Dead Ringer

Film has twice as much Bette Davis

BETTE DAVIS with, well, Bette Davis in "Dead Ringer."

Bette Davis wasn’t what you would call a great beauty.
Sure she had her glamor roles, but what made her a star was she would take on any meaty role, even ones other actresses refused to take, because the roles didn’t fit their images.
And as Davis got older, she started to take the so-called ‘hag’ roles.
She did horror films like “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” and “Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte.”
Lesser known but a typical mid-60s romp was “Dead Ringer.”
This film was double the fun, because Davis plays twin sisters, Margaret DeLorca and Edith Phillips.
Nearly two decades before, Edith dated a wealthy man, Frank DeLorca. They planned to marry.
But at the last minute, Margaret announces she was pregnant with Frank’s baby. So Margaret marries the rich dude and Edith moves away.
But Edith eventually returns to Los Angeles and a few years later, attends Frank’s funeral. After 18 years, she reunites with her rich sister.
For the technology of the 60s, the scenes with the two Bettes work pretty well. Edith looks older, more wrinkly, more warn. She also smokes, while Margaret says she quit because of what it does to the skin.
Edith runs a money-losing, cramped nightclub where she employs young talent, even though she can’t afford to.
Edith learns from the chauffeur on the way out of the massive grounds of her sister that the couple never had a child. Uh-oh! Now Edith really hates her sister!
And gosh, if the two are twins, why don’t their names rhythm.? Margaret and Edith?
Anyway, so Edith is going to lose the bar because she hasn’t paid the rent. She dates a cop, played by Karl Maldin, who is in love with her.
So she gets a nifty idea. Lure her rich sister to the apartment above her nightclub, shoot her and make it look like a suicide. To be sure, leave a suicide note.
Then make authorities think Edith is dead, then Edith takes over Margaret’s identity.
You would think that would be a stretch for her to get away with it. But this was a 60s suspense film and there’s no DNA. She gets away with it.
There are some delicious twists and turns in this treat of a movie.
Malden finds himself drawn to Margaret, who is really Edith. Peter Lawford plays the young lover of Margaret, who becomes suspicious of this new Margaret.
So how did rich husband really die?
This was a worthy vehicle for Davis, who stayed a star until her final film, “The Whales of August.” She is also the star of the TV film “The Dark Secret of Harvest Home,” filmed in Kingsville and Conneaut.
It is filmed in crisp black and white and has that early 1960s feel to it.
The story is difficult to buy, but it’s still worth the ride.


DEAD RINGER • Directed by Paul Henried • Written by Albert Beich and Rian James • Runtime: 115 minutes • Too violence for young children, lots of period smoking • 3 stars out of 4

Dad's in Heaven with Nixon

‘Dad’s in Heaven’ great family documentary

TOM (left) and Christopher Murray from "My Dad's in Heaven with Nixon."

“Dad’s in Heaven with Nixon” is a documentary of a typical American family that is, well, not that typical.

Of course, you could argue any documentary about any family can’t be too typical.

First-time director Tom Murray chronicles his family in his first movie.

As you settle down to watch this movie, which includes a lot of grainy old family films from the 1920s to the 60s, you realize the narrative feels disjointed and uneven. Perhaps because it is the work of a novice filmmaker.

But by the time the movie is over, you discover his approach works pretty well.

Tom Murray comes from a big, somewhat well-to-do family that spent its summers on the beach at Long Island in the 1960s. Every day the kids tackled the waves, played on the beach, had a great summer.

They lived in their own beach house. And if you had checked 40 years before that, the Murray family then enjoyed the beach and beachouse, with Tom’s father as the youngest member of his family.

Hence all of the footage of children frolicking on the beach.

And we do get the obligatory family photographs of the so-called typical American family.

Ah, but wait, youngest brother Christopher, born in spring 1960, was deprived of oxygen as a child and developed more slowly than the rest.

He couldn’t walk until he was 16 months. He couldn’t speak until he was 4. He went to a parade of child psychologists and developmental specialists before he was diagnosed as autistic.

While there are other siblings, Christopher is on camera more as he stammers to get his point across. He’s friendly, he has a sense of humor. He doesn’t have an inferiority complex.

Their aging mother, Janice, spends her life working to make sure Christopher is independent and can live on his own when she dies.

So there we have it. The story of a unique family in which one sibling has autism. But brother, that isn’t the whole story.

Suddenly the perspective changes from to their father, Thomas E. Murray II, and then his father.

His father had dozens of patents dealing with electricity. He worked with Thomas Edison to get electricity into peoples’ homes. He was good friends with mayors and governors and other politicians. The family had money.

But Grandpa Murray also ignored Thomas E., the filmmaker’s father. When their father got home from a trip, the children lined up on the steps for a gift. But he told Thomas E. he was undeserving of a gift.

Grandpa Murray also drank from morning to night, dying of cirrhosis of the liver at a young age.

He left a mark on Thomas E. he could never lose. He was a failure at real estate. He was a failure on Wall Street. The family possessions disappeared to satisfy the debt.

And as the story of the family patriarch plays out, we suddenly find ourselves back to the story of Christopher.

