Film Reviews by RC

This is a curious film from the late 70s when the British Film industry was in a lull but there was a least this small budget output. The film surrounds a murder amongst the British Colonial elite in the far east drawing heavily on Somerset Maughan's "The Letter" and its 1930\40s film style in the 1940 film version featured Bette Davis - directed by William Wyler (1940). I found much of this movie quite stilted and the acting in places was quite flat. Very difficult to buy into any of the characters who all had flaws but I suppose that is a reflection British Colonialism. John Hurt tries his best but in his own critique within the extras he said his performance could have been better. Apparently the film was panned by the critics at the time but Don Boyd the first time director tries manfully to defend its integrity in the extras interview. Worth a look for curiosity sake only but a better watch is the Bette Davis 1940s version or White Mischief filmed 10 years later - another colonial murder this time in Kenya..

This is a US TV drama production from 1976 based on the book by the key Watergate Journalists of the time (Woodward and Bernstein). Unlike "All the Presidents Men" which center's on the Watergate investigation and exposure by the Washington Post, this drams focuses on the last days of President Nixon's presidency involving his key White House advisers and lawyers. As a drama it is really one for the keen students of Watergate history but it is a high value production. The time period covers the various twist and turns as Nixon seeks to evade criminal charges and possible impeachment. Special mention must go for Lane Smith who captures Nixon's mannerisms and speech patterns brilliantly. The drama received several awards at the Emmys. Well worth a watch if interested in Watergate as a historical subject.

I have been looking around for this film for some time. I vaguely remember the Fritz Lang treatment of the book from 1941 but this is a BBC production from 1976. Well filmed although it has a TV level production standard with a solid cast of well known British actors from the time including Alastair Sim, Harold Pinter, Ray Mort, Mark McManus, John Standing, & Maureen Lipman. Peter O'Toole carries off the lead well as the aristocratic hunter turned hunted, however the DVD extras says how ill he had been and its shows a little. It is perhaps not a thrill a minute stuff as in the 39 steps but is watchable all the same. O'Toole actually says this film is his favourite of all that he starred in.

I like Bruce Robinson's work but this is a poor film. Apparently he struggled on directing this and it shows in the final product which was not well received. Standard cliché driven cop drama which for me almost had a TV movie type vibe to it. Well used plotline of an individual cop (Andy Garcia) acting on his own "out there" murder theory against the doubts of his cop colleagues, the tension of which leads to an obvious fight scene with a fellow officer (yawn). Uma Thurman's contribution is somewhat lukewarm as the blind girl targeted by the killer (see Mia Farrow's better attempt in Blind Terror). Look out early on for the most obvious bit of product placement (Coca Cola Can being drank) involving Andy Garcia's character.

This covers the true story of two families constructing their own balloon at home from raw materials with the aim of escaping from communist East Germany to the West. This is actually a film made by Disney in the eighties and the same story was filmed in 2018 as the German made film "Da Balloon". In this version of the story big hitters John Hurt, Beau Bridges and Jane Alexander all perform well playing Germans although the kids are all a bit too US in the accents for me. Overall it is worth a watch especially when in the last 30 mins it becomes a pure escape movie which gets really tense as the families tackle both the flight and dodge their stasis hunters. One distraction is the score which is a but overdone especially against the flight scenes. I have seen both this and Da Balloon and enjoyed both as the stories are all most identical. On balance I prefer Da Balloon as it is just a bit more authentic being a German made film.