Category Archives: Karl Malden

1965 Films, Ann-Margret, Cab Calloway, Drama, Edward G. Robinson, Karl Malden, Karl Swenson, Norman Jewison, Rip Torn, Steve McQueen, Tuesday Weld

The Cincinnati Kid-1965

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The Cincinnati Kid-1965

Director Norman Jewison

Starring Steve McQueen, Karl Malden

Scott’s Review #1,138

Reviewed April 29, 2021

Grade: B

I suppose anyone really into poker playing or similar casino games might be partial to The Cincinnati Kid (1965), especially if they are a die-hard Steve McQueen fan.

But for those with no interest in the ‘sport’ and who think that McQueen is a royal douche who received a modicum of film success, the film is a marginally decent effort.

For those who don’t know, Steve McQueen, the actor and not the British filmmaker, was nicknamed the “King of Cool” and played the anti-hero in most of his films.

His heyday was from the mid-1960s through the early 1970s, and he garnered success by repeatedly playing the same role. He was notorious for insisting his hair was perfect, being selfish, and being a royal prick.

He died of cancer in 1980.

An earlier film of his, The Cincinnati Kid (1965), is set in Depression-era New Orleans, though the film’s severe 1960s look makes it almost impossible to determine that it’s not the 1960s.

Eric Stoner (Steve McQueen) is a cocky poker player nicknamed the Cincinnati Kid who challenges longtime champ Lancey “The Man” Howard (Edward G. Robinson) to a showdown at the table, where a war of persistence and luck ensues.

To add energy, Rip Torn is cast as Slade, a villainous man who seeks revenge against Howard and tries to help Stoner best him.

In addition to the inevitable final poker game, Stoner is immersed in a romance with good girl Christian Rudd (Tuesday Weld) as he tries unsuccessfully to fend off the seductive advances of his best friend Shooter’s (Karl Malden) girlfriend (Ann-Margret), who is also a close friend of Christian.

Romance and double-dealing are in the air in this film.

The main draw is McQueen because he is charismatic and carries the by-the-numbers film. The story point appears to be a battle between youth (Stoner) and seasoned wisdom (Howard), but other than the fantastic finale involving (what else!) a tense game of cards, I didn’t find the primary story experience all too interesting.

There are other impressive aspects, however, such as the trimmings.

Realistic is how the actors handle the playing cards, speak the game terminology, and smoke a fat cigar, adding some good authenticity to the film. The New Orleans flavor provides some culture, and many black actors appear in minor roles that at least give some representation of the actual southern city.

Despite the talented cast, only McQueen shines.

Weld and Ann-Margret are incredibly one-note characters and opposites (good girl and bad girl) with little development. Malden is the moral compass of the film but otherwise has little importance to do.

Interestingly, Norman Jewison replaced original director Sam Peckinpah shortly after filming began. He described The Cincinnati Kid as his “ugly duckling” film that enabled him to transition from the light films he previously made and take on more serious films and subjects.

Cinema lovers know he directed the 1971s Fiddler on the Roof, a completely different film.

I wonder if Jewison’s heart was in this film or if he did the best he could with a subject that was not close to his heart.

Knowing Peckinpah’s brilliant work, I wonder if he would have made The Cincinnati Kid darker and more violent.

One scene that turns my stomach is a gruesome and violent cock-fighting scene. Any animal cruelty makes my blood boil, so I turned my head and refused to watch the scene or the group of merrymakers sitting around cheering the bloodbath.

The Cincinnati Kid (1965) is an enjoyable watch for poker lovers or fans of Steve McQueen. It is also not bad for casual fans.

Though I have not seen it, I understand that The Hustler (1961) is a similar-themed and better-made film.

1953 Films, Alfred Hitchcock, Anne Baxter, Film noir, Karl Malden, Montgomery Clift, Thriller

I Confess-1953

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I Confess-1953

Director Alfred Hitchcock

Starring Montgomery Clift, Anne Baxter

Scott’s Review #1,007

Reviewed April 2, 2020

Grade: A-

I Confess (1953) is an early effort by the brilliant Alfred Hitchcock with a decidedly religious slant but keeps the suspense and thrills commonplace like his other films.

The picture is not one of his best-remembered works but one of his least-remembered projects. This is unwarranted because the film contains all the standard elements known to the director, creating an entertaining and enthralling effort.

Montgomery Clift and Anne Baxter are featured as big Hollywood stars of the day.

Although he was not a fan of exterior shoots where he couldn’t control the elements, filming was done mainly on location in Quebec City. Numerous shots of the city landscape and interiors of its churches and other emblematic buildings, such as the Château Frontenac, were heavily featured.

