The Three Musketeers

The 1948 "Three Musketeers" is big time, Golden Age Hollywood filmmaking at its best. With big stars, lavish costumes, great sets, and lots of practical stuntwork, this Technicolor gem is as much fun today as it was the day it first screened.

Gene Kelly stars as D'Artagnan in this adaptation, and it's a terrific casting choice. Since filmed swordplay is basically dancing, putting an accomplished dancer in the role allows the fight choreographer to have some fun with his sequences. Kelly leaps, flips, thrusts, and parries with aplomb, convincing us that he is a hell of a swordsman. Combine this with his everyman attitude, and we believe in him as a rube just in from the country. His new comrades (Van Heflin, Gig Young, and Robert Coote) appear to be having a wonderful time, lending the proceedings precisely the devil-may-care attitude they need to capture Dumas's tone.

But you can't have heroes without villains. With Lana Turner as the Lady De Winter and Vincent Price as Cardinal Richelieu, our heroes are up against the very best. It's a pleasure to watch them all do their work.

It doesn't end there, however. Check out the undercard: June Allyson as Constance, Angela Lansbury as Queen Anne, Frank Morgan as King Louis the XIII, and Keenan Wynn as Planchett. Was there anyone sitting in the MGM cafeteria who didn't get roped into this thing?

All those names aren't enough for you, eh? Well, you can always enjoy the pretty pictures. MGM's costumers put some velvet wholesaler's kid through college with this one, with one lavish getup after another. It's wonderful, in that Golden Age way. Similarly, its set designers went to the trouble of getting every little detail just right, even if the location worked screamed "California." (An aside: the Musketeers are riding down a beach along the English Channel. Observed my 8-yr-old, "Hey, isn't that the beach from 'Planet of the Apes'?" That's my boy!)

But the fight scenes are what really sell this movie. I love practical stuntwork, and "The Three Musketeers" features some impressive stunts. You have the standard jumping on and off of horses, which we're used to, by now. But there are a number of multilevel falls that look challenging and authentic, and the swordplay is uniformly terrific.

In other words, the 1948 "The Three Musketeers" is great fun. Thanks again, TCM, for another wonderful presentation.

Mrs. Henderson Presents

"Mrs. Henderson Presents" is the true(ish) story of Laura Henderson, an Englishwoman of an age, class, and means to do however she damn well pleases. After her husband passes away just prior to the film's beginning, she chooses to buy a theater and, well, put on a show. Since she knows nothing of show business, Mrs. Henderson must hire a manager: Mr. Van Damm. He thrills at the prospect of running his own SoHo theater, but finds himself almost immediately at loggerheads with the busybody Mrs. Henderson. So what? Well, their theater, The Windmill, was the only one to stay open throughout WWII. It was underground, so some thought it the best possible place to weather The Blitz.

Sounds tedious, I know. But Stephen Frears directs Judi Dench as Mrs. Henderson and Bob Hoskins as Mr. Van Damm. That's a formula for success, right there. And, c'mon, when Christopher Guest is your foil, how can you go wrong? Thus it is that "Mrs. Henderson Presents" presents us with that old chestnut, the "Let's put on a show" show, and makes it work. Here's a movie that knows what it has in Dench and Hoskins and happily gives them room to find a comfortable zone of friendly antagonism and good fun. It doesn't hurt that the shows they put on are pretty darn good, to boot, with catchy production numbers like "Goody Goody" and "Babies of the Blitz" putting a smile on my face and a tap in my toes.

In fact, I smiled all through "Mrs. Henderson Presents," thoroughly enjoying the company of Dench and Hoskins as they put on their shows. Here's a movie I could easily see again.

PS I forgot to mention the elephant in the room. There is quite a bit of nudity in "Mrs. Henderson Presents." Those of you who've been waiting for a Bob Hoskins full frontal nude scene, wait no longer!

Away From Her

"On your right is a man. He's heartbroken. Broken into a million pieces."