Christopher has a measure of independence. He no longer lives in a group home. He can cook for himself. He knows how to take buses where he wants to go. He has jobs at a hospital and a grocery store.

But then we discover yet another talent of Christopher’s, as well as the origin of the title of the movie.

Suddenly it dawns: this young autistic boy who was given little change to succeed in the 1960s is more of a success than his bright father, more secure, happier.

And during it all, the filmmaker, Tom, the eldest brother, learns more about himself.

This is a monumental film anyone who has brothers and sisters can relate to. It is a story about a real American family
DAD’S IN HEAVEN WITH NIXON • Directed, produced and written by Tom Murray • 4 stars out of 5

Abraham Lincoln and The Struggle

Griffith sound films historically interesting

WALTER HUSTON is Lincoln in "D.W. Griffith's Abraham Lincoln."

D.W. Griffith invented what we see today as the modern movie.
Before Griffith, movies were short, as little as 10 minutes.
Mostly, film crews would go to busy areas or scenes of festivals or other events and figure out a story line from there.
But Griffith took the Thomas F. Dixon Jr. novel “The Klansman” and turned it into a 3-hour plus movie, complete with the first close-up (that of Lillian Gish), sprawling Civil War battle scenes and other epic events. A tremendous enterprise for 1915.
People literally fainted from the excitement of the film and movie history was made.
Griffith was born in 1875, a decade after the Civil War ended. A southerner, he listened to his father and uncles talk about fighting.
“Birth of a Nation” was controversial in the way it depicted African-Americans, even then and the way the Ku Klux Klan “rescued” the white women from the clutches of black people, who were actually whites in blackface, since blacks could not play major roles in movies.
By 1930, Griffith made two sound movies, one of which took him back to his Civil War roots, “Abraham Lincoln,” also known as “D.W. Griffith’s Abraham Lincoln.” The opening credits tell us it was “personally directed” by Griffith.
Walter Huston played Lincoln in this stagey picture. We see what appears to be vignettes of the man throughout his life, from his birth to his early days to becoming a lawyer and finally making it to the White House.
While hailed at the time, Huston portrays the 16th president as more of a country bumpkin who talks in folksy analogies that aren’t particularly witty.
As a young man, he falls for Ann Rutledge, played by Una Merkel.
Ann unfortunately dies, with Abe at her side, as the movie tells us. He must settle for zany Mary Todd Lincoln.
This is not a riveting look at Lincoln and blame it on early sound or my hearing, but I couldn’t always understand what was going on with the southern-drawl characters.
The most suspenseful part involved Lincoln’s assassination, which is meticulously done. But the DVD compares this assassination portrayal with the one Griffith did 15 years earlier in “Birth of a Nation.” Frankly, I thought the earlier, silent version was more realistic and better executed.
Besides the film on “Lincoln,” the same DVD has another film, “The Struggle.”
Griffith was 56 when he made this film and lived another 17 years, but this was his last movie. It bombed.
But “The Struggle” isn’t bad, better than the Lincoln film.
Hal Skelly plays Jimmie Wilson, a man in love who gets drunk and vows to his wife-to-be that he will never drink again. For a long time, he doesn’t.
But eventually he is prodded to imbibe. His wife and young daughter wonder where Daddy is. When he comes home, his daughter, played by Edna Hagan, says he looks sick and his breath smells funny. Hagan, by the way, is still alive, according to the Internet Movie Data Base.
Daddy keeps drinking, makes a fool of himself at an engagement party for his sister-in-law and pretty much ruins the family.
Eventually, they are kicked out of their apartment, with all of their belongings out on the sidewalk.
These are early talkies but Griffith brings a realism to them. For instance, as in real life, people talk over each other, interrupt each other. Before this, in early sound movies, the rule was to make sure the other actor was finished with what he was saying before you said your part.
“The Struggle” was panned as old-fashioned and seeing a movie about misery certainly wasn’t something people were jumping for during the Great Depression.
It was pulled from theaters in many instances in less than a week.
Griffith worked on other people’s films on and off until his death in 1948.
“Abraham Lincoln” and “The Struggle” aren’t compelling cinema but historically interesting. These were the father of modern cinema’s only sound movies and they are conveniently on one DVD.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN
• Directed by D.W. Griffith
• Written by John W. Considine Jr., adapted by Stephen Vincent Benet
• Runtime: 96 minutes
• Not rated, OK for all audiences but kids will be bored
• 2 stars out of 4

THE STRUGGLE
• Directed by D.W. Griffith
• Written by John Emerson and Anita Loos
• Runtime: 87 minutes
• Not rated, intense for some children
• 2 1/2 stars out of 4

Best of Youth

‘Best of Youth’ long but worth watching

JASMINE TRINCA, Lugi Lo Cascio and Allessio Boni in "The Best of Youth."

