The Lion in Winter (1968)

It's just a dysfunctional family Christmas - no reason to lose your head!

Intro.

This year, 98 films in, I've come to have a much greater appreciation for certain actors, actresses and directors.  One of those is the great Katharine Hepburn.  I've loved watching her, but realized that I've never seen her in one of her Oscar-winning roles.  Since I've often heard of The Lion in Winter, and since it was conveniently on TCM the other night, I decided to take a chance without knowing a thing about story, setting or character.

Overview

The Lion in Winter is set during Christmas in the year 1183.  King Henry II of England (Peter O'Toole) has recalled his wife Elinor (Katharine Hepburn) from her confinement in a tower and has also called his three sons, Richard (Anthony Hopkins), Geoffrey (John Castle), and John (Nigel Terry) to come to the castle for a Christmas court.  All of the family arrive and quickly the plotting and intrigue begin, as each son wants to be crowned as the next king.  Richard is Elinor's favorite and as such receives the aid of her very sharp mind.  John is Henry's favorite and receives a lot of help from his father.  However, added to the mix is King Phillip II of France (Timothy Dalton), who is there to keep in tact the pact made between France and England, wherein his sister Alais (Jane Merrow) is to marry the next king and have some sort of land deal in the trade (I think it's a return of the Acquitane region of France, currently held by Eleanor).  Anyway, there are too many deals and crosses and double-crosses to keep track of, but basically Richard and Eleanor plot against Henry, then Henry and Eleanor plot against Richard, then John and Richard both try to strike deals with Phillip for his help and oh yeah, Geoffrey, the son not favored by either parent, is trying to plot with just about everyone.  Henry, infuriated that all three of his sons have gone to Phillip to plot against Henry, banishes them to the basement and tells Eleanor that he intends to have their marriage annulled.  He wants to marry Alais (who is in love with him) and have more sons, ones that he can actually trust and with a woman he doesn't despise.  But first Eleanor has to try and save her sons.  Then Henry, realizing that he can't just keep his sons locked up forever (if any of them got out, they'd kill any new sons he and Alais might have), goes down to have one last confrontation (and possible beheading).  

Highlights

I think what worked best in this movie was the feel of it.  The whole thing felt like watching a play instead of a movie.  I thought at first that was due to the setting and different speech patterns, but then I realized it was in fact due to the filming as well.  The blocking, the delivery, it all felt like I was watching top Shakespearean actors performing on stage - all perfect, all fluid.  I'm not sure if that made me like the movie more or not; in truth, I felt a bit under-dressed and out of place watching on the couch in my pajamas.  What I really enjoyed was watching Katharine Hepburn and Peter O'Toole together.  Their scenes made the whole movie; although I had trouble following all of the plotting, I could easily follow their hatred of one another.  Both are extremely talented in their profession and it's a true pleasure to watch them.  They have a great repertoire and present the picture of not only an estranged husband and wife, but also a couple who once loved one another (and may still) in spite of all their arguments, hatred and the occasional civil war between them.

Also interesting to follow were the sons.  I almost didn't recognize Anthony Hopkins as Richard, this film being one of the earliest in his career.  He's great as Richard and plays both the strong, powerful older brother as well as the wounded homosexual lover (turns out Phillip never really loved him).  I also really liked John Castle, who played Geoffrey.  It's easy to overdo the "unloved" middle child role, but Geoffrey takes it in a wholly different direction by playing both ends from the middle.  Man, I never want to play Geoffrey at chess!  I confess I've never seen John Castle before, but I want to see more of his work.  Also making his film debut is Timothy Dalton as Phillip II; who would think he'd go from being a rather unscrupulous King of France to being James Bond?

The writing is definitely Oscar worthy (the film won three Oscars - writing, music and best leading actress).  Who would have thought that a royal drama about princes overthrowing each other for the crown would have a lot of funny one-liners?  Some of the best are here:

Henry: I could have conquered Europe - all of it - but I had women in my life.

Eleanor: I adored you. I still do.
Henry: Of all the lies you've told, that is the most terrible.
Eleanor: I know. That's why I've saved it up until now.  

And quite possibly my favorite:
Geoffrey:  I know. You know I know. I know you know I know. We know Henry knows, and Henry knows we know it.  We're a knowledgeable family.

Review and Recommendation

As for the recommendation, I know a lot of critics love this film and I imagine it would be pretty popular with fans of historical films or British history.  I'm not quite sure I liked this movie all that much.  Like I said, watching Hepburn and O'Toole together was the best part, but other than that I found it a little hard to follow.  Perhaps I need some more British History under my belt or even a better understanding of Shakespeare.  I'd like to at least read up on Henry and Eleanor and possibly some of King Lear before watching again.

