https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdJS1iatxmY

Dr. Strangelove is my second review of a Stanley Kubrick movie. Earlier I posted a review of his 1960 film, Spartacus which I generally liked, but did not love. Spartacus was a mainstream, straightforward film that he adapted from a novel. For this movie, it is an entirely different story. I loved every single bit of the black comedy which was written by Kubrick himself (which he adapted from the Peter George novel). This is actually one of the best films to come out in the last fifty years. It was a timely movie (for 1964’s audience), and it remains hilarious for the duration of the film even though Kubrick told his actors to play it straight. It was the talent of Kubrick that turned this film into a film he wanted, a quirky black comedy.

Kubrick is known to be a perfectionist in all of his films. He is involved with every detail including sound, editing, etc. He even has his own sound equipment and his own cameras. Because he wanted to be so perfect, it created tension between him and his actors. For example, Kubrick never got along with George C. Scott who played a major role in the movie. Kubrick used some trickery to get Scott, a very hard actor to work with, to get what he wanted and Scott vowed never to work with Kubrick again. Scott, however, did admit he respected Kubrick due to his chess skills, which they played on set every day.

The movie plays out like a spoof, a spoof about the Cold War. At the beginning of the film, General Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) goes bananas and he orders his bomber planes to annihilate the Soviet Union. He has some crackpot idea that the communist nation is conspiring to destroy the Americans via their bodily fluid. Over in America, in the “War Room,” President Merkin Muffley (Peter Sellers) meets with his advisors to figure out what to do, and they are informed by the Russian Ambassador that if the Soviet Union is destroyed, that would unleash a machine called “The Doomsday Machine” and that will destroy all of humanity.

There are some interesting themes presented in the movie. The main theme is the Cold War, which was a silent war between the United States and the Soviet Union. The early 1960’s was a tense era due to such events like the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Cuban Revolution, in which the Soviets had a hand in. The movie is particularly interested in satirizing MAD, or the mutual assured destruction. Both sides wanted to destroy each other in a nuclear standoff, but they were deterred in doing so because all human life would be destroyed regardless. Another theme presented is a sexual theme, which Kubrick later admitted. The beginning with the airplanes going in to Russia is meant to be the start of the sexual process and Kong’s (a character in the film) ride down on the missile and detonation is meant to be the ending of the sexual process.

The film is famous for a variety of reasons. One of those reasons is Peter Sellers playing three roles. He played President Merkin Muffley, who was based off an American Midwesterner and a has a balding figure. He spoke in a tone that suggested he had a cold, an underlying weakness that Sellers wanted to give to that character. Muffley was played straight by Sellers, but I felt his character was actually hilarious. Sellers also portrayed Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, the only man accessible to the mad General Ripper. Finally, Sellers portrayed Dr. Strangelove, my favorite character in the movie. Strangelove is an ex-Nazi scientist who serves as Muffley’s scientific advisor. I loved the accent Sellers used to portray the wheelchair-bound eccentric. I also loved how he had this thing called the “alien hand syndrome” I just couldn’t stop laughing when Strangelove randomly used the Nazi salute and called the President “Mein Fuhrer” several times over the course of the film. I found it hilarious the Americans would employ former Nazis in the movie. Strangelove appeared to be a menacing antagonist of the movie, and a great one at that.

There are also great supporting turns, mainly in George C. Scott’s character, General Buck Turgidson. He was the advisor who alerted the President to the news and he was really funny. I loved the use of his facial contortions to display his emotions. He reminded me of Jim Carrey, who is famous for his extreme facial contortions as part of his comedy routine. There is one scene where the General was running in the War Room and slipped, then picked himself up again as if nothing happened. According to Kubrick, the scene wasn’t planned but it worked perfectly with the movie. Sterling Hayden had a rather small role as General Ripper at the beginning, but it was a very memorable role. Finally, there is Slim Pickens who plays Major Kong-the leader of the airplane in charge of throwing a bomb on the USSR. Pickens reportedly wasn’t told the film was a comedy, and he played his role straight. With the use of the heavy Southern accent, his role was still funny. His role was actually meant for Peter Sellers, but Sellers didn’t want to do it because he had trouble with a Southern accent and he sprained an ankle and wasn’t able to sit in the cockpit of the airplane.

Whoever thought of the Vera Lynn song playing while a collage of mushroom clouds bursting at the end of the movie was genius. It was a great ending to what was a hilarious black comedy. Dr. Strangelove is seen as one of Stanley Kubrick’s best films and it is very easy to see why. Well, both this film and 2001: A Space Odyssey are his best films, and they share common themes. Manmade machines attempting to destroy humans. Nonetheless, this film was very fun to watch and it made me laugh constantly. As a Cold War farce, the movie does a wonderful job. As for my favorite character, it is Dr. Strangelove hands down. “Mein Fuhrer! I can walk!”

