the apartment foreign film posters

Once again - l love foreign film posters!  Five from 'The Apartment'.

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the apartment (1960) - billy wilder

The Apartment is one of the great Billy Wilder screwball comedies starring Jack Lemmon, and was the follow up to Wilder's  'Some Like It Hot'.  Lemmon plays C.C Baxter, a company drone who falls for Fran Kubelik, the girl operating the lift in his workplace, played by Shirley MacClaine.  Baxter is also being put upon and used by his superiors, as his apartment is conveniently located for affairs to take place.  They pressure him to vacate it in the evenings so they can use it behind their wives backs, and although Baxter is diligent and hard working, he gains promotion due to his apartment's availability.  However, unbeknown to him, his boss, Mr Sheldrake,  is using it to see Miss Kubelik, who is his mistress.  Baxter discovers the truth and Kubelik realises that Sheldrake is just stringing her along, resulting in her taking an overdose in Baxter's apartment.  Luckily for all concerned, she is found by Baxter, bought round by the neighbouring Doctor, and then has to recuperate in the apartment with Baxter looking after her (it's based around Christmas time).  From then on it's a guessing game so see if they will fall for each other and find true love (of course they will).  Both MacLaine and Lemmon are excellent in their roles, and it must have been tough for MacLaine to follow Marilyn Monroe (the love interest in 'Some Like It Hot'), but she manages to achieve it while also being completely different from her in every way.  A classic.

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japanese batman poster

What a superb poster from Japan for the old Batman film in the 1960's.  That's the way to market a movie!

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sound it out (2011) - jeanie finlay

An affectionate look at the only independent record shop in Teeside, Sound it Out (also the name of the shop) featured some oddball characters who all had an addiction for music, some worse than others.  The back stories of some of them were moving, and the documentary also showcased how a shop like this is also a social meeting point, in a town (Stockton on Tees) that has a lot of unemployment and crime, with not a lot to occupy the populace.  There's also appearances by local rappers and bands, plus a return home to Stockton (to play in the shop) by Saint Saviour.  Apart from the bruising on my side from where the FPO was hitting me saying " That's you that is", l enjoyed it a lot, and l could certainly identify (rather too closely) with most of the characters.

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straw dogs 1971 and 2011

Both of these versions of Straw Dogs have pretty much the same story.  The wife returns to her childhood home with her new intellectual husband, who tries to fit in with the locals, one of whom is a past love interest of the wife.  She starts feeling some dissatisfaction towards her husband due to him not paying her enough attention while he is trying to work, not standing up for himself, and being 'manly' enough.  She also flirts with the locals who are hired to do some building work,  with disastrous results.  There's a sub plot involving a 'village idiot' type who accidentally kills a young girl (lifted from John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice to Men'), who the husband then decides to protect from the mob, who try to storm the family home.  This gives the placid intellectual no choice.  He has to man up or die.  There's violence a plenty once the action starts, and you could argue about who is to blame, how it all escalates, the consequences of keeping secrets, responsibility for actions, at what point decisiveness is required, and how and when the law should become involved.  Both films have the backdrop of the countries at war, and the intellectuals opposing it (Vietnam in the 1971 film, Afghanistan / Iraq in the 2011 one), while the common folk are lauded for their fighting ability and dedication to the cause (and in a roundabout way, their own territory.  I thought the original film was head and shoulders above the remake, as Dustin Hoffman and Susan George made it all so much more believable.  The Americans also always have to make slight tweaks which annoy me, such as the husband becoming better looking and a war expert, (rather than a mathematician), and the thugs become ex football stars, (rather than everyday builders).  The first film also looks grittier and darker, whereas l find the American version brighter but more clichéd.  I'm sure if l was Born in the USA (like Bruce Springsteen) and hadn't seen the first film, l would have enjoyed it a lot more, but l can't remove the images and memories that are already engraved in my head.  So l didn't.

