Category Archives: Geraldine Chaplin

1989 Films, Adventure, British, Christopher Lee, Geraldine Chaplin, Kim Cattrall, Oliver Reed

The Return of the Musketeers-1989

Leave a comment

The Return of the Musketeers-1989

Director George Lester

Starring Michael York, Oliver Reed, Kim Cattrall

Scott’s Review #1,401

Reviewed September 24, 2023

Grade: B

The Return of the Musketeers (1989) is the third Musketeers film directed by Richard Lester, following 1973’s The Three Musketeers and 1974’s The Four Musketeers.

George MacDonald Fraser wrote each screenplay.

This is key to mention because a strong continuity flow helps the film be fun and charming. The results of the same person directing and writing resonate on screen in several ways. The characters feel truthful and their motivations are clear.

A rich sense of the history of the characters is apparent making the film a pleasing adventure for fans of the franchise.

After ambitious Oliver Cromwell (Alan Howard) overthrows the king, Cardinal Mazarin (Philippe Noiret) enlists a down-and-out D’Artagnan (Michael York) to rally the Musketeers against him.

Porthos (Frank Finlay) accepts the mission at once, but Athos (Oliver Reed) and Aramis (Richard Chamberlain) hesitate at first. Eventually, the three reunite, but they are soon torn apart by infighting and a situation from their past.

They get a chance at redemption when they are sent to England to save the life of King Charles I (Bill Paterson).

There is some slapstick play to endure making The Return of the Musketeers feel juvenile at times when characters are bopped over the head or otherwise trip and fall in silly form.

For this type of adventure film, the plot is too complicated and veers in different directions a shade too often. I wondered more than once if I was in France or England.

This makes the minor characters difficult to keep track of and Christopher Lee’s character of Comte de Rochefort once again has little to do.

The costumes and the French setting are a major victory and the history lessons provided especially the British and French kings and queens are more than fulfilling. We delved into our history books to determine which King Louis reigned when and who was aligned with the film (it’s Louis the XIV during the 1600s).

The point of the film made fifteen years after the second film is to please fans and the result is a swimming success. I’m a sort of fan with my hubby being a big fan and we both enjoyed the resurfacing of familiar characters.

It feels like old-home week. The reunion of the musketeers feels like witnessing a family reunion. As D’Artagnan, Porthos, Athos, and Aramis embraced each other we felt the warmth along with them.

Since the characters played by Raquel Welch and Faye Dunaway (Milady) were dead a creative idea was to introduce her daughter to the story, Justine played by Kim Cattrall. Athos also has a son named Raoul, played by C. Thomas Howell.

This provides a further nod to history and introduces compelling lead characters who have a connection to familiar characters.

It is also an example of good writing and storytelling. Despite the characters being new to the audience we already care about them based on their tie to other beloved characters.

Making the film more sentimental, a sad occurrence happened while filming. Actor Roy Kinnear who plays lovable Planchet died following an on-camera accident in which he fell off a horse.

His role was completed by using a stand-in, filmed from the rear, and dubbed-in lines from a voice artist.

The film is dedicated to him.

Reuniting most of the original cast years later makes The Return of the Musketeers (1989) a warm experience. Beautiful costumes locales and history raise the film above expectations considering it’s a third installment.

1974 Films, Action, Adventure, Charlton Heston, Faye Dunaway, Geraldine Chaplin, Oliver Reed, Raquel Welch

The Four Musketeers-1974

Leave a comment

The Four Musketeers-1974

Director Richard Lester

Starring Oliver Reed, Michael York, Faye Dunaway

Scott’s Review #1,379

Reviewed July 17, 2023

Grade: B

The Four Musketeers (1974) is a sequel to the film The Three Musketeers made a mere year earlier. It takes the second half of the famous novel by French author Alexandre Dumas with the original film covering the first half.

A recommendation is to watch the sequel directly after the original so there is less struggle to figure out what is going on. I did not do that so connecting the plot points was a struggle.

A further negative is the omission of any English subtitles making hearing or ascertaining the events of the film difficult. British accents are tough.

King Louis XIII’s (Jean-Pierre Cassel) four swashbuckling heroes engage in chivalrous and daring adventures when Cardinal Richelieu (Charlton Heston) and his evil accomplice Milady de Winter (Faye Dunaway), kidnap the queen’s dressmaker, Constance (Raquel Welch).

The heroes are D’Artagnan (Michael York), Athos (Oliver Reed), Porthos (Frank Finlay), and Aramis (Richard Chamberlain).