My Grade: A+

To Kill A Mockingbird has always been looked upon as an instant classic because of its very important themes dealing with race during the 1930’s Alabama, a time where racism was rampant all across the United States especially in the southern states. The film itself, based on the popular and timely novel by Harper Lee, was released in 1962 which was during the civil rights movement. Some critics called this film an innocent film because of the time it was released. It was released back when people were more relaxed, but in the fifty years since then, society has gotten more uptight due to everything that has been going on. Despite a loss of innocence, this is a fantastic movie that has very important themes, even by today’s standards. This is not only one of my favorite movies from the 1960’s, but it’s also one of my all-time favorite movies.

This movie can be divided into two mini-movies. One movie is a coming-of-age story told through the eyes of a six-year-old girl named Scout. Scout and her older brother, Jem play in the hot, hazy Alabama sun every day and they have adventures with their next door neighbor, whom they just met. They tell each other tales about another neighbor of theirs named Mr. Radley, whom rumor has it chained up his son, Boo every day. I believe this part of the story was told extremely well, and it returned the memories of my childhood where I used to go off on similar adventures.

While the children play, their father named Atticus Finch goes to the courthouse every day, and that leads us on to what the other half of the film is about. This can also be perceived as a courtroom drama, an effective one to boot. The basic story goes that Finch is asked by the town’s sheriff to defend a black man who has been accused of rape. The townspeople request Atticus, who is a white man, to stop defending the black man, Tom Robinson. But Atticus believes everyone has a right to be defended, so he decided to continue along with the case.

The courtroom scene is the most powerful scene of the movie. There is no doubt about that. The speech Atticus gave talking about ideals and values to show why Tom was innocent of his accused crime is the most powerful speech you’ll hear in any movie. I won’t deny there were some tears running down my cheeks as I listened to those tender, powerful words. The movie made clear it was on Atticus’s side. Through the evidence and the witnesses in the trial, it was clear Tom is innocent, But given this is Alabama in the 1930’s, the all-white jury had other ideas. Another extremely powerful scene is after the jury gave its verdict. The black people were segregated from the white people of course, but as everyone cleared out, they all stood in silence watching Atticus. A sign of respect for what he did for their cause. It was only one man, but now it was clear that there were people out there who believed in equal rights. Not just people, but white people who believed.

The first half of the movie was all about Scout and her adventures, before it transitioned to a courtroom drama. But after the courtroom drama ended, you would expect the movie to be over. Actually, we transition back to Scout who finds herself in trouble from a racist man named Ewell, whom her father gave a hard time during the trial. Ewell is actually the father of the supposed rape victim and he was doing anything to make sure Robinson was guilty. But this is the time where the mysterious Boo Radley comes into play, where he shows he is not the person the whispers across town make him out to be. This is the part of the movie where the title comes from. If you have seen this movie, you know what I mean.

I really loved this story. It may be a clichéd story in today’s world, but it was something fresh back in 1962. Despite all the clichés, it is all about story execution. The screenplay and the direction by Robert Mulligan are rather light, but I felt for each character. I rooted for Atticus, Scout, and even Boo the entire movie. You know a movie is great when that happens. In other words, I loved the proper people and I hated the proper people. Another thing to look at in getting to know the characters is how the actors bring them to life. In this movie, the actors brought Harper Lee’s words to life and gave that life meaning. Gregory Peck won Best Actor at the Oscars for his wonderful, stirring performance as Atticus Finch. That speech is what most likely won him that prestigious award. But his performance throughout the entire film was a reserved, quiet performance. A performance that resembled the real-life Gregory Peck. Mary Badham gave a terrific performance as the young tomboy, Scout. She gave the film a sense of adventure and she was very supportive of her father, despite her limited understanding of what was going on. It’s a shame that Badham never had an acting career after her role here. She was an incredible part of this movie’s success. Also, I must note the film features the first onscreen performance of future acting legend in Robert Duvall as Boo Radley. Duvall doesn’t speak, but his actions create some of the movie’s most memorable sequences.

Overall, To Kill A Mockingbird is a very powerful, effective movie that came out at a time where hope was in the air. Hope for the black people to finally receive equal rights. Thematically, this was a very important movie. It was one of the earliest movies to actually portray black people in a positive light from the view of white people. Looking at events occurring across the world today, the themes of this movie can still be considered important. I loved this movie very much so. The acting and the story received the most praise from me. But let’s not forget about the wonderful black-and-white cinematography nor the beautiful piano score by Elmer Bernstein. This is a movie for all movie lovers should see.

