Midnight Oil:Movies and More

“Panic in the Streets” (1950) starring Richard Widmark and Jack Palance as directed by Elia Kazan, makes for a scary combination. I’m not sure which one you should take your chances on; the menace of the totally deadly pneumonic plague (a form of the Black Plague) or the totally creepy Jack Palance as the villain. The hero, Richard Widmark, as Lieutenant Commander Clint Reed, runs around New Orleans with his syringe, prepared to do battle with either culprit. (Apparently, it is true that the totally deadly effects of pneumonic plague can be forestalled with a dose of antibiotics within 24 hours.) This highly potent concoction of gangsters, bioterrorism, post-war anxieties with a bit of romance thrown in, thanks to Barbara Bel Geddes as the good doctor’s wife, makes it a highly watchable film more than 50 years later. It may not be Elia Kazan’s best film ever, but it’s worth a look. And it’s so comforting in this crazy post-SARS world of ours to think that there is some nice, upstanding medical man out there who has everything under control with his syringe, if he could just get all those nasty miscreants rounded up.

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Are you ready to "roll up your sleeve"? See the video excerpt from "Panic in the Streets" (1950)

“Kiss of Death” (1947)INDb starring Victor Mature with Karl Malden is overshadowed by the Tommy Udo character played by Richard Widmark. Widmark is unforgettable as the sneering psychopath who inhabits this film. The movie is constructed so that we’re supposed to cheer for the ex-con, Nick Bianco (Mature) and his new love (Coleen Gray) as they try to make a new life for their family far away from the criminal past. Suspense builds as Tommy Udo swears revenge on Nick Bianco for turning him in to the policeand then goes on the hunt for his family. It ends up that it’s Widmark who makes an indelible impression on people’s minds and on film history, and not the “good guy” who gets the girl and the happy ending.

See the SNAM blog authored by Thom Ernst on a dedication to the recently passed Richard Widmark.

>>On to "Who's Directing Your Life?"

"Fahrenheit 451" (1966) IMDb, inspired by Ray Bradbury's science fiction novel of the same name, delivers a disturbing vision of a futuristic world where books are contraband to be burned by the state. For those of us who love books, this is a truly scary and undesirable future reality. Werner Oskar stars as the fireman who begins to question the purpose behind burning books in the oppressive police state. Julie Christie plays the double role of the witless wife of the fireman, Linda, and the open minded free spirit, Clarisse.

Check out Thom Ernst's blog for the scoop on his interview with the original author, Ray Bradbury, for the TVO Saturday Night at the Movies Interviews.

View the TVO video web preview for "Fahrenheit 451" (includes snippets of the Bradbury interview)

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See the video trailer for "Fahrenheit 451" (1966)

visit videodetective.com for more info

“The Late Show” (1977) with Art Carney and Lily Tomlin pairs a cranky has-been detective with a kooky young woman who hasn’t quite got her life under control. The odd couple is formed when minor crimes and misdemeanours escalate to a major blackmail and murder case. Things become unexpectedly serious both on the investigation front and the personal relationship side of things. Two slightly out of step and lonely individuals find that they have something to contribute to one another’s lives. Robert Benton directs this backward glance at the hardboiled detective film noir movies of the 1940’s à la Raymond Chandler/Philip Marlowe. The film leaves behind a surprisingly touching picture of the subject of aging thanks to good acting on the part of the lead characters and the support of Benton’s direction as well as a decent script.

See the TVO video preview for the "Never Too Late" presentation with "Nobody's Fool" and "The Late Show"

The companion piece in this series, "Nobody's Fool" with Paul Newman, Jessica Tandy, Bruce Willis and Melanie Griffith was also reviewed on Midnight Oil.

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Don't miss the entire TVOntario Interview for the "Never Too Late" episode. Included is a discussion of "Nobody's Fool" and "The Late Show" in the conversation about Hollywood films and the subject of aging.

Paul Newman is “Nobody’s Fool” (1994) . Robert Benton’s delicately drawn portrait of aging also stars Jessica Tandy, Melanie Griffith and Bruce Willis. Newman plays Sully, a rascally character living in small town America who decides that it’s never too late after all to join the human race. Sully’s worked hard all his life to avoid facing up to inevitable realities. We’d all like to believe that people can get better and not just “older”, in spite of all the examples we see to the contrary. Newman is such a wonderful actor and Benton is such a masterful storyteller in this film that we’ll just have to become believers.

See the “Never Too Late” video interview preview for Nobody’s Fool from SNAM here.

Don't miss the entire TVO SNAM interviews for the "Never Too Late" episode. Includes a discussion of "Nobody's Fool" and "The Late Show" in the discussion of Hollywood films and the subject of aging.

Read Thom Ernst’s blog entry on the ageless Paul Newman .

>>More to see: Looking for more out of life?

Catch the video trailer for Nobody’s Fool here.