It’s a British swashbuckler film so the adventures are prevalent and the physical comedy is fast and furious. It’s like a sitcom at times with over-the-top and outlandish fight sequences and one-liners.

The frequent low-cut tops on the female characters are intended to channel the male viewer’s thirteen-year-old boy.

The film gets darker than I anticipated in the final act which is to its credit with two deaths. This surprised me in a good way because so much of The Four Musketeers is light-hearted.

The death by the beheading of a major character is well-done. The heroes watch an executioner perform his duties to the fiendish character from across a lake. The decapitation is not exactly shown but it’s done almost in a tremendously effective silhouette and from a distance.

The costumes and attention to detail from a historic perspective are superior elements of the film. One can imagine being in the French countryside during the Anglo-French War in the 1600s. The sets and lighting are bright so the result is colorful and picturesque style.

The cast is made up of several A-list Hollywood stars of the time and each adequately does their share to light up the screen. My favorites are Dunaway as the villainess and Reed as a ‘good guy’, a refreshing change for the actor who usually appears as the heavy.

Reed and Dunaways share some scenes mostly in flashbacks that made me want to see more of their romance but this is not to be. Athos was unaware that Milady de Winter was a criminal which left a permanent branding mark.

Still, what little I got featured tremendous chemistry between the pair and I would have liked to have seen more.

Where the film loses me a bit is with the silliness which follows the same formula that made The Three Musketeers a success. Feeling redundant were the endless sword fight scenes and tongue-in-cheek winking.

The film tries hard to be a comedy but adds in darker moments too so it leaves an unbalanced quality.

Some actors get short shrift. Christopher Lee as Count De Rouchfort is a secondary villain and has little to do except prance around in a wig, uniform, and eye patch. His character is no Dracula and does not feel dangerous.

The Four Musketeers (1974) is good entertainment from a solidly professional cast. Hardly a masterpiece it’s a bang ’em up comedy adventure with a few moments of death and destruction.

1980 Films, Agatha Christie, Angela Lansbury, Crime Thriller, Elizabeth Taylor, Geraldine Chaplin, Guy Hamilton, Kim Novak, Pierce Brosnan, Rock Hudson, Thriller, Tony Curtis

The Mirror Crack’d-1980

Leave a comment

The Mirror Crack’d-1980

Director Guy Hamilton

Starring Angela Lansbury, Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson

Scott’s Review #1,371

Reviewed June 22, 2023

Grade: B+

I’m a sucker for any sort of whodunit especially based on an Agatha Christie novel. Some of her treasures like Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile have made for quality filmmaking in the crime thriller genre.

With The Mirror Crack’d (1980) director Guy Hamilton (he directed four James Bond films) collects some of Hollywood’s finest stars and creates an adaption with British authenticity and a knock-it-out-of-the-park finale twist that I didn’t see coming.

Any fans of the long-running CBS sleuth series Murder, She Wrote from the 1980s are treated to gleeful clues that the film influenced the series. Both star the iconic Angela Lansbury.

The main character and murder solver in The Mirror Crack’d is a kindly old woman named Miss Marple played by Lansbury. The actress is aged via makeup to look much older than she was at the time. Lansbury does a good job with the speech and mannerisms of one of her character’s age.

Jane Marple (Lansbury) is tickled pink when two glamorous Hollywood actresses, Marina Rudd (Elizabeth Taylor), and Lola Brewster (Kim Novak), arrive in her quaint English village to shoot a movie.

Drama is sprinkled in when it’s revealed that the two actresses despise each other.

At a welcome reception related to the film, Marina engages in conversation with a longtime fan named Heather Babcock and is momentarily distracted. Soon afterward, the fan collapses and dies, poisoned by a drink intended for Marina.

Pleasure is had by the incorporation of so many stars some way past their prime. My favorite is the dynamic duo of Taylor and Hudson as a married couple. Fans will recall that Hudson’s sad death due to A.I.D.S. in 1985 led to Taylor championing a crusade for research with which the government then refused to be associated.

Her efforts and star power led to tremendous progress to be made as the disease ravaged the world’s LGBTQ+ community.

So, any scene centered on Taylor and Hudson is heartfelt and a pure treat.

Otherwise, the cast of characters is positioned in a familiar pattern to reveal almost everyone would have a reason to kill the glamorous star. Could it be her sexy blonde rival? Or the cranky producer of the film played by Tony Curtis? Or even her hubby Jason?