This factor adds to the enjoyment as French sophistication and culture are added, and the accents provide a European influence, which is especially powerful during the final act.

A handsome Catholic priest, Father Michael Logan (Clift), wants nothing more than to be a good priest, but his calling is made complicated after someone confesses a murder to him, and he’s subsequently blamed for the death.

A World War II veteran, he harbors secrets told in the back story as a strong connection to another character comes to light. An easy way to clear his name is to reveal exactly what he knows, but doing so would break his vows as a clergyman and alienate members of his community who trust he will keep their steamy secrets very private.

Ruth Grandfort (Baxter) is a respected member of society, married to her husband Pierre (Roger Dann), a member of the Quebec legislature. They live comfortably in a lavish house with servants and regularly throw cosmopolitan parties befitting people of their stature.

Amid martinis and festive party games, Ruth keeps not one secret but two and is being blackmailed for her shenanigans. Her connection to Father Michael slowly bubbles to the surface.

Christian viewers will neither be offended nor completely embraced either. Hitchcock does not mock religion but makes sure of the conflict and demons that can encircle even a pious or righteous man.

As far back as the 1940s, Rebecca was toying with viewers and frequently adding an LGBTQ uncertainty; this can be said of I Confess.

Assumed to be in love, Father Michael offers little romantic passion or zest towards Ruth, and the connection seems one-sided. Could his descent into the Catholic Church be a front to cover up his sexuality?

Only Hitchcock will know the answer.

Eagle-eyed Hitchcock fans will undoubtedly discover similarities to his other works.

In the very first scene, an unknown man is strangled to death, collapsing to the floor. This is reminiscent of the 1948 masterpiece, Rope (1948), when an identical sequence occurs. The audience knows nothing about the stranger- yet.

In both films, even after death, the character becomes integral to the plot twists and turns in store. The tremendous use of shadows and lighting is on careful display, mirroring the look of the soon-to-come The Wrong Man (1956).

While not the cream of the crop among Hitchcock’s best film entries or even a top ten offering, I Confess (1953) deserves a viewing or two on its own merits.

Clift and Baxter have excellent chemistry and mystique, and the plot is enough to keep audiences well-occupied.

The final twenty minutes provide cat-and-mouse revelry and a shocking death, perfect for a dramatic climax to a film oozing with Hitchcock’s finest traits.

1954 Films, Best Picture Oscar Winners, Crime Drama, Drama, Elia Kazan, Eva Marie Saint, Fred Gwynne, Karl Malden, Katherine MacGregor, Lee J. Cobb, Marlon Brando, Martin Balsam, Pat Hingle, Rod Steiger

On the Waterfront-1954

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On the Waterfront-1954

Director Elia Kazan

Starring Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint

Scott’s Review #876

Reviewed March 9, 2019

Grade: A

Led by one of the best acting performances of all time, On the Waterfront (1954) was an essential and relevant film when made and is still influential in the modern era.

Director Elia Kazan and newly minted Hollywood star Marlon Brando collaborate on a film spectacle as much a character study as a tale of morality and social injustice.

The musical soundtrack score composed by Leonard Bernstein only enhances an already astounding picture that is deservedly referenced as a masterpiece.

Terry Malloy (Brando) is a washed-up former local boxer who now spends his days slaving away as a dockworker on the dingy waterfronts of Hoboken, New Jersey. Terry’s brother Charley (Rod Steiger) works for a vicious mob boss, Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb), who controls the area.

The police are aware of the ongoing corruption but are limited by the lack of evidence and witnesses to regular crimes. When a fellow dockworker is killed, Terry falls for the victim’s sister, Edie (Eva Marie Saint), leading him to rethink his priorities.

The positive aspects of On the Waterfront are enumerable. Meritful cinematography and location sequences, enshrined in the rich story and flawless acting, give the film authenticity. The film was shot almost entirely on location in New York and New Jersey, using actual docks and outdoor sequences.

The dingy, water-soaked locales are riddled with secrets and dark violence, brought to new levels through realism and grittiness.

Never looking more masculine or more handsome, though his portrayal of Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) is a close second, Marlon Brando achieves riches in the world of stellar acting.

He is rugged yet compassionate, macho yet tender, and pours his heart into the role of Terry. One cannot help wondering if the self-professed method actor became Terry during filming.

With both vulnerability and strength, Brando embodies the character so well that he has become my favorite of all the film roles he has undertaken.

The supporting players dutifully flesh out the resounding cast with gusto. Special mentions go to Karl Malden as Father Barry and Steiger as Charley. Like Barry, Malden brings warmth, patience, and benevolence in a world of crime and deceit. He attempts to console and mentor the folks in his world and is eventually beaten for his honesty and earnestness.

