A lot of movies disappear from The Criterion Channel (although some will come back). Here are seven out of the 78 films that will disappear on April Fools’ Day.
I’m taking a short rest. I won’t post my regular Friday newsletter this week.
Full recommendations
A+ The Third Man (1949)
Writer Graham Greene and director Carol Reed created an intriguing mystery inside post-war Vienna – a world so dark and disillusioned that American noir seems bright by comparison. The victorious powers have divided the city into sections, and it’s controlled by a not-always-collaborating group of Russian, French, American, and British officers. Then, when the movie is two thirds over, Orson Welles comes on screen to steal everything but the sprocket holes. See my A+ article.
A The Long Goodbye (1973)
Philip Marlowe in the 1970s? That’s exactly what screenwriter Leigh Brackett and director Robert Altman did with excellent results. Marlowe (Elliott Gould) still lives in a crummy apartment, but now he has a bunch of hippie chicks next door, constantly offering him brownies. The movie starts as a comedy, with Marlow trying to find the only cat food his feline will eat. But as you’d expect in an adaptation of a Raymond Chandler novel, it turns into a labyrinth of fear and violence. A not-yet-famous Arnold Schwarzenegger shows up briefly. Read my Blu-ray review.
A The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
This just might be the best science fiction film of the 1950s (or at least a tie with the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers). A happily married man starts shrinking–the result of a strange cloud. Medical science can’t help. But he keeps getting smaller. Eventually, a housecat, and later a spider, become deadly adversaries. The existential ending is like nothing you’d expect from a Universal B-picture of the 1950s. With a few exceptions, the special effects are exceptional for its time. Screenplay by Richard Matheson, from his own novel.
B+ Cat People (the original 1942 version)
In the 1940s, Val Lewton produced several stylish, psychologically-themed, low-budget horror movies for RKO. This was the first and best. A normal American guy (Kent Smith) and a strange woman from Serbia (Simone Simon) fall in love and marry too soon. They haven’t even kissed. In fact, she won’t kiss him, or let him sleep in the same room. She believes that if she experiences strong feelings of anger, jealousy, or lust, she’ll turn into a panther and kill the object of her emotions. And she just might be right. The movie sports two classic suspense sequences that can knock you out of your seat without really showing anything.
B Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
Yes, it’s a very sexist title, but consider when the movie was made. Marilyn Monroe wants a man with millions. Jane Russell wants one with muscles. These two best friends take an ocean cruise. The story isn’t much. The comedy isn’t as good as you’d expect from director Howard Hawks. But the songs and dances, especially Anyone Here for Love and especially Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friends, are classics. Most people consider this a Monroe movie, but Russell’s performance makes Monroe look like a mannequin.
B The Killers (1946)
Burt Lancaster’s breakthrough movie isn’t called the “Citizen Kane of film noir” because it’s the best of its genre. It’s because of its multiple flashback story structure. When a gas station attendant (Burt Lancaster) is murdered, an investigator starts asking questions and a life of crime is revealed. It’s a fun little movie, and it introduced Burt Lancaster to the world as the likable thug whose murder sets all those flashbacks in motion. Ava Gardner plays the femme fatale who enjoys and exploits Lancaster’s beefcake lug.
D+ The Swimmer (1968)
By the late ’60s, American audiences wanted films that were edgy, difficult, and experimental. But not every experiment works. The story might have worked as a satirical comedy, which is probably why composer Marvin Hamlisch worked so hard to make it sound tragic. Burt Lancaster stars as a member of a wealthy community; they all know each other and spend their time drinking near their backyard swimming pools. He decides to swim home via his neighbors’ pools – although he really just walks from pool to pool and swims one lap in each. On the other hand, Lancaster looks great in swimming trunks – the only thing he wears, and briefly not even that.
Other films that might be worth watching
Here are all the films that will disappear on April’s Fools Day.
Bayflicks 