THE TIN STAR: A Worthwhile Little Western

THE TIN STAR (Blu-ray)

1957 / 93 min

FROM ARROW VIDEO

Review by Mr. Paws

The Tin Star is one of the few westerns Anthony Mann directed during the 1950s that doesn’t star Jimmy Stewart. While no Winchester ‘73, it’s an entertaining film thanks to good overall performances and an engaging (if thematically familiar) story. 

Henry Fonda is Morgan Hickman, a wandering bounty hunter riding into town with the dead body of his latest quarry. He meets idealistic-but-inexperienced sheriff Ben Owens (Anthony Perkins), who got the job after the last one was killed. He doesn’t approve of Morgan’s methods, believing everyone should get a fair trial. However, his righteous resolve is frequently tested by Bart Bogardus (Neville Brand), a local bully who regularly challenges and intimidates him.

Bounty hunters aren’t held in high regard in this town, so when only hotel refuses to rent him a room, Morgan ends up staying with Nona (Betsy Palmer), a widowed dressmaker who lives on the edge of town and is also something of an outcast herself, raising a son she had with a Native-American. As he’s waiting to collect his bounty, Morgan becomes close with them, while Ben, despite his initial misgivings, realizes this stranger is more than he seems. In fact, he’s a former lawman. Somewhat reluctantly, Morgan agrees to teach Ben the ropes.

"Welcome, stranger. We have 12 cabins, 12 vacancies."

Later, when beloved town doctor Doc McCord (John McIntire) is murdered, the mayor demands Ben to form a posse to track down the killers. Ben wants to bring them in alive, while Bogardus and his bloodthirsty bunch plan on lynching the culprits. Despite the bounty placed on the killers, Morgan initially refuses to get involved and implores the inexperienced Ben to think twice about trying to catch them. However, when the boy follows the posse into the hills, Morgan is compelled to try and same them both.

Running a brisk 90 minutes, The Tin Star isn’t a particularly complex film, but it’s generally pretty enjoyable, with well-drawn characters and an interesting story that culminates in a satisfying climax. Fonda doesn’t really stretch himself here, but his indubitable earnestness is just what a character like Morgan needs for us to be invested. On a side note, it’s kind of amusing that two prominent cast members would someday be best-known for playing legendary psychos. Palmer is actually quite a dish in this one (and gets to keep her head).

Fairly light on action until the final act, The Tin Star benefits from a well-written screenplay (which was nominated for an Oscar) and typically confident direction by Mann, both of which compensate for the story’s overall predictability. While not as big or ambitious as some of the more iconic westerns of the genre, it's a worthwhile little western that looks great on this limited edition Blu-ray, which comes which a smattering of interesting bonus features.

EXTRA KIBBLES

NOTE: Free Kittens Movie Guide was provided with a promo disc for review purposes. Physical supplemental material included with the final product (booklets, artwork, inserts, etc) were not available for review.

APPRECIATING A MASTER - A pretty thorough appreciation of the film by critic Neil Sinyard.

BEYOND THE SCORE - Elmer Bernstein’s son, Peter, talks about growing up with the legendary composer.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By historian Toby Roan.

TRAILER

IMAGE GALLERY

BOOKLET, MINI-POSTER, LOBBY CARD REPLICAS & REVERSIBLE COVER (not reviewed)

THE SCARFACE MOB is Big Screen TV

THE SCARFACE MOB (Blu-ray)

1959 / 102 min

FROM ARROW VIDEO

Review by Mr. Paws😺

The original Untouchables was a TV series that ran for five years during the late 50s-early 60s. It starred Robert Stack as real-life federal agent Eliot Ness, who famously took down Al Capone during the prohibition era. The show itself was mostly fanciful fiction, with only the two-part pilot episode being based on actual events.

That two-parter was later recut & released as a theatrical feature, The Scarface Mob, which was pretty violent for its time and boasts a striptease by bombshell Barbara Nichols that would never have made it past TV censors back in the day. It chronicles Ness and his small team of incorruptible cops (and one reformed ex-con) as they try to bust Capone’s illegal operation, one brewery at a time. 

Most of the narrative takes place while Capone (Neville Brand) is in jail, with right-hand man Frank Nitti (Bruce Gordon) running things while he’s gone. Once released, Capone raises the stakes, targeting Ness, his team and even his wife. But of course, Ness won’t be intimidated, even after his wife is assaulted and a trusted partner is murdered.

Extreme hall monitors.

Those who only know of The Untouchables from Brian De Palma’s 1987 classic might find this film a bit quaint, which doesn’t quite escape its episodic TV origins. That’s likely due to time and budget restraints, and why a lot of exposition is urgently provided by narrator Walter Winchell. Still, the story is more or less the same and fitfully entertaining, with some pretty good action and a stoic performance by Stack. As Capone, Brand is suitably menacing, though his Italian accent is terrible.