Charley is a different story, selling his soul to the devil and accepting the cards he has been handed, choosing to join with Friendly. At a crucial moment, he makes another devastating choice that changes his life forever.

Few films can proudly boast a scene or dialogue that remains timeless and imprinted on cinematic history, but On the Waterfront contains a scene of this caliber.

During a tremendously important moment in the film, Terry has a conversation with Charley and makes an impassioned statement-“I coulda’ been somebody. I coulda been a contender”, laments Terry to his brother, “Instead of a bum, which is what I am – let’s face it.”

This line is a historic piece of writing and is true to the character.

The film is more powerful and truthful because it represents Elia Kazan’s real-life plight. In the early 1950s, the director famously informed a government committee about suspected Communists, while many of his colleagues chose to go to prison rather than name names.

Many Hollywood actors, directors, and screenwriters were blacklisted for decades to come. On the Waterfront is frequently deemed an allegory to the director’s plight and is a personal story.

On the Waterfront (1954) is sometimes violent and all-times realistic, painting a portrait of one man’s struggle to overcome the lousy life given to him to do the right thing.

Thanks to gorgeous direction, an explosive lead performance by Brando, and all the pieces fitting perfectly in unison, the film is one of the greats and will remain one that generations will discover.

Oscar Nominations: 8 wins-Best Motion Picture (won), Best Director-Elia Kazan (won), Best Actor-Marlon Brando (won), Best Supporting Actor-Lee J. Cobb, Karl Malden, Rod Steiger, Best Supporting Actress-Eva Marie Saint (won), Best Story and Screenplay (won), Best Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, Best Art Direction, Black-and-White (won), Best Cinematography, Black-and-White (won), Best Film Editing (won)

1951 Films, Drama, Elia Kazan, Karl Malden, Kim Hunter, Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh

A Streetcar Named Desire-1951

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A Streetcar Named Desire-1951

Director Elia Kazan

Starring Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh

Scott’s Review #872

Reviewed March 2, 2019

Grade: A

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) is an adaptation of Tennessee Williams’s dark and dreary Broadway play. The stellar cast includes three of the four original members of the stage version who brought the film to the big screen.

Tremendous acting and a morbid southern setting will leave the viewer transfixed and wondering what chaos and drama will next unfold. The story is sad, pitiful, and quite heavy as each character suffers guilt, resentment, rage, or regret, but these elements make the film a pure classic.

Aging southern belle Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh) has lost her valuable southern plantation and flees her aristocratic livelihood to New Orleans to live with her working-class sister Stella (Kim Hunter) and brother-in-law Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando).

Unhappy, Blanche immediately begins acting snobbish compared to regular people and offends many with her prim and proper manners.

Stanley feels slighted by Blanche, who is convinced she is keeping Stella’s inheritance. This leads to conflict. Stanley meets Mitch (Karl Malden) and may have a shot at happiness.

Blanche is the most painful and well-dissected character. A fun fact is that Leigh is the only Actor among the principal four who did not appear in the original stage version, where Jessica Tandy played the role.

Leigh was undoubtedly cast because of her star power at the time. She dives full steam ahead into the role and delivers the perfect blend of pathos and courage, adding the most complexity.

Reduced to a life among the poor and struggling, the reality is harsh for the once-wealthy heiress who has lost all her money through no fault of her own, her estate taken by creditors after her husband’s tragic death assumed to be suicide.

Almost as complicated is Stanley, played stunningly by Brando, an actor who, with this film, was beginning to embark on Hollywood success that would surround him throughout most of the 1950s.

The most prominent film cover art features a tee-shirt-clad Brando, his muscular arms and torso on display, and his smoldering bad-boy pose. The sexual tension between Stanley and Blanche is undeniable, as their love/hate relationship is filled with unbridled passion.

Their carnal attraction is mainly due to the brutish masculinity that Brando exudes on camera.

The combined supporting performances by Kim Hunter and Malden are almost as complex as the leads, and they are just as important to recognize.

Hunter plays Stella as wounded and put-upon but not weak. She has strength but is unsure who to trust or whether to leave her husband. Malden plays Mitch as benevolent and trusting, enamored with Blanche until her secrets are finally revealed.

Heartbroken, even he, the kindest character in the group, is left unhappy. Malden is great at adding an every-man and graceful quality to Mitch.

Who can ever forget the poignant and melancholy wails of “Stella! Stella! Stella!” emitted by the tragic Stanley, a moment forever remembered in cinematic history? He longingly begs for Stella’s forgiveness as he looks towards the sky.

The suggested rape, although not shown, is a powerful tidbit and controversial in the film for 1951. The audience not seeing the action is arguably as intense as having seen it, as the imagination can often be more prominent.

