Pros: Acting, except for Borgnine's Russian accent. Authentic looking sub, some good, realistic action including the sub almost sinking, and some good verbal jousting between McGoohan and Hudson and Hudson and Russian colonel Alf Kjellin.
Cons: Too long (2 hours 20 minutes) given the lack of characterization and thin plot. Padded scenes and sluggish pace. It takes 90 minutes to arrive at Ice Station Zebra, partly due to endless shots of the Sub going slowly - very slowly - through the water. Overall, not much action - and - the last 30 minutes is filmed on a sound stage with plastic snow drifts. Added: Like the ones they used on the original Star Trek, yep, its that bad.
While the movie is often labeled "Big Budget" its puzzling where MGM's money went, because it not there on the screen. It didn't go to the actors - Hudson is the only star. It didn't go to location shooting, since the whole movie is shot on various sound stages. Maybe the special effects and Submarine sets cost a lot more in real dollars money than today. Summary: Very enjoyable in parts but the script and lack of action drag it down. Rating **1/2
While the movie is often labeled "Big Budget" its puzzling where MGM's money went, because it not there on the screen. It didn't go to the actors - Hudson is the only star. It didn't go to location shooting, since the whole movie is shot on various sound stages. Maybe the special effects and Submarine sets cost a lot more in real dollars money than today. Summary: Very enjoyable in parts but the script and lack of action drag it down. Rating **1/2
283. Something of Value (1957) - Brooks. Co-stars Rock Hudson and Sidney Poitier. B&W 114 minutes. Based on the best selling Ruark's novel about the Mau-Mau uprising in Kenya. Hudson and Poitier are childhood friends. Later, Poitier is treated unjustly and joins the Mau Mau's in opposition to landowner Hudson. A low budget B&W movie, shot in Hollywood with some African footage spliced in. The acting is standard Hollywood American and Poitier isn't convincing as an African. Rock Hudson is bland as a White Kenyan.Summary: A missed opportunity. Two good action scenes but overall a very forgettable adaptation of a very good novel. Rating **
284. Written on the Wind (1956) - Sirk. Co-stars Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Dorothy Malone and Richard Stack 99 minutes. A lush melodrama that's considered Sirk's best after "Imitation of Life". Soap Opera about a rich Texas Oil magnate brought down by his spoiled, debauched offspring (Malone, Stack). Hudson and Bacall are Stack's level headed friend and long-suffering wife. Summary: Seen as a favor to Mrs.RC - this wasn't as bad as I expected. Sirk is an excellent director and the acting (except for wooden Bacall) is good and the technicolor photography excellent. A good movie of its kind. Rating **1/2
285. Magnificent Obsession (1954) - Sirk. Co-stars Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman. 108 minutes. Another lush Sirk Melodrama that's remained popular. A Doctor's widow and a rich playboy become linked after the Husbands death and go through trials and tribulations. Some good location shots of California in the 50s. Summary: Like "Written on the Wind" the movie surprised me. It was quite watchable although my attention wandered in the middle. Hudson and Jane Wyman do an excellent job and photography and set design is good.Rating **1/2
286. Darling Lille (1970) - Edwards. Co-stars Rock Hudson and Julie Andrews. 107 minutes. A musical extravaganza set during WW I. Andrews in a German spy/nightclub singer, Hudson a WWI flying ace. A truly awful film. Some great WW I dogfight scenes but that's it. And except for Hudson's action scenes, it all Julie Andrews all the time. Sadly, she no chemistry with Hudson and isn't sexy, funny, or interesting. Her songs are bland and mediocre. The story is a mess - leading an MGM exec to remark - "we got 24 million dollars of footage and no movie". Rating *
287. Seconds (1966) - Frankenheimer. Co-stars Rock Hudson and John Randolph. B&W 100 minutes. A secret organization offers wealthy people a second chance at life; their death is staged and using plastic surgery are given new lives. But things don't always go as planned... Now considered a cult classic, this was Hudson's first film after he left Universal and a box-office bomb. (It appears that - in 1966- Rock Hudson fans didn't want to see a SF movie like "Seconds" while SF fans didn't want to see a 'Rock Hudson film'). Both Randolph and Hudson are excellent as the "Before" and "After" - Hudson in particular is quite impressive in the last part of the movie, quite a change from his usual bland exterior. There are some great individual scenes, the ending, the discussion between Hudson and his widow, pretty much every scene in "The Company" - but the movie as a whole doesn't jell. I never really cared that much of the main character because he was presented more as a stereotype (tired middle-aged banker tired of the rat-race) than as an interesting character. But the direction and camera work are flashy and superb.Summary: I enjoyed the movie but its somewhat overpraised - for good or bad it plays like a very good, extended Twilight Zone episode. My opinion was lowered the second time round. Once the surprises are known, the films bleak, superficial philosophy becomes obvious. But still enjoyable on many levels. Rating ***
288. All That Heaven Allows (1955) - Sirk. Co-stars Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman. 108 minutes. A Sirk Melodrama that followed their popular "Magnificent Obsession". In this one, Wyman is a wealthy small town New England widow in love with Landscaper Rock Hudson. Naturally, all the town and Wyman's two kids are aghast that she would marry a mere Gardener, who reads Thoreau and lives in an old mill. But love triumphs over all. My least favorite of the 3 Hudson-Sirk's. The acting, set design, and direction are excellent but it was difficult to really care or believe that Hudson's character would fall for a middle-aged Jane Wyman. Plus the movie really stacks the deck. Hudson not only is young, handsome, and reads Thoreau; he's self-confident, wise, and romantic, -AND - he can wear a tuxedo and can hold his own at any high-society cocktail party. That's some Gardener!
Haynes did a remake in 2002 with a black Gardener and Gay husband - Sorry Mrs. RC I ain't watchin' that one ! Summary: Universal tried to keep the magic going with this follow-on to "Magnificent Obsession" but failed. A high class soap opera.Rating **
289. Imitation of Life (1958) - Sirk. Co-stars Lana Turner and Juanita Moore. 125 minutes. Melodrama about two widows (one white, one black) and their two daughters. A remake of the 1934 movie and a big hit in 1959. Imitation of Life is a good movie of its kind. The direction, set design, and acting is very good - the story isn't. The movie is about RACE in 1959 so its somewhat self-importance and full of symbolism. Sirk isn't a Kramer, thank goodness - its fairly subtle, but IOL's combination of Race story and Soap Opera just didn't interest me. Plus the only real star in the film is Turner.Rating ** 1/2
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