#1 - SUNSET BOULEVARD
Stars - William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson, with cameos by other stars playing themselves
Director - Billy Wilder
Memorable Quote - Joe Gillis: 'You're Norma Desmond. You used to be in silent pictures. You used to be big.'
Norma Desmond: 'I am big. It's the pictures that got small.'
Review - A film actually starring Cecil B. DeMille? What a treat! This was a very brave film at the time, I think, although today we would be more accustomed to its message. A woman who was once a huge star of the silent movies now finds herself pushed aside as talkies take over, but is determined to write the script that will be her comeback. The catch? She's absolutely stark raving bonkers. The script is awful, as Joe Gillis finds out when he is hired to help her, and she is as possessive of him as she is of her butler - her former husband. When he sees another girl, she calls up that girl and warns her off. She gives her pet monkey a solemn burial ceremony. The climax comes when Joe finally snaps and decides to leave - and she shoots him three times, causing him to plunge into the swimming pool and meet a watery end. During the final scene, as she comes down the staircase to be arrested, the film reaches its artistic climax: everyone stands stock still watching her carry out her facade, until she passes by them, and then each of them turns and comes back to life. Actually worth a watch, even though it perhaps doesn't communicate to a modern audience as well as it once did. 3/5
#2 - LAWMAN
Stars - Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, Robert Duvall
Director - Michael Winner
Memorable Quote - 'I don't call the numbers, Ryan. I never drew first on a man in my life. That's the only way to stay clean - you play it by the rules. Without the rules, you're nothing!'
Review - Here's a Japanese movie poster! Know why? Because apparently not many people could be bothered to put stills from this movie online. I have to say it was a little bit forgettable - I only watched it last week and I had to look it up to remember what happened. That said, I think this has a very clear message. Jared Maddox, the central character, believes he plays by the rules, as he explains in the quote above. But the reply he receives when making the same statement to Laura Shelby gives the central point of the movie: 'Oh, the rules! I forgot the rules. You think they change the killing? Because you never draw on a man first, you think that really matters? Do you know what they call you, Jared? The widowmaker!' Rather than just focusing on the Wild West idea of gunfighters, this movie tries to bring our attention to the fact that if you live by the gun (or by violence in general), you will 'bury the cost'. An admirable attempt, but not one that made much of an impact. 3/5
#3 - OKLAHOMA
Stars - Gordon MacRae, Gloria Grahame, Gene Nelson, Shirley Jones, Rod Steiger
Director - Fred Zinneman
Memorable Quote - 'I wanted to marry her when I saw the moonlight shining on the barrel of her father's shotgun.'
Review - Oh, God. I never want to see this movie, ever again. Seriously. As if the incredibly irritating Annie wasn't bad enough (I actually screamed in frustration during her first awful song), then there's the weird dream sequence with the laughable backdrops and the hideously awkward dancing, the terrible fake accents they all use, the actually horrible story about a girl who almost gets kidnapped and then burned to death by a jealous suitor, and the ludicrously badly-matched couples (who believes that Will and Annie will actually manage to get married?). Curly, despite being the only remotely good character, has a ridiculous name and therefore I cannot bring myself to like him. Plus the idea that he would sell everything he owns to buy Laury's hamper, when all he had to do was say 'Hey Laury, I quite like you, why don't we get married and I'll keep my worldly possesions?' I am beginning to run out of synonyms for 'bad'. Let us never speak of this movie again. 1/5
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