The Scarface Mob features solid, no-nonsense direction by Philip Karlson, whose extensive film noir background keeps things fast moving and visually interesting. As gun & gangster epics go, it’s no classic, but certainly an agreeable way to kill a few hours...and an enjoyable trip down memory lane for those who might recall the original TV show.

EXTRA KIBBLES

NOTE: Free Kittens Movie Guide was provided with a promo disc for review purposes. Physical supplemental material included with the final product (booklets, artwork, inserts, etc) were not available for review.

GANG BUSTERS - video essay about director Philip Karlson

PHILLIP KEMP ON THE SCARFACE MOB - The film critic discusses Elliot Ness and his depiction in the media, including this film and up to 1987’s The Untouchables.

TRAILER

IMAGE GALLERIES - Posters, stills, lobby cards & publicity photos.

BOOKLET, MINI-POSTER, LOBBY CARD REPLICAS & REVERSIBLE COVER (not reviewed)

DARK WATER (4K) and the Bathtub Ring

DARK WATER (4K UHD)

2002 / 101 min

FROM ARROW VIDEO

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

Director Hideo Nakata is the guy largely responsible for the global popularity of J-Horror, especially once Hollywood got its mitts on his most famous film, Ringu, and cranked out of comparatively decent remake. And because The Ring was so successful, we were subsequently inundated by Americanized J-Horror adaptations…most of them terrible. 

Nakata himself once even jumped across the pond to direct The Ring Two. While I wouldn’t go so far as to call it terrible, it paled in comparison to both The Ring and the original film (as did his own Japanese sequel Ring 2).

In the interim, Nakata sort-of bounced back with 2002’s Dark Water. While seldom as creepy or unnerving as Ringu, at least it had the earmarks of what made that film a J-Horror classic. It also treads similar narrative ground, with single mother Yoshimi (Hitomi Kuroki) moving into a decaying apartment complex with five-year-old daughter Ikuko (Rio Kanno). Water is perpetually leaking from the ceiling, coming from the apartment upstairs, which happens to be the former home of a little girl who disappeared two years before. Yoshimi is soon tormented by visions of that girl, whose disappearance turns out to be directly tied to the water flooding the place (and putting Ikuko in danger).

Well...at least it isn't blood in the elevator.

Deliberately paced and atmospheric, the film relies on well-rounded characters, somber performances, a foreboding score and unusually creepy locations rather than jump scares and gore. The film is slow to lay all its cards on the table because the journey is more important than the destination. Atmosphere and ambiguity are always far creepier than loads of exposition. While not quite as accomplished or scary as Ringu (I've always been somewhat disappointed by the resolution), Dark Water is a fine film worth rediscovering…certainly better than the artless American remake.

Arrow Video put out a pretty decent Blu-ray edition back in 2016, with quite a few new and archival bonus features. All that supplemental material is carried over for this 4K UHD release, though nothing new has been included. So the only upgrade here is the picture, which is a noticeable improvement. The audio is the same DTS 5.1 track featured on the original Blu-ray.

EXTRA KIBBLES

NOTE: Free Kittens Movie Guide was provided with a promo disc for review purposes. Physical supplemental material included with the final product (booklets, artwork, inserts, etc) were not available for review.

MAKING-OF FEATURETTE

INTERVIEWS - Individual interviews with director Hideo Nakata, original short story author Koji Suzuki, cinematographer Junichiro Hayashi, actors Asami Mizukawa (teenage Ikuko) & Hitomi Kuroki (Yoshimi), songwriter Shikao Suga

TRAILERS & A TV SPOT

REVERSIBLE COVER & BOOKLET INSERT (not reviewed).

THE SHOOTIST: The Duke's Swan Song

THE SHOOTIST (Blu-ray)

1976 / 100 min

FROM ARROW VIDEO 

Review by Mr. Paws😼

It’s probably prudent to point out I’ve never been a massive John Wayne fan. He starred in some great classic films, to be sure, but they weren’t necessarily great because of him. Wayne’s career was similar to Ozzy Osbourne’s…marginal inherent talent, but surround yourself with the right people and you become a legend. 

For some reading this…them’s probably fightin’ words.

That being said, 1976’s The Shootist is arguably the one John Wayne film  where his character could not have been played by anyone else. J.B. Books is an aging legendary gunfighter diagnosed with terminal cancer who plans to quietly die peacefully in Carson City. However, his reputation makes that impossible. Word quickly spreads that not only is Books in town, but he’s vulnerable. 

Taking place in 1901, Carson City itself reflects American progress since Book’s glory days…telephones, buildings with running water, horseless carriages and most importantly, changing attitudes regarding his particular skill set, as represented by boarding house owner Bond Rogers (Lauren Bacall). She vehemently disapproves of the way he’s lived, though ultimately empathizes with him. The narrative suggests that, even if Book weren’t dying, the world has already written him off. Still, that doesn’t stop some locals from trying to kill him…either for glory or revenge.