The black-and-white cinematography adds emotional treasures. It captures the bleak life in New Orleans, and the characters’ struggles and hardships are wonderfully portrayed.

The run-down tenement where most of the film takes place is dour, suffocating, and dingy, perfectly enveloping the characters’ lives.

Hopelessness and depression are commonalities as director Elia Kazan creates a film that grasps his audience and never lets go.

A Streetcar Named Desire is about conflict, pain, and the human desire for love and feeling thwarted by realism and dire circumstances.

Each of the four characters can be dissected, sympathized with, and worthy of discussion. This only proves the complexities of each.

I challenge a good comparison to Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) and A Streetcar Named Desire have similar qualities.

The film set an Oscar record when it became the first film to win in three acting categories (a feat only since matched by Network in 1976).

It won awards for Actress in a Leading Role (Leigh), Actor in a Supporting Role (Malden), Actress in a Supporting Role (Hunter), and Art Direction.

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) is not an easy watch, but it is assuredly a feast of excellent acting and heartbreaking, wounded characters.

Oscar Nominations: 4 wins-Best Motion Picture, Best Director-Elia Kazan, Best Actor-Marlon Brando, Best Actress-Vivien Leigh (won), Best Supporting Actor-Karl Malden (won), Best Supporting Actress-Kim Hunter (won), Best Screenplay, Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, Best Sound Recording, Best Art Direction, Black-and-White (won), Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, Best Costume Design, Black-and-White

1964 Films, Bette Davis, Jean Hagen, Karl Malden, Paul Henreid, Peter Lawford, Philip Carey, Thriller

Dead Ringer-1964

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Dead Ringer-1964

Director Paul Henreid

Starring Bette Davis, Karl Malden

Scott’s Review #67

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Reviewed June 24, 2014

Grade: B+

Dead Ringer (1964) is a black-and-white thriller starring Bette Davis in her final leading role before she took on the character and supporting roles.

Davis plays an interesting dual role, and as a massive fan of hers, I believe two are better than one.

The story centers on a wealthy widow and her twin sister, a struggling bar owner. The two have not spoken in decades and renewed their feud at a funeral.

One sister schemes to cause the other’s death, which results in an entertaining game of mistaken identity.

Davis carries this film and is dynamic in every scene. With her eyes, facial expressions, and throaty voice, her characteristic sexy pose with the cigarette is often utilized.

She is simply dynamic.

The story and plot are carefully crafted, and the angles that show both characters are impressive for the time (1964).

The differing lifestyles of the characters also make for a more challenging performance by Davis.

Karl Malden is a treat as a love interest of one of the sisters.

1962 Films, Ann Jillian, Harvey Korman, Jack Benny, Karl Malden, Mervyn LeRoy, Musical, Natalie Wood, Rosalind Russell

Gypsy-1962

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Gypsy-1962

Director Mervyn LeRoy

Starring Rosalind Russell, Natalie Wood

Scott’s Review #37

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Reviewed June 18, 2014

Grade: A

The film version of the iconic Broadway production is a huge success, mainly due to Rosalind Russell’s superb performance as Mama Rose, a muscled, driven stage mother in the Depression-era show business world.

She is mesmerizing in the role and reminiscent of Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, who would have been wonderful in it.

Russell carries the film with her bombastic, loud, and determined performance- her children will become stars, and Rose will get the stardom and spoils she so richly deserves.

She uses every nook and cranny to her advantage- from borrowing money from her father to scraping leftover Chinese food scraps and stealing silverware.

Rose’s daughters, Baby June, and Louise (Natalie Wood) are in tow to help her achieve her goals- June the talented one, and Louise along for the ride.

When circumstances develop, Louise blossoms and becomes the famous Gypsy Rose Lee.

From masterpieces “Everything’s Coming up Roses” and “Some People” to her heartbreak at being a driven stage mom, Russell’s performance makes the film.

Her best scene comes at the climax. Rose finally admits that she has spent her life needing to be noticed, hits an empty theater stage alone, and has an emotional breakdown.

Natalie Wood and Karl Malden certainly add depth to their characters, especially Wood, who goes from mousy wallflower to seductive stripper Gypsy Rose Lee.

From a casting perspective, I am not sure Wood was quite right for the role- the second time in two years this would occur (her casting in West Side Story being the other misstep), but she was an enormous star at the time and was awarded juicy roles.

Gypsy (1962) is one of the great Hollywood musicals from the 1950s/1960’s heyday.

Witty, smart dialog helps this film emerge at the top of the list of similar types of films.

Bravura!

Oscar Nominations: Best Scoring of Music-Adaptation or Treatment, Best Cinematography, Color, Best Costume Design, Color