Geraldine Chapman appears as Ella Zielensky who is secretly in love with Jason and has a good reason to want Marina out of the way. Especially suspicious are her trips to a phone booth to call an unknown person accusing them of murder.

The setting adds value as the small English village is cute and picturesque. Marple’s cottage is perfectly dressed with colors and patterns well suited for her character.

The Mirror Crack’d has a couple of misfires and sometimes has a television movie feel. The comparisons to Murder, She Wrote while nice are also detractors since it makes the film seem like a small screen effort.

The time is supposed to be 1953 and the characters are dressed appropriately but it doesn’t feel authentic. The real year 1980 feels more believable despite the costumes.

While it doesn’t drag a bit it also isn’t quite as good as the aforementioned Murder on the Orient Express (1974) or Death on the Nile (1978).

For a good old-fashioned detective story based on a storied author, one could do worse than watching The Mirror Crack’d (1980). Sure there are other better-produced efforts but the film is a solid, entertaining watch with glamorous stars incorporated.

1978 Films, Carol Burnett, Comedy, Dennis Franz, Gary Sinise, Geraldine Chaplin, Independent, Independent Comedy, John Malkovich, Laurie Metcalf, Lillian Gish, Mia Farrow, Robert Altman, Satire

A Wedding-1978

Leave a comment

A Wedding-1978

Director Robert Altman

Starring Carol Burnett, Mia Farrow, Paul Dooley

Scott’s Review #539

Reviewed December 17, 2016

Grade: A

A Wedding (1978) is an obscure, brilliant gem penned and directed by Robert Altman- a film genius and one of my most adored directors.

I love most of his movies and A Wedding is no exception. The creative way that Altman weaves intersecting storylines and dialogue, thereby creating a real-life tone, gives immense realism to his films.

In A Wedding, he takes a basic life event and turns it into a well-nuanced, fascinating, comical, yet dramatic story.

He is known for having enormous casts (in A Wedding it is forty-eight principles), but every character serves a purpose.

The viewer will feel that they are a fly on the wall of a real wedding.

Altman’s actors primarily improvise the dialogue, speaking at the same time, bringing a realistic edge. I adore this quality.

The film is a satire- people either love or loathe attending weddings and Altman’s film caters to the latter. He creates a setting, from the ceremony to the reception, riddled with awkward moments, and social guffaws.

In pure satirical, soap opera fashion, two wealthy families gather at a lavish estate for the ceremony to commence. Hilarity ensues when the corpse of the matriarch of one family lies in her bed, nobody realizing she is dead.

Other hi-jinks, such as the revelation of a nude, life-size portrait of the bride, the caterer falling ill, and a tornado wreaking havoc.

Slowly, secrets are revealed by the families, as the alcohol flows and the characters become involved in the perilous situations.

Altman does it again as he creates a masterpiece based on real-life situations that most can relate to.

1975 Films, Best Film of the Year, Drama, Elliott Gould, Geraldine Chaplin, Jeff Goldblum, Julie Christie, Karen Black, Keith Carradine, Lily Tomlin, Ned Beatty, Robert Altman, Ronee Blakley, Satire, Scott Glenn, Scott's Top 100 Films, Shelley Duvall

Nashville-1975

Leave a comment

Nashville-1975

Director Robert Altman

Starring Lily Tomlin, Keith Carradine, Karen Black

Top 100 Films #7

Scott’s Review #47

60001541

Reviewed June 19, 2014

Grade: A

Nashville (1975)  is a brilliant film.

I have found that with each subsequent viewing, it creeps higher and higher on my list of favorite movies of all time.

The style is unique (largely improvised) and epitomizes creative freedom in the film during the 1970s.

Director Robert Altman lets his actors express themselves, even allowing them to write their songs, the dialogue overlaps at times, which results in a natural feeling as the viewer watches the cast of twenty-four principles intersect over five days at a political rally/country music festival.

It is pure Robert Altman at his finest.

Nashville is a satire of the political arena of the early 1970s and the Vietnam conflict and politicians, specifically.

The film certainly questions and challenges the government with an ironic patriotic setting (Nashville).

The country music industry was in an uproar upon the initial release of the film. It is a layered film that can be discussed and appreciated and every character is cared about.

I cannot adequately describe the multitude of nuances in each scene that are noticed over time.

Each character- even some with limited screen time is important to the story as are the political elements- the questions of wars, policies, etc. abound.

