Back from Eternity (4 stars)

Back from Eternity, from 1956, is a suspenseful drama starring Robert Ryan, Rod Steiger, and Anita Ekberg.  Directed by John Farrow, this film is a remake of Farrow's 1939 film Five Came Back.  Taking on supporting roles here are, among others, Gene Barry, Beulah Bondi, Jesse White, Keith Andes, and Fred Clark.  As I have enough fear of flying, I don't often watch plane crash films, so for that reason, I've never seen the original.  I will watch this one solely for my beloved Robert Ryan, and since I was in desperate need of a "Ryan fix," I decided to pop this on the other night; thankfully, my daughter and I have both recently returned from our vacations, so I won't have visions of Back from Eternity in my mind to cause me any anxiety.

The story revolves around three crew members and nine passengers aboard a U.S.-to-South America airplane, which, due to inclement weather, is forced to crash land in the middle of the Amazon jungle.  While the plane is repairable, repairing it will take time, but because the local cannibalistic tribe is on the warpath, time is a luxury not available to the stranded people.  Even after the plane is repaired, due to the damage incurred in the landing, its occupancy limit will be five people.  The others will have to remain in the jungle, where the natives are moving in for the kill. Among those on board are:

Pilot Bill Larnegan (Robert Ryan)---a widower whose grief has brought him into some downtimes, he now has a penchant for drink.

Prostitute Rena (Anita Ekberg), who, without legitimate transport papers, is on her way to a new establishment in South America.

Co-pilot Joe Brooks (Keith Andes)--Flying with Larnegan for the first time, he has taken an interest in one of the passengers.

Jud Ellis (Gene Barry), an arrogant, unkind man who seems to find fault with everyone and everything.  He is traveling with his fiance, Louise (Phyllis Kirk).

Professor and Mrs. Spangler (Cameron Prud'Homme and Beulah Bondi)---a loving couple who have been married 42 years.

Pete (Jesse White), a mobster traveling with the young son (Jon Provost) of his boss.

Vasquel (Rod Steiger), a condemned murderer, on his way to his execution, in the company of Crimp (Fred Clark)

How will these men and women survive for days in the jungle?  Which five of them will make the flight back home?  These are the questions which will play out in the remainder of the film.



This is a very interesting, thought-provoking film, with good performances by all.  (Of course, my beloved Robert Ryan couldn't give anything but a good---or great---performance).  I have to admit, though...the film's ending greatly unsettles me.  While I wholeheartedly believe that "there is no greater love than giving one's life for another," I felt the film very subtly projected the message that certain elements of the population are expendable, and I completely disagree with that.  Whereas in the days of "women and children first" (which I completely believe in), that was due to the code of chivalry, to the belief that the stronger were to protect the weaker.  In this film, though, it isn't about protecting the weaker; rather, it's about certain people groups being more worthy of saving than others.  (Can't say more without giving away who is left behind.)  One thing is for sure...I would never want to be put in the position of having to choose which people live and which ones die!

Back from Eternity is definitely a very solid 4-star film, which I highly recommend.  While it's not out on DVD nor currently on the TCM schedule, TCM does show it fairly regularly. You could probably catch it there before the end of the year.  (NOTE:  Two of my commenters have made me aware that this film has recently been released on DVD.  HERE is the link to where you may obtain it.)

Happy viewing!!

The Sisters (3 stars)

The Sisters is a 1938 drama starring the very dashing Errol Flynn and the always-sensational Bette Davis.  Featuring Anita Louise, Jane Bryan, Alan Hale, Donald Crisp, and Ian Hunter in supporting roles, The Sisters begins in Silver Bow, Montana, in 1904.  The nation has just re-elected Theodore Roosevelt to the presidency, and the Elliot family is among those who are enjoying a lavish election-eve ball.

Mr. and Mrs. Elliott (Henry Travers and Beulah Bondi) are the parents of three daughters---Louise (Bette Davis), Helen, (Anita Louise), and Grace (Jane Bryan)---all of whom are of marriageable age.  Oldest daughter, Louise, is involved with the banker's son, Tom; however, since Tom hasn’t popped the question yet, Louise is all eyes when a family friend (Alan Hale) makes his entrance, accompanied by a handsome stranger (Errol Flynn) in town on business.

As Louise is dancing with another man, the good-looking stranger cuts in,

and after introducing himself as Frank Medlin---a newspaperman from San Francisco---he proceeds to sweep Louise off her feet. For the remainder of the evening, Frank's eyes are only for Louise, and Louise's eyes are only for Frank.

By the time they part company several hours later, they are both smitten with each other, causing Frank to stay on in Montana awhile longer.

Telling Louise that he is trying to write a novel but isn’t really getting anywhere with it, Frank admits that he is a bit of a dreamer and has a touch of wanderlust in him. Knowing that, however, doesn’t change Louise’s feelings for Frank; she realizes he is restless and irresponsible and not as ambitious as she and her sisters were brought up to expect, but, still, she loves him and upon his asking, marries him and returns to San Francisco with him.

