Lifeboat

The timing here was interesting, two completely different types of movies, and I couldn't help but be slightly amused by it. I just recently reviewed Around the World in 80 Days, a huge scale epic that had locations around the world. Then there's this review, an entire movie set on an adrift boat at sea. I love a good epic, but an entire movie contained on one set? That's impressive. The movie is 1944's Lifeboat.

On its way to England during WWII, an Allied supply ship crewed by merchant marines is attacked by a German U-boat and sinks. Aboard a sturdy lifeboat, respected writer Connie Porter (Tallulah Bankhead) rescues Kovac (John Hodiak), a member of the crew from the engine room. Connie tells him that the German U-boat sunk as well in all the chaos. Minutes pass and they begin to pick up other survivors until there is nine of them all told. Among them is a German sailor, Willi (Walter Slezak), who no one is sure what to make of. Should they throw him overboard or keep him as a prisoner? With food and water limited, their decision could directly affect their survival.

Do you need proof that director Alfred Hitchcock was a director far ahead of his time? First off, if you said 'yes,' shame on you. Second, this film should serve as proof....if it was some how needed. Some four years before his 1948 film Rope and 13 years before 12 Angry Men used the formula, Hitchcock films the entire movie on one set, in this case the lifeboat adrift at sea. The entire movie. There are no asides or flashbacks or anything that distracts from the very singular location. This well-made, sturdy boat ends up being a weirdly compelling additional character. By the end of the movie, you feel claustrophobic and alone. Not a lot of directors could pull this premise off successfully, but Hitchcock seems to do it with ease.

Working with an ensemble cast, Hitchcock brings together a group of actors/actresses from all walks of life with more than a few differences in background. Bankhead as Connie gets top billing and delivers a solid performance but is far from sympathetic. Hodiak brings a tough guy edge to his part as Kovac, the former slaughterhouse worker turned sailor and maybe the one thinking the clearest. Slezak ends up being Evil Incarnate as Willi, the German sailor who knows more than he is letting on. Also look for William Bendix as Gus, the lovable sailor wanting to get back to his dancing girlfriend, Mary Anderson as Alice, a young nurse nervous about reaching London, Henry Hull as Rittenhouse, a proud, self-made businessman, Hume Cronyn as Sparks, the radioman who bonds with Alice, Canada Lee as Joe, the black steward, and Heather Angel as Mrs. Higgins, a mother traveling with infant to visit her husband.

What is impressive about the film can also be a weakness depending on your point of view. Hitchcock chooses not to use any gimmicks or tricks in developing a story that clocks in at 97 minutes. There are no marauding sharks circling the boat or patrolling plane overhead. This is an ultra-personal story that is entirely contained within the confines of the boat. Because there is nothing to distract from the task at hand, this is a dialogue-heavy movie. At times, it gets to be a little much. You can only hear so many monologues about the past and how people got here, their beliefs and relationships before things get a little on the slow. When it does work though, it's great. The story gives a window into mob mentality, especially when survival is on the line. Not surprisingly, you react differently to a situation at hand when life and death hangs in the balance.

Setting the survivor story (yeah, alliteration!) during WWII was no doubt a timely one. I can't help but wonder though what the story would have been like in a more existential setting; just survivors on the open sea hoping to make it to land or rescue of some sorts. Yes, the Willi character and his sinister motives are necessary, but that could have been tweaked too. The WWII dynamic is one thing, but a solid, interesting story detours and degenerates some in the finale as a propaganda message is not to subtly blared at us as a viewing audience. Oh, Germans are bad! There was potential for a twisted, darker ending in the closing minute, but the propaganda shuts the door on that possibility. Still, it's an impressive movie, and one that's easily recommended.

Lifeboat (1944): ***/****

The Pelican Brief

Serial killers, lunatic murderers, freaky alien attacks, deranged animal assaults; all creepy and scary in their own way, all played up in all sorts of movies. What could be the creepiest thing? How about a government meant to protect and look out for its people up to all sorts of shady activities? Conspiracies left and right with millions and even billions of dollars on the line to the point where a few lives don't matter. Nothing flashy, just good entertainment, 1993's The Pelican Brief.

Two U.S. Supreme Court judges have been assassinated, and no one knows where to start. A Tulane law student, Darby Shaw (Julia Roberts), starts her own investigation and gives her findings to boyfriend/law professor, Thomas Callahan (Sam Shepard). The brief she's written seems a little far-fetched, but in the intelligence community it has hit a nerve. Anyone associated with the brief starts turning up dead, leaving Darby to assume she's next. She turns to an investigative reporter, Gray Grantham (Denzel Washington), working in Washington D.C. for help. Darby and Gray begin to look into her findings, realizing they've stumbled into something bigger than them. Can they prove the brief as accurate before they too are taken care of?

Any movie based off a John Grisham novel is off to a flying start so 'Pelican' earns points before the movie has even started. Directed by Alan J. Pakula, this government thriller is polished and professional, well-told and well-executed. It keeps you guessing, giving you that uncomfortable feel of a shady, sinister government up to no good. Would you expect anything less from the director of All the President's Men?  The movie is maybe a little long at 141 minutes, but it doesn't drag, staying true to Grisham's novel. James Horner's score is a good one, using samples from Glory and Braveheart among a few other recognizable stings.

