The Window (1949)

 A boy witnesses a murder but his parents do not believe him, and neither does the police. He gets in real trouble when the murderers decide to kill him too.

Although a bit predictable and contrived, this is a fairly gripping suspense story from the same author of the similar Rear Window. The boy actor does an excellent job, and the rest of the cast is fairly good. 

Rating: 51

La vie de plaisir (1944)

The owner of a nightclub marries the daughter of an aristocrat in financial straits. Married life in this new milieu is not an easy one.

Purportedly it's a critique of the hypocrisy of the traditional upper classes in contrast with the greater honesty of a self-made man. Of course the "aristocrats", who run (badly) an oil conglomerate, are just as bourgeois as their "commoner" counterpart, and that's the crux of the matter. The film was banned for insulting the Church. Actually, it does worse: rather than criticizing an older order, it shows how it cannot survive while immersed in a new one. That new one is Capitalism, and it imposes its logic on the whole of society. So, it's an interesting film, though its schematism detracts somewhat from its entertainment value.

Rating: 51

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)

A car accident forces a man to stop by his hometown while heading West. He meets a young woman who had been in prison. Seventeen years earlier, on the day of his departure, a fatal incident happened which involved a girl he used to know and another boy. The girl is now rich and the boy, who is now her husband, is a district attorney.

Noir-ish melodrama. It has good performances, a good score, and an amusing storyline which combines many different elements in a sufficiently coherent manner. I guess one could say that the central theme is the abuse of power, or more specifically how power lends itself to abuse. A parallel theme is the impossibility of going back, and the dangers of looking back.

Rating: 51

Salome's Last Dance (1988)

 Based on the play Salomé by Oscar Wilde, written in 1891-1892, in turn based on a passage in each of the gospels of Mark and Matthew. Also based on facts of Oscar Wilde's life.

Wilde is spending an evening at a brothel where they are staging his play Salomé. Play's plot: Herod Antipas has imprisoned John the Baptist due to his preachings which reproached his marriage to Herod's brother's former wife Herodias. The latter's daughter Salome desires John and, after having been spurned by him, asks Herod for the prophet's head on a platter in exchange for a dance for the Tetrarch.

The play itself is poor, written in a dull lyrical style. It endows the poor young girl with a malevolence and a concupiscence which is totally absent in the biblical original, in which she is just following her mother's wishes. This cinematic version has beautiful sets and good performances, but its farcical elements are totally at odds with the lyricism of the dialogue -- there is adultery in a wooden crate, three lecherous dwarf scholars, among other vulgarities, and the dance of the seven veils is performed by a male dancer, enigmatically with no attempt to disguise his sex. I haven't read the play, but I presume these elements are the filmmaker's contribution.

Rating: 38

Nocturne (1946)

 A police detective suspects murder in the case of a man found dead with the crime weapon in his hand. The police wants him to drop it. The victim was a womanizer who had a photo gallery of his conquests on his living room wall. The detective goes after one of them, presumably his last.

Bland crime drama with a few plot twists. Though a bit implausible insofar as character behavior is concerned, there are no plot holes that I could detect. Not one to stick on one's memory, but watchable enough.

Rating: 35

Lisztomania (1975)

 Liszt is a composer and pianist who is idolized by the masses and is constantly getting into trouble on account of his womanizing. He goes on a tour in Russia, where he once again gets involved with a married woman. He champions the work of Wagner, who gets involved with radical politics. Wagner marries Liszt's daughter and starts embracing nationalist ideas. Liszt becomes an abbot and is given a mission by the Pope: to exorcize Wagner.

Musical fantasy on the lives of famous composers. Apparently, its biographical subjects are just a vehicle for a free satire. The film seems to hint at themes such as the interplay of nationalism and populism, but everything is kept at a very infantile level. Curiously, the filmmaker seems to have changed sides since The Devils; that film sided with the exorcized whereas Lisztomania seems to take the side of the exorcist.

Rating: 32

Les inconnus dans la maison (1942)

 English title: Strangers in the House

An alcoholic ex-lawyer living with his young daughter is awakened by a noise in the house. Getting up, he sees a man leaving the house and then finds a corpse in one of the bedrooms. An investigation ensues, in the course of which it is revealed that his daughter is part of a youth gang.

Whodunit with elements of psychological and social analysis; it turns into a courtroom drama in its closing act. It's a taut narrative with lots of interesting characters and a powerful lead performance. Nothing very profound is intended, the emphasis being on purportedly exposing the ills of French society in an entertaining and somewhat sensationalist way.

Rating: 51

The Boy Friend (1971)

A small theatre in England is running a musical play and one night a Hollywood director comes to watch it. The assistant stage manager must fill in for the star who broke a leg. The play's plot concerns a bunch of college girls who are preparing for an upcoming Carnival ball.

Pastiche of 1930s musicals, based on a stage production which premiered in 1954. The lavish sets and costumes in gaudy colors are possibly the main attraction, and obviously provide a sensual experience which was absent from the cultural products herein aped. The music and lyrics are also remarkable for their precise imitation of 1920s and 1930s mannerisms. Overall it's quite agreeable.

Rating: 59

De Pernas pro Ar! (1957)

 A very clumsy stage assistant is fired after a terrible goof-up and then joins a friend as a street peddler of contraband goods. One day, while they are running from the police, they cross paths with some criminals who were also running from the police after having robbed a bank, and the two groups switch briefcases by accident.

Musical comedy with little to distinguish it from the many similar products being made in Brazil at the time. The musical numbers have some nice elaborate sets, and the comedy has a fast pace which keeps the viewer from falling into excessive boredom. In one street sequence, one can see that the movie theater is showing China Gate, which premiered in Brazil in October, 1957. De Pernas pro Ar! premiered in Brazil in December of that year, which makes for a very short post-production time! I had complained some time ago that prolific writer-director Victor Lima didn't have a single photo of him available on the Web, but I was wrong, as can be seen in the photo shown above, extracted from newspaper A Noite of November 27, 1957.

Rating: 34

Circonstances atténuantes (1939)

 English title: Extenuating Circumstances

A retired judge and his wife leave on a trip to a spa town but are forced to stop halfway due to car troubles. They stay at a modest inn nearby. Their proximity with the people who frequent that place acquaints them with the other side of the law.

This film successfully depicts petty criminals and their environment and language. The narrative is entertaining initially but gets silly as it advances, finally ending in a tackily moralizing way. The fraternization of different social classes seemed to be a thing in French cinema in 1939; this film and La règle du jeu were released only a few days from each other. That film featured the working class, whereas this one is populated by the criminal one.

Rating: 41

The Painted Desert (1931)

Two men find an abandoned baby and rescue him. One of the men takes the baby and goes away with him. The boy grows up and tries to reconcile the two men.

Western with a so-so plot, thematically akin to 3 Godfathers and its cinematic predecessors; it is not badly done considering the time in which it was made. The photogenic landscapes are a bonus, as is the curiosity of seeing a future big star in his first role.

Rating: 40

Hiroshima (1953)

 This film depicts the atomic attack on the titular city, its immediate aftermath, and the consequences upon the lives of the survivors up until the time the film was made.

This is a film which will hold an interest for those who want to know what happened in this particular historical situation. The extraordinary verisimilitude of the locations and staging makes this a compelling viewing experience. Overall, a correct film, about which there isn't much (or anything) to criticize. Its Wikipedia page provides much useful commentary and information.

Rating: 60