"Back off. Those are my pillows."

Because of Book’s illness and the film’s themes of obsolescence, it is difficult - if not impossible - to separate Wayne from his character. At the time The Shootist was being made, Wayne himself had already endured both cancer and cultural irrelevance. To watch Book come to terms with his place in the world is to watch Wayne, which I suppose adds a level of poignancy the film wouldn’t have achieved otherwise, exacerbated by the fact this was indeed his last performance before succumbing to cancer a few years later (contrary to popular belief, Wayne wasn’t in the best of health, but did not have cancer while making this).

Setting sentiment aside, The Shootist remains a watchable western, but fairly light on action and ultimately not among Wayne’s best films. Don Siegel’s direction is serviceable as always, but he’s certainly no John Ford or Howard Hawks. A few nifty scenes notwithstanding, the whole thing kind of plays like a TV movie of the era. Wayne is his stoic self, of course, either unable or unwilling to convincingly convey the despair of being diagnosed with cancer. But hey, at least he's acknowledging his age. He's also surrounded by a great supporting cast, including Bacall, Ron Howard and old buddy James Stewart.

I suspect I’m in the minority on all this, as there are many fans of The Duke who view The Shootist as a glorious swan song to a legendary career. For them, this Blu-ray debut from Arrow Video is indispensable. The disc boasts a solid video transfer and plenty of insightful, revealing bonus features, as well as a few physical goodies.

EXTRA KIBBLES

NOTE: Free Kittens Movie Guide was provided with a promo disc for review purposes. Physical supplemental material included with the final product (booklets, artwork, inserts, etc) were not available for review.

THE LAST DAY - Video essay by David Cairns.

CONTEMPLATING JOHN WAYNE - Another video essay, this time by Scout Tafora, who tries to reconcile his appreciation for Wayne's influence on American cinema and the man’s repellent world views.

A MAN MAKING MOMENT - This is an excellent 40 minute feature with C. Courtney Joyner, who also discusses director Don Siegel’s career history in considerable detail.

LAMENTS OF THE WEST - Neil Brand discusses Elmer Bernstein’s score.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By Howard S. Berger.

THE SHOOTIST: THE LEGEND LIVES ON - Archival featurette.

IMAGE GALLERY

TRAILER

POSTER, BOOKLET, LOBBY CARD REPLICAS (not reviewed)

MURPHY'S WAR: O'Toole Goes Full Ahab

MURPHY’S WAR (Blu-ray)

1971 / 107 min

FROM ARROW VIDEO

Review by Mr. Paws😽

Murphy’s War was directed by Peter Yates, produced by Michael Deeley, written by Sterling Silliphant (adapting Max Catto’s novel) and stars the great Peter O’Toole. While all of them have bigger, more impressive credits on their resumes, this comparatively forgotten film isn’t without merit.

Near the end of World War II, the titular character (O’Toole) is one of two survivors of a merchant ship attacked by a German submarine. He’s rescued and brought to a nearby mission run by Dr. Hayden (Siân Phillips). When his captain, the other survivor, is murdered by the German commander (Horst Janson), Murphy becomes obsessed with finding and destroying the sub, which he believes is hiding down-river from the mission. 

With the help of good-natured charter boat captain Louis (Phillippe Noiret), Murphy repairs an airplane, assembles a makeshift bomb and launches his one-man campaign. Hayden condemns his actions, especially after one failed attempt brings swift retribution on the mission. Still, nothing dissuades Murphy, even after the war has all-but been declared over. 

Peter O'Toole flies coach.

Murphy isn’t a particularly endearing character, but his Ahab-like compulsion is interesting and O'Toole plays him quite well. Phillips has the most thankless role, that of Murphy’s moral compass. Since he never listens to her, Hayden mostly exists just to scold him and their conflict is perfunctory…sometimes a little dull. However, the film comes to an exciting climax that’s both suspenseful and - in a weird way - ironically amusing.

From a thematic standpoint, Murphy’s War doesn’t offer much we haven’t seen in other films about the ramifications of single-minded obsession or the folly of war. But while no lost classic of the genre, O’Toole’s performance and well-directed action sequences make it worth checking out. Arrow Video has put together a pretty decent Blu-ray release with a smattering of new & older bonus features (the latter taken from a previous disc by Indicator).

EXTRA KIBBLES

NOTE: Free Kittens Movie Guide was provided with a promo disc for review purposes. Physical supplemental material included with the final product (booklets, artwork, inserts, etc) were not available for review.

RUNNING OUT OF WAR - A new 20-minute appreciation by film critic David Cairns.

INTERVIEWS - Individual archival interviews with co-editor/2nd unit director John Glen, focus puller Robin Vidgeon, film critic Sheldon Hall.

IMAGE GALLERY - 18 images taken from the film.

TRAILER