Finally watching Chimes at Midnight, in which Orson Welles gives us the definitive Falstaff, but it does have some problems condensing two parts of Henry IV into 116 minutes. For example, we lose the lovely scene where the conspirators are plotting to trisect England, which reveals what incredible traitors the Percys actually are, and how hollow all the talk of Hotspur's "honor" is.

Been watching random films noir on youtube, and after one middling noir ended, the next film to auto-cue and start was The Whisperers (1967). Pretty damned depressing film about a lonely old retiree scraping by with her fantasies and National Assistance. She has a nebulous family of ne'er do wells.


Great acting by Edith Evans in the lead. Depressing ish, but well done and very believable. In the school of British Kitchen Sink Realism form the 50's and 60's.

Directed by Bryan Forbes who a few years earlier made the terrific Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964).

It also has some dialogue from Henry V and The Merry Wives mixed in there. Welles was originally going to do a stage play about the 5 Kings, drawing from 9 plays, that didn't work out, so he told a producer he was going to make a version of "Treasure Island" and then used the money to make CaM instead.

Interesting how we all benefit from a big fat lie.

I was fairly amazed by my first view of a Kitchen Sink film, which was A Taste of Honey, and seemed to go into gritty and transgressive areas for what I had thought of as British film in the 50s/60s - interracial romance, homosexuality, etc. The other one I remember well is Billy Liar, with Tom Courtenay as the AYM role. "Depressing ish" indeed.

Chimes, Touch, Lady, Magnificent, Citizen - only up to 5. Onward! Recommends welcomed. If BOZ is lurking, "chime" in, please?

The Joker Is Wild (1957).
Sinatra does a fine job as Joe E. Lewis, a singer who ran afoul of the Capone gang, and so was forced to switch to comedy. Apparently Lewis was a real life drinking buddy of Sinatra and Dean Martin. And Sinatra seems real invested in the role. The film gets overlong and meanders in the last half hour. But it's a good film, mainly for Sinatra's lead performance.

I'm just watching The Godfather, and when they land in Vegas the first thing we see is a sign for Joe E. Lewis playing the Rancho whatever casino. Been a long time since I've seen The Godfather, so thought I'd see if I liked it nay better. It still kind of bores me. It's superlong, the pacing is languid, and the set pieces meh. It also has a rather phony Hollywood look to most sets. James Caan is bad at times. The Sicilian scenes are dull and useless.

I did like: after Michael gets slugged by the crooked cop, his jaw becomes swollen and he's forced to talk in a mumbling style, thereby resembling his father Don Vito, foreshadowing that he'll takes over for him. The cat on Brando's lap gives a terrific performance. There's one nice edit to the click of a trigger.

I think the source material is good. But the film mostly plods, has 2 dimensional characters and is unsubtle. Overall it does little for me. Never understood why it's so highly praised. I think I'll go with Part 2 next, but I'm just not a Godfather fan.

I'm just watching The Godfather... It still kind of bores me.