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”

My Grade: A+

Over the course of six decades, Lawrence of Arabia have been given names such as “the epic of all epics.” People always mention this film when talking about influential movies or favorite movies. In fact, this film gave way to famous directors such as Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, and Martin Scorsese. These forementioned directors based their films off the style of this film. No one knew it in 1962, but this film would be one of the most influential films of all time. Believe it or not, I actually didn’t think too much of the film the first time I saw it. I thought it was overlong and boring. I must have been in a bad mood that day, because I simply loved the film upon my second viewing. The scope of the film is incredible and I love the lush, gorgeous cinematography. The film is sweepingly beautiful and I still love seeing the shots of the desert sun. Everything in the film has a gentle beauty to it, even the violent battles featured in the film, so it’s no surprise the film won an Oscar for its cinematography.

The film itself is based off the historical adventures of T.E Lawrence. The movie begins with Lawrence’s death at the age of 46 due to a motorcycle accident. Then it flashbacks to 1916 with Lawrence as a young intelligence officer stationed in Cairo, Egypt. Around this time, the Arabs began a revolt against the Ottoman Empire in Turkey. Lawrence is given leave to investigate the revolt. However, he creates an army on the side of the Arabs and he uses his army to fight against the slowly-weakening Turkish troops.

Despite many people loving this spectacle, this film had its share of controversies. Mostly in the way of historical inaccuracies. For example, the Lawrence depicted in this film does not resemble the Lawrence of reality. The Lawrence in the movie, portrayed by Peter O’Toole,  is taller, skinnier, has a very boyish face, and speaks in a sarcastic way. His mannerisms also are different, and the story goes that Lawrence’s family found the film to be stupid and that it insults the memory of Lawrence. Also, new characters were introduced such as Sherif Ali, who was a Arab soldier fighting alongside Lawrence in the movie. Other notable differences were in the movie, Prince Faisal, the Arab leader was depicted as a middle-age man when in reality he was barely 30 years old. Also, General Allenby, the boss of Lawrence, was depicted as cold and mean to Lawrence. But there is enough evidence to prove they actually may have been good friends in real life. Also there have been complaints that not all of Lawrence’s exploits were mentioned in the film.

Now what is my response to all these controversies? I think it’s a load of bull. I am always for one for filmmakers to try to make their movie accurate as possible. But the bottom line is that the purpose of a movie is to entertain. If that means a film has some inaccuracies, so be it. If I needed to learn about a topic, I would watch a documentary. That being said, movies are always a good starting point to learn about a particular subject (in this case, T.E Lawrence).

This film was directed by David Lean, a master when it comes to epics. We have already seen his 1957 feature, Bridge on the River Kwai. This film is his follow-up to Kwai’s success, and it’s interesting because this film is even more successful, critically and financially. Lean is an excellent director, although he is known for his old-fashioned methods and clashing with his actors on set. There is no denying he created a powerful, influential film. He created a straightforward narrative on the outside, but he raises complex questions on the inside.

The performances are all wonderful. Peter O’Toole, although boyish-looking and does not resemble the real Lawrence much, does an amazing job. he does bring to life the eccentric ways of Lawrence. A powerful scene he brought to life is after a rather suicidal trek across the scorching desert, he goes back to help a fallen comrade and bring him to safety. Omar Sharif, a major star in Egypt, does an exceptional job as Sherif Ali. I bet if you didn’t see the cast list, you would have never recognized Alec Guinness. I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t because he does an exceptional job as Prince Faisal, the calm leader of the Arabs.  Guinness was very immersed in his character, which isn’t surprising because he always gives his very best. Jack Hawkins does a good job as the manipulative commander in General Allenby. The whole cast does a great job; Anthony Quinn as Auda Abu Tayi, Arthur Kennedy as the American reporter who turns the exploits of Lawrence into a myth, and Anthony Quayle as Colonel Brighton.

It’s a wonder that Lawrence of Arabia was ever made. It was a 216-minute movie plus intermission. It was a film that had no love story (or women for that matter), not a lot of action, and was filmed in the desert. Usually, the big man with the money would have refused, but this film was given a chance and it was quite a chance to take. People adored this film from its release all the way to today. The performances and the cinematography are always singled out. I personally must single out the score by Maurice Jarre. He composed an incredible piece of music, and it’s one of my top soundtracks ever. The film won 7 Oscars, including the well-deserved best picture. It’s a beautiful film about an eccentric man who did a lot to help his country and to help developing nations. There are battle scenes, but the film is not about the action. It’s about T.E Lawrence.

My Grade: A