Movie Number 48: The House Of The Spaniard (Reginald Denham, 1936).

Movie number 48: The House of the Spaniard (Reginald Denham, 1936).

Based upon Arthur Behrend’s novel The House of the Spaniard is a hopelessly dated comedy thriller set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War. Peter Haddon hams it up as hapless David Grey, accidental witness to some dodgy goings on on Liverpool marshland who then gets mixed up in some nonsense about Spanish revolutionists. The confusing plot is peppered with coincidences and contrivances and for much of the movie I was in the dark as to what was happening as the narrative jumped from one incredulous event to another.

The Marlene Dietrich-esq Brigette Horney is appealing as Margarita, Mr Grey’s love interest and the daughter of his employer and eventual kidnapper Pedro de Guzman (Allen Jeayes) and the movie is not wholly unentertaining; some enjoyment is to be found its frankly ludicrous situations and eventual denouncement. But to be honest the film has little else going for it.

Told in a jolly, lighthearted manner unbefitting of it somber real-life backdrop of civil unrest, The House of the Spaniard is a largely missable b-movie that leaves a slightly bad taste. Those with an interest in pre-war British cinema, or with a peculiar fetish for bad movies, may find it worth a watch.

RIP Doris Day.

WINNIE THE POOH: SPRINGTIME WITH ROO (Dir: Saul Blinkoff & Elliot M Bour, 2004).

A A Milne meets Charles Dickens in a weird hybrid from a time when Disney’s Pooh franchise had seemingly lost both direction and appeal. At least for anyone above pre-school age. Yes, this is Dickens’ A Christmas Carol re-told for Easter with, despite Roo’s billing, Rabbit as an Easter banning Scrooge.

Walt Disney first filmed Pooh in the animated featurette Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (Wolfgang Reitherman, 1966). Two more featurettes followed and were combined in the movie length compilation The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (Reitherman & John Lounsbery, 1977). While some bemoaned the Americanization of Pooh and the replacing of Pooh’s hums with songs by Mary Poppins’ tunesmiths Richard and Robert Sherman, the original shorts were praised for their charming, whimsical nature, delicate storybook-esq animation and general faithfulness to Milne’s text. The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, an animated TV series not directly based on Milne, debuted in 1988. While a success, The New Adventures... marked a distinct change of tone for Pooh. Gone is the innocent charm of the featurettes and of Milne’s tales upon which they were based. Insecurity and doubt have crept into The Hundred Acre Wood. This is a new neurotic Pooh for the modern age. Sadly this mood continued through a series of theatrical and straight-to-video features, most notably the dark and downbeat Pooh’s Grand Adventure (Karl Geurs, 1997). Most of the latter Pooh movies are surprisingly melancholic as is this feature in which, after cancelling Easter, Rabbit is shown, via some heavy handed moralising, the negative impact his actions have on his friends.

At 65 minutes Springtime with Roo is mercifully short. The animation by DisneyToon Studios, while not up to the standard of the theatrical product, is bright and colourful but on the whole this movie is a rather joyless affair. Those wishing to indulge in Pooh would be best advised seeking out The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh or, better still, reading A A Milne’s original literary classics ‘Winnie the Pooh’ and ‘The House at Pooh Corner’.

100+ movie reviews now available on my blog JINGLE BONES MOVIE TIME. Link below.

Happy birthday Audrey Hepburn!

AVENGERS ENDGAME (Dir: Anthony Russo & Joe Russo, 2019).

Approximately 3 years after the rest of the world, I finally watched Avengers Endgame and I was not disappointed. For what it’s worth, what follows is spoiler free. Not that it probably maters much now anyhow.

Over 11 years Marvel have rewritten the superhero movie playbook, becoming the most critically and commercially successful franchise in film history. For better or worse the MCU has had a profound effect on movie making with every other Hollywood studio scrabbling around to compete with their own cinematic universe, but with only a fraction of the success. As the ‘Infinity Saga’ draws to a close Marvel further cement their reputation as comic book movie king.

Anybody who has sat through the previous 21 Marvel Avengers movies will know what to expect as the surviving Avengers assemble to take down bad guy Thanos and restore order to the Universe.

Thankfully Avengers Endgame is at least as enthralling as the movies which preceded it. It looks amazing. Art direction, costumes, special effects and action set pieces are all exemplary; every cent of the $356 million budget is up there on the screen to see. The performances from the star studded cast are faultless, the Russo Brothers direction is a stylish as always and Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely’s screenplay is exciting, funny and ultimately, surprisingly moving.

At 3 hours long I would suggest emptying your bladder before watching. (Fittingly for such a lengthy movie the end credits roll over Harry James and Kitty Kallen’s recording of the Jules Styne and Sammy Cahn standard It’s Been a Long, Long Time.) I would also NOT recommend watching without having seen Avengers Infinity War (A Russo & J Russo, 2018). For everybody else watch, enjoy and maybe shed a tear.

Visit my blog JINGLE BONES MOVIE TIME for more movie reviews! Link below.

DUMBO (Dir: Ben Sharpsteen, 1941).

Walt Disney’s 4th animated feature is the story of the circus elephant born with oversized ears who uses his disadvantage to his advantage when he discovers his ears enable him to fly.

At 64 minutes it is one of the shortest Disney movies but is a masterclass in storytelling. Not a second of screen time is wasted; in fact its tight narrative and snappy pace make it an advocate for shorter movies!

It is also the most emotionally moving Disney feature. Many a tear has formed in audiences eyes as Dumbo is separated from his mother and ostracised by the other elephants. It is a credit to writers Joe Grant and Dick Huemer that the emotion never descends into false sentiment and there is also much humour to offset the heartache.

The animation too is exemplary, as one incredible animation set piece follows another. Highlights include the shadowy roustabout sequence, the tragicomic disastrous pachyderm pyramid, Dumbo’s inaugural flight and best of all the surrealist Pink Elephants On Parade. The character animation, opting for a more ‘cartoony’ look than in previous features, is also among the studios best as are the beautiful watercolour backgrounds against which the action takes place.

Add to this a fantastic score by Frank Churchill and Oliver Wallace, including the tender Baby Mine and the clever wordplay of When I See An Elephant Fly, and a powerful message of acceptance and the result is one of the greatest movies, animated or otherwise, of all time. In my opinion only rivalled for greatness by Walt Disney’s Pinocchio (B Sharpsteen & Hamilton Luske, 1940). Dumbo is unarguably a masterpiece and a work of art.

For more reviews of vintage Disney classics check out my blog JINGLE BONES MOVIE TIME at the link below!

jinglebonesmovietime.blogspot.com

Dumbo (1941)

Dumbo    (Dir: Ben Sharpsteen, 1941).  Walt Disney’s 4th animated feature is the story of the circus elephant born with oversized e