The Mummy (1959)

Note to self: next time I invade an Egyptian tomb, I won't read aloud anything I find in there.

Intro.

In keeping with my October fright fest, I've been watching as many old monster movies, zombie flicks and Hitchcock thrillers as I can find.  Today I watched the British remake of The Mummy, which was a Universal picture from 1932 starring Boris Karloff.  The remake was done after Hammer studios in England struck a deal with Universal to remake all the classic horror films - this time in Technicolor.  I regretfully have not seen the 1932 version, but the 1959 version proved to be chilling enough!

Overview

1895 in some unknown area, a team of archeologists uncover the lost tomb of an Egyptian high priestess, Princess Ananka.  The leader of the group, Stephen Banning (Felix Aylmar), explores the crypt alone while his partner Joseph (Raymond Huntley) goes back to tell the others of the find.  Stephen finds an old scroll (the Scroll of Life, he calls it) and decides to read it aloud in the crypt.  Not a good idea, as the words bring to life another mummy (Christopher Lee) from behind the wall panel.  Outside Joeseph and Stephen's son John (Peter Cushing) hear screaming and only find Stephen out of his mind with fear.  He's sent back home to a nursing home, where he's declared beyond help, and the team closes the tomb and returns home with Ananka's coffin and burial relics.  They don't have the scroll though, as a local man, Mehemet Bey (George Pastell), has taken it and decides to try and re-open the tomb, unleash the mummy and seek vengeance on those who have desecrated the Egyptian grave.  Three years later and Stephen is still in the hospital, convinced that something is coming to kill him.  He has a violent outburst at the time when a mysterious package containing "Egyptian relics" is lost in transport in the swamp near the hospital.  It's the mummy alright, and he rises from the muddy swamp at Mehemet's command.  The mummy breaks into Stephen's barred and locked room and kills him.  As you can imagine, the mummy then goes after Joseph, whom he also kills.  The mummy finally goes after John, but is stopped mid-way through the attack by the sight of John's wife Isobel (Yvonne Furneaux).  Isobel bears a striking resemblance to Ananka, and the mummy leaves.  Inspector Mulrooney (Eddie Byrne) begins his investiagation into the murders, and gets the entire legend of Ananka from John.  Apparently when Ananka died, her high priest Kharis (with whom she shared a forbidden love) tried to bring her back to life with the scroll, but was apprehended before he could finish the ritual.  In punishment, he got his tongue cut out, was wrapped in bandages and sealed into the wall of the tomb, to keep eternal vigilance over his Princess.  That explains what finally happens - the mummy returns to kill John, but when Isobel intervenes, the mummy captures her and carries her off toward the swamp.  What will kill the mummy in the end?  Will Isobel and/or John survive?

Highlights
I really enjoyed seeing this film in Technicolor.  Everything feels right for the classic 1950's monster movie, right down the smog rising up from the eerie swamp.  It's shot well and with attention to detail, particularly in the flashback scene of the story of Ananka's death.  I haven't studied Egyptology much, but I can tell that they tried to give some amount of reverence to the rituals of mummification.  What really impressed me was how the mummy came to be a mummy - if you look at the film deep down, it could even be called a love story.  Khardis loved Ananka so much he risked everything to try and bring her back from the dead so that they could finally realize their love.  Even as a mummy he not only seeks vengeance (see below), but recognizes Isobel to look just like Ananka.  It's beauty that tames and kills all beasts, as all the great monster movies show us.

There are some interesting points to be made regarding what this film reflects about our culture.  In the film, Mehemet tells John that his people have dared to assume ignorance and blasphemied his religion.  Although John tries to defend the archeologists and the study of cultures, there is a good point in Mehemet's rage - it is one thing to gather artifacts and study them, but it is another to disregard the beliefs of a culture and desecrate the graves of the dead.  I think what it really comes down to is respect.  Not only that, but it speaks a little to the British empire.  In 1932 Britain still controlled Egypt.  But in 1959, most of Britain's colonies had declared independence.  There was also the British loss of control at the Suez canal in 1956.  So it makes sense to have an Egyptian legend come to life and strike fear into the hearts of the British.  But in the face of all this, it is encouraging to see that while the mummy is terrifying, he is, in a way, justified.  He doesn't go off killing just anyone - only those who desecrated his love's tomb.  He is in effect exacting vengeance not only for the destruction of the tomb, but also for the lack of understanding shown by the British.  He's a monster, but perhaps only a misunderstood one.     

 

Review and Recommendation    
Overall good acting and nice detail in the cinematography, I think this version of The Mummy is very well done.  It's very entertaining and not too serious - a great film for any fans of the horror, thriller or monster-movie genres.

P.S. Fun fact from TCM - Christopher Lee was the first actor to play all three classic monsters: Frankenstein (1957), Dracula (1958), and The Mummy.