Starring together in 1993, Roberts and Washington were two of the rising stars in Hollywood.  As so many reviews point out, no one does distressed and terrified quite like Julia Roberts.  Playing Darby Shaw, Roberts does a good job of making her character frazzled without being obnoxious. Seeing what she sees? I don't blame her being frazzled. She composes herself and turns it outward, intending to prove her theory right. As the bloodhound-like investigative reporter, Washington has the best part as Gray. He can sniff out a story and get it to print like few others can.  Once they meet about halfway through the movie, 'Pelican' picks up some, Roberts and Washington showing off an easy-going, likable chemistry. Good performances to lead the way. 

Like any good thrillers, this is a movie that unsettles you in an incredibly smart way. They aren't 'Gotcha!' moments. Instead, they're quiet moments that build up the tension. Is someone waiting around a corner to kill you? More importantly, who's behind all this killing? The idea/premise of a government agency with all its resources trying to kill one person is what so many government thrillers are based in. What's one little murder to people like that? You never know when they'll strike or where, and that's where 'Pelican' works so well.

The performances in support of Roberts and Washington are something else. With a long list of speaking roles, most are only around for two or three scenes so enjoy them, and don't blink! Robert Culp is particularly memorable as the President of the United States, Tony Goldwyn playing his shifty Chief of Staff. Stanley Tucci is startling as Khamel, an assassin with seemingly no rival. John Lithgow plays Smith, Gray's beaten-down but trusting newspaper editor. Playing the head of the FBI, James Sikking is just the right amount of ability and paranoia, balancing out someone turning on him at any time. Even Hume Cronyn makes a quick appearance as an aging Supreme Court Justice. That is by no means all of the names worth mentioning, but the list could go on for several more reviews. Lots of talent assembled here, lots of recognizable faces.

I was surprised to find a relatively modest 6.3 rating out of 10 at IMDB for this movie. It isn't anything that new, and the ending is a little too tidy, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Well-written and with good performances from top to bottom. You can't ask for too much more in a movie.

The Pelican Brief <---trailer (1993): ***/****

The Seventh Cross

Released in 1944 as WWII was still raging in Europe and the Pacific, The Seventh Cross had to be one of, if not the first, major motion picture to deal with the Holocaust. The first major camp was even liberated by the Russians just a day before The Seventh Cross was released in theaters. People joke all the time about dealing with touchy subjects with the line "Oh, too soon?" and in this case the Holocaust in Europe was still very much an issue. Of course, to say this movie is purely a Holocaust movie would be misleading because the story moves away from the concentration camps quickly.

It's 1936 deep in Germany -- so the war hasn't even started yet for all you history majors -- and seven men escape from the Westhofen concentration camp. The group splits up to travel individually with the escape leader George Heissler (Spencer Tracy) narrowly escaping being picked up just minutes after leaving the camp. The search is on for these escapees and one by one they are picked up. The camp commandant vows to hang each of the prisoners from a row of crosses standing outside his office (hence the title), but Heissler eludes capture.

With no options and always close to exhaustion, Heissler must make his way to safety somehow. The Gestapo is looking for him and offers a reward for information on him. Unbeknownst to Heissler, an old friend, Franz Marnet (Herbert Rudley) is trying to get in contact with him to help him get out of Germany safely. Down to his last resort, George turns to an acquaintance from his past, a factory worker (Hume Cronyn) with a wife (Jessica Tandy) and three children. Time seems to be running out though for Heissler as the authorities close in.

For several reasons, this was a movie ahead of its time. For starters, it deals with the Holocaust in Germany from a different perspective. Instead of telling the story from inside the concentration camps, the whole movie is a chase through Germany. No time is wasted at all in the camp with the first shot showing the seven escapees cutting through the barbed wire. For the rest of the movie, we are given a glimpse into what German citizens dealt with before and during WWII. People and families disappear without a trace and no explanation. So when Heissler shows up asking for him with no knowledge of where he was, these people are curious as to his whereabouts.

It's also interesting to see a home-front war movie where most tend to deal in front line stories about the soldiers and officers fighting the battles. Granted, 'Cross' is several years before the war started, but there's a sense of what's to come. Cronyn's Paul Roeder works in a factory that's been converted to war materiel in an epic weapons build-up, and there's already a feeling of the Gestapo being like Big Brother with an ear to the ground and an interest in goings-on all around the country. Even the German citizens fear for what the secret police could be up to.

Through the casting, the picture of the German home front comes across clearly with a variety of people as George attempts to get out of the country. Tracy is very strong in his performance as a shell of the man he used to be, now trying to regain some of the dignity he used to have. It's through his travels he comes to trust again and see that man can be a compassionate, emotional individual. Cronyn and Tandy (some 40 years before Cocoon) are at their best, a typical young married couple who put everything at risk to help their old friend. There's also a young Swedish girl Toni (Signe Hasso) and a long list of underground members trying their best to save this one man, putting their lives on the line in the process.

A very enjoyable movie overall that does drag a bit in the second half. It would have been hard for director Fred Zinnemann to keep up the energy from the 1st hour, but it is not enough to not recommend this movie. So for a different, pretty unique look at pre-WWII Germany and the concentration camps and Holocaust, give this one a try.

The Seventh Cross <---trailer (1944): ***/****