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ferry cross the mersey (1965) - jeremy summers

I watched Ferry Cross The Mersey the other day on a pirate DVD (as you do).  Hardly ever shown on TV and never officially released, it's the tale of Gerry and The Pacemakers supposedly trying to win a talent competition in Liverpool at the peak of Merseybeat.  It features old Liverpool locations, top tunes by Gerry and his gang, would be stars at the competition, plus a pre nose job Cilla Black doing them a favour (fnaaar).  Excellent stuff!

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doctor dolittle (1967) - richard fleischer

By Jove, this took me back!
I haven't seen Doctor Dolittle for donkeys years, and have probably only seen it twice in my whole life, but l was really surprised at how much of it l remembered.  Yes, of course it goes on for too long, the story is pretty much non existent  and some of the 'animals' (such as the fox) have to be seen to be believed, but it is still an enjoyable escape from everyday reality.
Based on the Hugh Lofting books, this stars Rex Harrison as the Doctor, and the mad Irish accented Anthony Newley as his pal Mathew Mugg.  Everybody knows the basic tale - thanks to Polynesia the parrot, he can talk (and walk and squawk) with the animals. Remember the Doctor's first name?  Of course you don't - it's John.
That's about it really, sure the film looks great, there's a bit of a love story, incarceration (twice), a shipwreck and a floating island,  The Great Pink Sea Snail and young Tommy Stubbins tagging along just to annoy me. But the plot is irrelevant, it's the animals and song performances that make it, even with the crappy ballads.
I nearly forgot - there's also a great cameo by Dear old Dickie (Richard Attenborough) himself, as circus owner Albert Blossom, which just about steals the show, but l can't find a YouTube clip.
As far as l'm concerned, you can take your Eddie Murphy remake and shove it where the sun don't shine, even if the original movie was a commercial failure.

As a side note, Portia Nelson, who plays the Doctor's sister, wrote the book called 'There's a Hole in my Sidewalk -  The Romance of Self-discovery' which contains the poem 'Autobiography in Five Short Chapters', often used by self help gurus, AA meetings, and motivational speakers (who probably saw the poster for it in 'Good Will Hunting'.

I
I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost ... I am helpless. It isn't my fault. It takes me forever to find a way out.
II
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don't see it. I fall in again. I can't believe I am in the same place. But it isn't my fault. It still takes a long time to get out.
III
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I still fall in ... it's a habit. My eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately.
IV
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it.
V
I walk down another street.

Another side note.
The Puddleby-on the Marsh scenes were shot at Castle Combe, as was War Horse (amongst others).  A place l'd like to visit when l eventually get down (like James Brown) to the Devon and Cornwall areas (even if it is in Wiltshire).

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the left handed gun foreign film posters

I think the Dracula type one just above is the strangest, especially as in the film, (as far as l remember) Paul Newman only has two bullets in his hand in the scene l think they are depicting.

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the left handed gun (1958) - arthur penn

Paul Newman plays a devilishly handsome role (as usual) as William Bonney (AKA William Henry McCartey, jr / Billy The Kid).  He gets caught up in the Lincoln County War, and is portrayed as misunderstood and good natured, until he seeks revenge for the unjust  killing of cattle owner John Tunstall (the Englishman), who had been kind to him.
This was written by Gore Vidal, and, much as l love Newman, he doesn't convince in the role, especially when he portrays becoming mixed up or troubled.  Apart from the scenes when he is dancing, the camera just feasts itself on his eyes, but the menace of a real life outlaw is missing.  His sidekicks were pretty poor as well, but there was a good performance by John Dehner (as Pat Garrett), Billy's friend and later killer.
Liberties were taken with the facts of Billy's life, escape and death, but that is generally expected in these kind of 'shoot it out's', although why they don't stick to the true stories when they have as much going for it as this has, l really don't know. Still, it's an old cowboy film, so it was alright by me, as expectations are low in advance.
Although the film is called 'The Left Handed Gun', he may not have been, as the only photograph of Billy was probably reversed (see below).
He sure didn't look like Paul Newman, that's for sure.

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