The chaotic bits and individual storylines come together at the end and many background happenings are incredibly interesting to watch and take note of throughout each viewing.

With each experience, the audience will notice more and more. I certainly do.

Lily Tomlin, for example, plays Linnea, a haggard mother of deaf children with a supportive husband, a woman who on the surface is heroic, yet she is a complex character; she is bored with her life and falls in love with a young musician despite the guilt and repercussions.

The musician in question is Tom Frank, played by Keith Carradine. Handsome, and self-absorbed, he arrives in Nashville to dump his bandmates in hopes of a solo career and beds many willing females.

He also lashes out at a soldier at the airport, saying, “Kill anyone lately?”

Despite his unlikeable character, Carradine gives one of the most beautiful performances in the film when he sings “I’m Easy”.

Several of the female characters assume he is singing the song for them, but who is he truly singing it for…if anyone?

Another character to analyze is Barbara Jean, played by Ronee Blakley. A frail yet very successful country singer, she is in and out of hospitals as she frets about her replacement singer stealing her thunder.

Her insecurities rise to the surface.

Insecurity is a common theme among the characters. Many of them are either unsure, afraid, or not confident about their musical talent, their relationships, or even themselves.

These are only three examples of the twenty-four richly layered characters- some ambitious, some falling apart, others meandering through life.

Many songs throughout were created by the actors themselves.

Nashville (1975) is storytelling and filmmaking at its best. A creation by Altman that is deservedly admired, revered, and heralded as a major influence.

It is studied in film schools as it should be.

Oscar Nominations: 1 win-Best Picture, Best Director-Robert Altman, Best Supporting Actress-Ronee Blakley, Lily Tomlin, Best Original Song-“I’m Easy” (won)

1965 Films, Alec Guinness, David Lean, Drama, Epic, Geraldine Chaplin, Julie Christie, Omar Sharif, Rod Steiger, Romantic Drama, Scott's Top 100 Films, Tom Courtenay

Doctor Zhivago-1965

Leave a comment

Doctor Zhivago-1965

Director David Lean

Starring Julie Christie, Omar Sharif

Top 100 Films #47

Scott’s Review #42

449931

Reviewed June 18, 2014

Grade: A

Doctor Zhivago is a great film to watch on a cold winter night or throughout the crisp winter or holiday season.

The film is a classic masterpiece directed by the talented David Lean (Lawrence of Arabia, A Passage to India) whose perfectionism is evident in his epic films. Nearly every scene could be a painting so the cinematography alone is reason enough to become enchanted with the work of art.

Of course, the story is also a goldmine as a sprawling decades-long love story unfolds amid the ravages of the bloody Bolshevik Revolution.

The film is set in the bitter cold of Russia (though in reality all scenes were shot in Spain) and the bitterness of the cold climate and the war are mixed perfectly with a doomed love story set against the backdrop of the many battles and wartime effects.

Nearly all sequences are set in the winter so that the blustery and icy effects are nestled magnificently against numerous scenes of cozy, candlelit cabins or more extravagant glowing surroundings.

In this way, the viewer simply must be surrounded by fire, flaming candles, or another form of warmth as a snowstorm or blizzard besets outdoors for a perfect viewing experience.

A large-screen television or a cinema is simply a must to watch this film as it is epic on the grandest scale.

Omar Sharif and Julie Christie (a gorgeous star in her day) are cast perfectly as Uri and Lara, young forbidden lovers enthralled with one another but involved with significant others.

The film dissects their initial meeting and their story over the years, experiencing marriages, births, and deaths throughout the ravages of Russia in the early twentieth century.

Despite their affairs, neither is deemed unsympathetic- quite the contrary as audiences will fall in love with the pair and become enchanted as we watch their love-tortured adventures.

Sharif and Christie are just magnificent and completely believable as a couple.

The set pieces are magnificent and flawless in design and detail (my favorite is the Ice Palace).

The cinematography is breathtaking and the content is very close to the superior novel by Boris Pasternak and a feeling of “really being there” encompasses the viewer.

Doctor Zhivago (1965) is quite simply a brilliant film and perfect for a snowy, winter evening.

Oscar Nominations: 5 wins-Best Picture, Best Director-David Lean, Best Supporting Actor-Tom Courtenay, Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (won), Best Music Score-Substantially Original (won), Best Art Direction, Color (won), Best Cinematography, Color (won), Best Costume Design, Color (won), Best Film Editing