Forbidden Planet

Title: Forbidden Planet
Year: 1956
Director: Fred M. Wilcox
Writer: Cyril Hume, story by Irving Block & Allen Adler
Starring: Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen
Music: Bebe & Louis Barron
Length: 98 minutes
Synopsis: a planet’s last surviving colonist doesn’t want to be rescued
How I saw it: on video (rented on DVD), yesterday
Subjective Rating: 6/10
Objective Rating: 6/10 (points off for characters, pacing, cinematography and acting)

It has a lot of great ideas in it (it’s quite obviously the inspiration for Star Trek, among other things), and some cool images. As a sci-fi geek I really wanted to love it, and there’s a lot to love, but it just wasn’t all that fun to watch. So much that’s ripped it off has done what it does better.

The Honeymooners

Title: The Honeymooners
Year: 1955-1956
Network: CBS
Director: Frank Satenstein
Writers: Marvin Marx, Walter Stone, Herbert Finn, A.J. Russell, Leonard Stern, Sydney Zelinka
Starring: Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, Audrey Meadows, Joyce Randolph
Music: Jackie Gleason (theme song), Sammy Spear
Distinctions: Emmy for best supporting actor (Carney)
Episodes: 39
Synopsis: a scheming bus driver and his wife in a run-down New York apartment
How I saw it: on video (rented partly on VHS from the library, partly from Netflix), September 2008
Subjective Rating: 8/10
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for cinematography and music)

I don’t like 1950’s sitcoms, but this show is great. Not “funny for the 50’s” or “funny for a sitcom” – just plain hilarious.

The Searchers

Title: The Searchers
Year: 1956
Director: John Ford
Writer: Frank S. Nugent, based on the novel by Alan Le May
Starring: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond, Natalie Wood, John Qualen, Olive Carey, Henry Brandon
Music: Max Steiner
Distinctions: formerly on IMDb’s Top 250
Synopsis: a racist spends years hunting down the Indians who kidnapped his niece and killed her family
How I saw it: on video, twice (rented from Netflix), most recently March 2008
Subjective Rating: 3/10
Objective Rating: 2/10 (gets points for characters and cinematography)

An uninteresting story, and it doesn’t really make sense if you think too hard. It tries to be something more than just a John-Wayne-is-a-tough-guy-in-the-Old-West action movie, but doesn’t really succeed. The cinematography is actually quite good, when they’re shooting on location. The scenes shot on a sound stage look hilariously bad. The first time I watched this, I wrote: “We hadn’t seen a John Wayne movie before, and we probably won’t see one again.” (Untrue, unfortunately.) I just do not understand that man. He is a parody of himself.

The Killing

Title: The Killing
Year: 1956
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Writer: Stanley Kubrick, with dialogue by Jim Thompson; based on a novel by Lionel White
Starring: Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards, Jay C. Flippen, Elisha Cook Jr., Marie Windsor, Ted de Corsia, Joe Sawyer
Music: Gerald Fried
Distinctions: currently #155 on IMDb’s Top 250
Synopsis: a small group robs a racetrack
How I saw it: on video, yesterday (rented from Netflix)
Subjective Rating: 7/10
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off for characters, acting and special effects/design)

There wasn’t a real problem with the “special effects/design,” it just wasn’t exceptional. The “problems” with the characters aren’t serious, either. It’s a very short movie with a large ensemble, and the characters are as strong as they need to be. The acting is the biggest problem. Sterling Hayden kind of stinks, and a lot of the supporting cast is worse, although a few people (like Elisha Cook as “George”) are great. A couple details regarding the tone: There’s a comically dispassionate narrator with a radio announcer voice, giving you straight facts like the time of day of the following scene. There’s often no music during a scene; instead it stings or quickly fades in/out at the transitions. It’s a somewhat strange movie (although it feels perfectly natural while you’re watching it). On the one hand, it’s a classic pulp crime story in the style of the 30’s and 40’s. On the other hand, it’s an obvious influence for people like Tarantino (especially for Reservoir Dogs).