulnerable performance is made all the more believable by Huston’s decidedly unglamorous atmosphere. Indeed, only Huston could take two larger-than-life stars and shrink them to flawed, relatable characters. MORE »
Posted at 1:20 PM in Movie Reviews and John Huston.
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Wednesday, August 1st 2007
Grade: B-
Synopsis: A marine (Robert Mitchum) finds himself stranded on an island in the south Pacific along with a nun (Deborah Kerr).
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison is an enjoyable film built around a solid script and great performances from the leads.
The script by director John Huston and John Lee Mahin is littered with great dialog and does a great job maintaining the tension, both sexual and otherwise, while never becoming too serious.
The performances are great. Mitchum gives one of the best performances of his career in a role that seems written for him, while Kerr also is completely charming in a role that could have easily come across as annoying. MORE »
Posted at 1:50 AM in Movie Reviews, John Huston and Robert Mitchum.
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Wednesday, August 1st 2007
Grade: B
Synopsis: A recently divorced woman (Marilyn Monroe) gets involved with a cowboy (Clark Gable) struggling to maintain his lifestyle in early 60’s Nevada.
Without knowing the history behind it, The Misfits is a frustrating movie to watch. None of the characters are really likable, and the ending doesn’t really resolve anything.
But when you consider this history behind the movie, it’s really something special.
First, as the movie was filmed, screenwriter Arthur Miller was constantly rewriting the script, even as the marriage between himself and Monroe was falling apart. As the movie progresses, the line blurs between Monroe’s character and Monroe herself, until we’re left watching Monroe through Miller’s eyes, a beautiful woman unable to find happiness in a world where everyone’s offering it, for a price. Within a year and half of the film’s premier, Monroe died. MORE »
Posted at 1:04 AM in Movie Reviews, John Huston and Marilyn Monroe.
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Wednesday, July 18th 2007
Grade: B
Synopsis: The story of a heist, from the planning to the execution to the fallout.
The Asphalt Jungle would lay the blueprint for scores of films to come after it. Films like Heat (1995) and Reservoir Dogs (1992) can all trace their roots to John Huston’s groundbreaking effort.
The ensemble cast is solid, if a little underwhelming. Granted, Marilyn Monroe has a memorable part, but it’s an ancillary character, and it’s Sterling Hayden who’s the de-facto lead. Hayden’s about as good as he can be in the role, but lacks the presence to carry the film, especially since his character doesn’t really shine until late in the film. MORE »
Posted at 2:29 AM in Movie Reviews, John Huston and Marilyn Monroe.
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