Gregorio y su ángel (1968)

 U.S. title: Gregorio and His Angel

The janitor in an orphanage is fired because of his alcoholism. A mysterious little girl follows him around, helping him earn money and urging him to stop drinking. 

Morality tale with Catholic themes. It's quite boring from start to finish, despite the main actor's fine performance.

The year of release is an estimate. IMDB says 1970, Mexican sources say 1966; there is a DVD release, and a few other sources, that say 1968. The actor who plays "Don Ramón" in the TV show El chavo del ocho (1973-1980) plays a small part here, as one of the baddies; he looks much younger here than in the show, which is another factor against the 1970 date, I think.

Rating: 28

Le roi de coeur (1966)

 U.S. title: King of Hearts

A British soldier is sent on a mission to defuse a time bomb left by the Germans that will blow a small French town up. By a turn of events, the internees at a local madhouse escape.

This is a film which should be watched exclusively for its elegant mise-en-scène, costumes, witty dialogue, and assorted fragmentary creativity. A few critics were quick to point out the flaws in the film's message, but audiences at large were not so picky and bought it hook, line and sinker, making the film a huge, albeit delayed, international success. There is a very explicit scene in the movie: the "general" is in bed with a prostitute, and imagines his ideal world as one of constant war. So, I don't see how a world ruled by these mad characters would be a peaceful one. It may be that the screenwriter yielded to the temptation to please the viewing crowds and ended up by romanticizing madness in a flagrant contradiction to himself. For that purpose, he also had to make the regular military into buffoons. To sum it up, it's an interesting -- occasionally brilliant -- movie whose central idea shouldn't be taken seriously.

Rating: 59

Le Jardin des Plantes (1994)

TV movie. U.S. titles: Tales from the Zoo; The Greenhouse

Paris, near the end of World War II. The head of the Botanical Gardens has a son who deals in the black market and gets along fine with the Germans (or so he thinks). The son is captured, along with a few other random people, and shot in reprisal for the killing of a German officer by the Resistance. He leaves a daughter which he was raising alone (the mother is an actress). The child is taken in custody by her grandfather the botanist, who doesn't tell her that her father died; instead, he lies that the latter is a Resistance captain and is in hiding.

Dramatic comedy with a historical setting. The plot is quite childish, and not necessarily because it has a child as one of the protagonists. All the same, it is well structured and eventful enough that it doesn't become annoying. Overall, a competently done but ultimately silly movie which vaguely reminds one of Jorge Luis Borges's story Theme of the Traitor and the Hero (1944), and, from another angle, the movie Life Is Beautiful (1997).

Rating: 46

Un ballo in maschera (1980)

 First shown under the TV program Live from the Metropolitan Opera.

Filmed opera performance. Music by Giuseppe Verdi and libretto by Antonio Somma. First performance of this opera was in 1859. It was based on the libretto by Eugène Scribe for the opera Gustave III, ou Le bal masqué.

Set in colonial era U.S., this has the Boston governor and his secretary's wife falling in love with each other. The secretary finds out about it and joins the revolutionaries in revenge.

I can't find much to say about this opera, none of whose tunes I recognized. The plot is pretty banal, and the proceedings are somewhat enlivened by a bizarre page character played by a woman (though the character is male). The singers are very good, but I always appraise them so, because my ears are not of a refined connoisseur kind.

No rating is given, because I only give them for movies (with rare exceptions).

Color Me Dead (1969)

 A notary is poisoned and has at most a few days to live. He sets out to find his killer, whose motive is connected to a bill of sale for a stolen uranium bar.

This remake of D.O.A. (1950) has no screenwriting credits, except for the original source. I frankly find the premise quite odd -- since when do burglars get their transactions notarized? Anyway, aside from this, the film is watchable though not noteworthy in any way.

Rating: 38

Panic in the City (1968)

A man falls unconscious in the street and they detect an abnormally high amount of radioactivitiy in his body. After some investigation, it is found that foreign agents are building an atomic bomb and intend to blow Los Angeles up.

Low budget thriller. It's quite decently written and filmed, and succeeds in entertaining despite some minor implausibilities.

Rating: 51

El indulto (1960)

English title: The Reprieve

A woman tries to get away from her violent husband, with help from the latter's brother, for whom she develops feelings.

Melodrama. While not especially remarkable, it's not totally devoid of interest either. As a depiction of the atmosphere of a small town and of male oppression (a theme which is still relevant in some parts of the world) it's passable; at some point it becomes a prison movie, and moderately entertaining at that. Another plus is the good performance by the actor who plays the villain.

Rating: 38

Lohengrin (1990)

Filmed performance of the opera by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. It is based on a character from novels by medieval writer Wolfram von Eschenbach.

After a boy disappears, his sister is accused of having murdered him. The king establishes that there must be a trial by combat between the accuser and anyone who will step forward to defend the woman accused. An unknown stranger volunteers.

This is a rather fatiguing three-hours-and-a-half viewing experience, and I must avow to having failed to see much sense in the premise. I think it's rather absurd that knights in charge of guarding the holy grail should be allowed to get married in foreign lands but not be allowed to reveal their names and identity. Anyway, I guess this is all about the singers, and the plot is left for intellectuals to invent the silliest explanations they can come up with. And the singers here have performed magnificently, or so my untrained ears have decreed. As for the music, I am equally unskilled to emit an opinion: I was bored most of the time, and when some recognizable tune came in (which here happened only in the third act) I felt slightly entertained.

(Unrated, as this is not a standard movie.)

Jetlag (1981)

 Alternate title: Vértigo en Manhattan

U.S. title: Jet Lag

A woman living in Barcelona travels to New York with the intention of seeking out a former boyfriend; he is now in a new relationship and does not want to see her.

This is one of those films where the protagonist's mental state is revealed gradually, and we only get the full picture of her condition by the end of the movie. It's not a very interesting movie, but it's fairly well done and not exactly painful to watch.

Rating: 40

Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961)

 An American casino owner in Cuba is hired by counter-revolutionaries to transport some gold which they stole from the Treasury. He plans to get rid of his employers and steal the gold for himself. To achieve that goal, he concocts a plan involving a sea monster.

Comic adventure with horror elements. Its funniest thing is probably the humorous voice-over narration. Overall a slightly amusing film, very cheaply made. There is a version made for TV which has three additional sequences which were apparently made after the film had been completed; they are slightly amusing in themselves.

Rating: 36