Though she tries to encourage Frank to get to work on his novel, he just can’t seem to get his act together long enough to be successful. In due time, feeling as though he’s the kind of husband who makes people feel sorry for his wife, Frank starts to drink heavily; upset because he knows Louise’s sisters, who have both recently gotten married to financially stable men, have everything, Frank begins to indulge in self-pity.

Though he wants to be a successful writer...though he longs to be a strong husband…though he loves his dear wife and yearns to be worthy of her love, in the end, Frank desires freedom and the excitement around the next corner even more. Therefore, when he hears a group of men talking about the wonders of world travel, he is absolutely certain that he has finally discovered the life which will bring him happiness; so, penning a short note to Louise, in April 1906, Frank boards a ship and sets sail for the China seas.

While Frank’s ship is sailing away, an earthquake of monumental proportions blasts San Francisco and the wife he left behind. Buildings tumble to the ground…

flames erupt heavenward…

all the world is chaos. Will Louise survive the devastating destruction of that day?  Will Frank find the happiness he is longing for?  And what of Louise's sisters, both of whom have their own marriage troubles?  All of these questions will be played out in the remainder of the film?



While The Sisters is not a favorite Bette Davis film by any means, I did find it enjoyable and interesting.  It's a very solid film, with the usual wonderful acting I've come to expect from my #1 gal.  Her character is strong and resilient...very easy to root for.  Errol Flynn was quite good in his role too, and I thought he and Miss Davis had great chemistry together.  Funny, I've read that they didn't like one another and didn't work well together...I sure didn't pick up on that.  I really thought they were great...I found their love believable.  The supporting cast quite added to my enjoyment of the film.  I liked them all...especially the always-delightful Alan Hale and Lee Patrick, who portrayed Bette's San Francisco neighbor.

This film was released on DVD in late 2011, so I think you should be able to track it down.  Bette and Errol fans will most likely quite enjoy it.

Happy viewing!!

Rain (4 stars)

Rain---a 4-star film for me---is a hard-hitting romantic drama from 1932.  Starring Joan Crawford and Walter Huston, this troubling pre-code film takes a disturbing look at some heavy social issues.  It's a film I had never even heard of prior to this month, when I was seeking out Joan Crawford's early works.

When the ship they are traveling on is detained in Pago Pago due to a cholera outbreak, the passengers are forced to spend several days on the South Pacific island.  Among those finding accommodations in the rooms above the town's general store are prostitute Sadie Thompson (Joan Crawford) and Christian missionary Alfred Davidson (Walter Huston) and his wife (Beulah Bondi).  Though they had been together on the ship, their paths hadn't crossed; however, in the confines of the small general store, the three are continually face-to-face with one another...a situation which immediately creates problems.

As Sadie takes up residence in the store, the American servicemen stationed on the island find their way to her room, and that, along with Sadie's loud, music-blaring, provocatively-dressed lifestyle does not sit well with the Davidsons.   When his continual calls for Sadie to repent fall on deaf ears, Arthur requests that the governor deport her and ship her back to San Francisco where she will be imprisoned for a crime she says she did not commit.  Before her deportation, however, Sadie has a radical conversion experience and completely changes her ways; Arthur Davidson, too, has a change of ways and gives in to his lust for Sadie.  How it all plays out is the balance of the film.



Rain is an extremely troubling movie for me.  As a Christian, I am not on the "anything goes" page; there are plenty of  things from which people need to repent (not the least of which is sexual immorality).  I felt that the call for repentance and a turning from immoral behavior was being mocked here.  At the same time, though, I am not one who would ever go up to a perfect stranger and start preaching at them to change their ways (as Huston's character did).  I am fully capable---as are many Christians---of "blowing things off" and just being friendly even if I don't approve of someone's behavior.  Also, Huston and Bondi were portrayed only as self-righteous, religious fanatics.  While I know there is hypocrisy in Christianity, there is also great love---something which was never exhibited in this film.  At one point, Miss Bondi's character said to another woman, "Don't even look at her" (about Sadie), almost as if she would be contaminated by doing so.  Mr. Huston's character wildly chanted the Lord's prayer over and over again, even as Sadie was talking to him...almost as if his chants were drowning out the devil.  These negative aspects of a faith I hold dear made the movie troubling for me.

On the flip side, though, was the acting.  While Joan was harsh and gawdy in this film---and not her beautiful, glamorous self---her acting was terrific.  I think she totally owned the part and brought Sadie vividly to life.

Walter Huston, too, was completely sensational.  The acting of the two of them makes this a 4-star film. Incidentally, Rain was remade as Miss Sadie Thompson in 1953 with Rita Hayworth as Sadie and Jose Ferrer as Alfred Davidson.  I really like Miss Hayworth, so I may end up checking out that version sometime.