That line, muttered by an Alzheimer's patient, comes about halfway through "Away From Her," Sarah Polley's confident and effective first film. It refers to the film's protagonist, and it wants to refer to us, for "Away From Her" is a movie that's out to break our hearts.

I don't see how it can't, really. The subject matter - the loss of a spouse to Alzheimer's Disease - is inherently heartbreaking, so much so that I began to apply the "endangered child" rule to the film. The "endangered child" rule goes like this: since we're genetically programmed to respond to endangered children, we check for cheap manipulation by asking, "Would the situation affect us this much if no children were involved?" In this case, the question becomes, "Is the situation handled effectively and honestly? Am I watching art or exploitation?" I wrestled with this, and almost came down on the side of exploitation at the quoted line. Then, however, I observed Gordon Pinsent as the heartbroken man. His was a reserved, inward performance; not one easily read. And yes, his heart was breaking, breaking into a million pieces. And he broke mine, too.

Planet of the Apes

The 1968 "Planet of the Apes" is first-class science fiction. It does all the things science fiction is supposed to do: it creates a believable world, populates it with interesting characters, and uses those characters in that world to comment on the issues of the day.

During its development phase, it's clear that "Planet"'s creative team took the time to think their ape society through. The team created a coherent and believable timeline, architecture, and culture, which led to an immersive experience for me and my spawn. Then they cast the apes with quality actors such as Roddy McDowell, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, and James Whitmore, all actors able to generate authenticity even when acting behind masks. And of course, Charlton Heston can carry a movie in his sleep. "Get your hands off me, you damn dirty apes!" has moved into the lexicon, but it's dramatically effective because we believe in Heston's desperation and fury, even as we see the perspective of the apes.

These elements can lead to a good movie, but "Planet of the Apes" is good science fiction because it also works as a fable of science versus superstition. Further, I was impressed with the way it turns in upon itself, questions its own premise. Sure, there are some hamfisted "Never trust anyone over 30" moments, but "Planet" is smarter than I'd given it credit for.

And then, of course, there's the ending. Perhaps the best thing about watching this movie, for me, was watching my son describe it to his mom later that evening. "And then he went around the corner and he saw the (spoiler deleted) and said (spoiler deleted). Because it was (spoiler deleted). Isn't that cool?!? Isn't it?!? Isn't it?!?"

How awesome can you get?

Sullivan's Travels

"Sullivan's Travels" didn't work for me. I blame Veronica Lake.

Sure, she had great hair. But it seems that's all she had. Her delivery was uninspiring, her character dull, and she dragged down every scene she was in.

It's too bad, really. "Sullivan's Travels" has some cracking dialogue, some unexpected twists, and some interesting things to say about the intersection of art and commerce. Preston Sturges, obviously, knows how to direct a picture, and Joel McCrae is fine as the idealistic wunderkind out to learn about life's hard knocks. But Lake, ugh. How did she get to be a star?

I Am Legend

"I Am Legend" is a big movie, with expensive special effects and big-budget location work. Some stuff even blows up real good. But it wouldn't work if Will Smith couldn't hold it together.

And he does. When we meet his character, the last man in New York (and, possibly, the world), we find a guy who is keeping it together through a combination of resourcefulness, regimentation, and sense of humor. Smith can sell that without breaking a sweat. As the film, goes on, however, we begin to see the cracks in his armor; we begin to see that he's going insane. There's a moment in the film when he reaches his emotional nadir. It's a horrifying moment that breaks one of the rules of storytelling, and the movie breaks our hearts with nothing more complex than a long closeup on the actor's face. This is Best Actor stuff and, though Smith won an MTV Movie Award and a Saturn Award for his work, neither of those mean "respect" like the little bald guy.

As for the movie itself, it's good stuff right up to the very end. I was right there with Smith on every step of his character's emotional journey, right up to the very end. At the very end, I wanted to throw a rock through my television screen. But then I saw the original ending, and I only wanted to throw a Nerf rock at it. Still not great, but not as bad as the terrible denoument those who saw this in theaters got.

And Smith, well, Smith's just awesome. "I Am Legend" is worth it for his work alone.