“La meglio gioventu” is a sprawling saga of two brothers in Italy and how their lives take different paths.
Known in English as “The Best of Youth,” it is a lengthy 360 minutes divided over two DVDs.
The story starts in 1966 and focuses on brothers Nicola and Matteo Carati (played by Lugi Lo Cascio and Allessio Boni.)
Nicola is finishing medical school while Matteo is still taking classes.
Nicola gets a part-time job taking a pretty mental patient for walks. She’s played by Jasmine Trinca.
When they see signs Jasmine has been the victim of electric shock therapy, Nicola goes to the mental hospital, wakes her up and convinces her to come with him.
The brothers decide to take her to her father.
Her father can’t take her in and decides to take her back to the mental hospital but Nicola intercedes. Unfortunately, all does not work out well with the young mental patient and she ends up in the institution again.
It is the beginning of the six-hour saga that celebrates friends and family via the backdrop of the world from the 60s to the new millennium.
Along the way, Nicola meets Giulia, who loves music and the piano, but is also a rebel who ends up on the run. The two have a daughter, who Nicola has the responsibility of rearing.
Matteo eventually becomes a police officer who starts a relationship with a photographer.
Nicola becomes a psychiatrist.
Nicola does his best to raise the daughter while her mother is on the lam.
The tumultuous lives of all of the friends and family, coupled with the beautiful scenery in Italy and the backdrop of the various eras makes for compelling viewing.
It almost reminds you of a sprawling John Jakes novel transplanted from 18th or 19th century America to 20th century Italy.
The plot actually takes a backseat to the sheer power of the personalities of the main character as generation produces generation.
Both brothers try to find and define themselves. One at least is moderately successful. The other sees his life end tragically.
The film ends on a positive note with great reconciliation and a wedding. Life goes on, even when the camera stops
It is a film of great beauty that celebrates the arts at times and denotes tremendous brutality at others.
But “The Best of Youth” is worth the investment. The film is available for rent on two discs through, among other outlets, Netflix.

LA MEGLIO GIOVENTU
• Directed by Marco Tullio Giordana
• Written by Sandro Petraglia and Stefano Rulii
• In Italian with English subtitles
• Rated R for language and nudity
• Runtime: 360 minutes
• 3 1/2 stars out of 4

T.A.M.I. Show

‘T.A.M.I.’ show fun to watch four decades later

JAMES BROWN set the stage on fire during the "TAMI" show in 1964.

“The T.A.M.I. Show” is oh, so dated to watch.

But parts of it will have you glued to your TV screen.

It’s considered one of the most important musical concerts ever.

Held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on Oct. 28 and 29, 1964, it was recorded on something called Electronovision, an early high-definition video camera and was later converted to film, well, not much later.

The concert was released in movie theaters on Dec. 29, 1964, a mere two months later!

T.A.M.I. stood for Teenage Awards Music International and if you don’t like that, it also meant Teen Age Music International.

It was hosted by Jan and Dean and included the Supremes, The Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, James Brown and his Famous Flames, Marvin Gaye, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Lesley Gore, Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles and the Rolling Stones before they were really well known in the U.S.

The Beach Boys segment was excised from the film earlier on, but is back for the new DVD, just recently released.

Most acts are accompanied by screaming kids and go-go dancers who act like they have been given chocolate and coffee IVs for a week before the concert.

The dancers include future singer Toni Basil and future actress Teri Garr.

The DVD extras include director John Landis commenting on the trailers. He was in junior high school and was given free tickets to the event.

Lesley Gore was the biggest act of the show, at least according to Landis. She became a star at 16 singing “It’s My Party.”

Chuck Berry and Gerry and The Pacemakers played dueling songs. (Berry won.)

Jan and Dean actually did some sidewalk surfacing during an obvious lyp synced-version of “Sidewalk Surfing.”

The film is significant in an historical sense in that there were great racial barriers, especially in the South in 1964.

Yet African-American talents freely associated with white artists. You see white go-go dancers slithering around black artists like Gaye and Berry. It would seem that would cause a stir in the South.

The music is very engaging but the highlight is a mouth-dropping performance by James Brown. How in the world did that man make his legs do that?

Brown, who refused to practice beforehand, twirled across the stage on one foot in such a fashion you would think he was partially animated. Absolutely amazing!

He was followed by the Rolling Stones. A young Mick Jagger tried his best moves, but they paled in comparison to Brown.

It is interesting that this was filmed during the relatively brief period in which Stones bassist Bill Wyman harmonized in backup vocals with guitarist Keith Richards.

It must be something to have been one of those screaming kids panned by the cameras, watching the show today. Even the youngest concert goers would be approaching 60 today.

This was a time before big money was involved. While Berry refused to go on until he was paid in cash, the Four Seasons refused the gig because they wanted $45,000.

The opening theme song, sung by Jan and Dean, erroniously stated the Rolling Stones were from Liverpool. Um, that would be the Beatles, who were NOT on the bill. The Stones were from London, thank you.

This is a compelling time capsule of a period when all kinds of musicians from all genres could come together for an incredible show.

The film is so important, it was named to the National Film Registry by the U.S. Library of Congress in 2006.

No matter your age, this film is worth checking out. You will never forget James Brown’s performance. Trust me.

The T.A.M.I. Show

• Directed and written by Steve Binder

• Run time: 123 minutes

• Fine for any age

• 4 stars out of 4