Although I found this film to be troubling, it was definitely interesting and completely riveting.  Much as I hated the way the Christian was being portrayed, I couldn't stop watching---I definitely wanted to see how the story turned out.  In my opinion, Rain really is a must-see film...especially for Joan Crawford and Walter Huston fans.  Out on DVD, you should have a fairly easy time tracking it down.  Also, it is available through Net Flix instant viewing and on YouTube (HERE).

Happy viewing!!

Remember the Night (4 stars)

Remember the Night, from 1940, is a little-known holiday film starring Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray.  This delightful movie, which features Beulah Bondi and Sterling Holloway in supporting roles, is the first of four pairings between Stanwyck and MacMurray. 

Lee Leander (Stanwyck), a compulsive shoplifter, has just been picked up for her third offense.  While she has gotten off easy in the past, since her problem is a habitual one, her case, this time, is sent to trial, with John Sargent (MacMurray) set as the prosecutor.  When Lee's trial is postponed until after the holidays, Sargent, who doesn't want her to have to be in jail at Christmas, bails her out; with nowhere to go, and thinking there were strings attached to the bail-out, Lee shows up at John's apartment just as he is getting ready to go home to Indiana for the holiday.

Upon discovering that Lee, too, is from Indiana, John offers to take her along with him, promising to drop her off on the way to his mom's house and to pick her up on his return.  Lee's reunion with her mom doesn't go well, though, and John ends up inviting her to share Christmas with his family.  As the two spend time together, they begin to fall in love---but with John's prosecution of Lee hanging over their heads, do they have any chance for happiness?

Remember the Night is a very sweet film.  Yes, it's rather predictable, but it is lovely and sentimental and very much worth watching during the Christmas season.  Barbara Stanwyck, who is easily one of my all-time favorite actresses, is really wonderful here. As usual, her character is a bit rough around the edges, but with a heart of gold.  She and Fred MacMurray worked very well together here and had really great chemistry.

This film was released on DVD last year, so you should be able to track it down.  It's also available in its entirety on YouTube (HERE).  I definitely think it's a perfect addition to the holiday viewing schedule. 

Happy viewing!!

Make Way for Tomorrow (5 stars)

Make Way for Tomorrow is a powerful and sentimental heart-tugging drama from 1937.  Directed by Leo McCarey and starring Beulah Bondi, Victor Moore, Thomas Mitchell, and Fay Bainter, it explores the plight of older couples whose children can't (or don't want to) take care of them.  I first saw this movie about a year and a half ago through Net Flix, and I waited a very long time for it...it had been in my queue in some sort of wait status ("very long," "long," and finally "short") for several months, and when it was finally sent, it was from a facility clear across the country from where I live. But the wait was definitely worth it.

Bark and Lucy Cooper (Victor Moore and Beulah Bondi) are a 50-year married couple of about 70 years of age.  As the film begins, they have called their adult children home for a family meeting.  Four of their five children attend the meeting; their other daughter lives in California and cannot be there.  Because Bart had been out of work for four years and was unable to make the house payments, the bank has taken possession of the house, and Bart and Lucy need to move out.

Since none of their kids have room for both of them, it is decided that Lucy will live with son George (Thomas Mitchell) and his family, while Bark will live with one of their daughters.  The separation is supposed to be for only three months, at which time, one of the other daughters will take them both.  In the meantime, Bark and Lucy are living 300 miles apart and have to depend on the phone and letters to keep in touch.  They miss each other desperately and can hardly wait until the time they are reunited.  Adding to the pain of their separation is the fact that both of them are feeling unwanted and in the way where they are.

Make Way for Tomorrow is an incredibly powerful movie.  After finally seeing it (and loving it!) through Net Flix, I was elated to catch this about a year ago when it had its TCM premiere.  Robert Osborne said that Leo McCarey considered Make Way for Tomorrow to be his finest film.  Also, the same year as this film, McCarey won the Academy Award for directing The Awful Truth, and, according to Osborne, he said in his acceptance speech that he got the award for the wrong film.  McCarey's words speak volumes about the caliber of this movie.

Beulah Bondi is especially fabulous in her role, and it's amazing to think that she was 49 when she did it...playing a 70 year old woman.  In fact, she was only four years older than Thomas Mitchell, who played her son in the film.  The makeup artist did a fabulous job to age Beulah 20 years. Victor Moore was also stellar in his role as the aging father who sees more than his children think he sees.

The emotional tug of this movie makes it a bit painful to watch, but it's also quite beautiful...the couple's 50 year marital love is beyond touching. All of us yearn for such a faithful love.  I must admit, though, I was surprised to find such a movie was made back in 1937...I didn't think people in that generation had that kind of an attitude toward their aging parents.  (I thought such an attitude was more a product of the late 20th and 21st centuries.)

Anyhow, Make Way for Tomorrow, is an absolute must-see, if only because most of us at one time or other are going to be faced with the question of how to care for our aging parents.  The film is available on DVD as well as through YouTube.  (HERE)  Definitely track it down...and expect your eyes to mist over as you watch it. 

Happy viewing!!!