Onslow1965

Ok, so the plot has some holes in it but the cast does very well with what they have to work with. Jack Lemmon and Darren McGavin turn in above average performances which are quite believeable. Same goes for Christopher Lee, Joseph Cotton, Olivia De Havilland, and Brenda Vaccaro. To me it seems that most of the cast came to this project with a professionalism which was lacking in Airport 1975 and The Concorde: Airport '79. Christopher Lee stated in his autobiography that this movie was what it was-a disaster movie. I can't argue with that. But he didn't let this stand in the way of giving a performance that he should be proud of. It was these performances which lent to this film the air of believeablity which lifted Airport '77 to one of the better disaster movies of the 1970's. The Universal Terminal Pack which contains all four Airport films is of excellent picture and sound quality and contains theatrical trailers from all four films.

Nosferatu is the best version of Dracula around. Some nine years before Lugosi and about 5 years before sound was used in film Murnau created a surrealistic nightmare and I'm still not sure how he did it. Take a look at the ship board sequences. These were filmed with a bulkly crank action camera and the scenes were shot totally on location. A great feat for the early 1920s. And who can forget the demonic image of Max Schreck at Graf Orlock. He is the stuff that some of my wildest nightmares have been. I'll admit that his acting may leave a little to be desired but I can guarantee that if I ran into him in a dark alley one night it sure would scare the hell out of me. And has anybody noticed that Ellen (the Mina character) is the one who figures out what is going on and kills the vampire-granted at the cost of her own life? Did the Germans realize that they were making a feminist statement? Nah, probably not. It just worked out that way. Nosferatu is a symphony of shudders, terror, and images. A 10 out of 10 for me. A must for any horror movie fan.

Long live the cat!!!! Er, sorry about that I meant Long live Basil, Sybill, Polly, Manuel, and the rest!!!! Fawlty Towers is not only one of the best British Comedies ever, it is one of the greatest comedies ever. John Cleese plays Basil Fawlty ("Faulty? What's wrong with him?" A loaded question if ever there was one)to perfection. The same can be said about the rest of the cast. Although there were only 12 episodes produced "Fawlty Towers" goes a long way to proving that quality and quantity are not always the same thing. From what I understand John Cleese and Connie Booth would spend up to six weeks per script---and it shows!!!! Sure there are some misfires but as Groucho Marx once said "They all can't be funny." But the bits that hit the mark right on outnumber the misses by a huge margin. Out of the 12 episodes the only one I didn't like was "Waldorf Salad". Maybe it's because I'm an American and the guy playing Mr Hamilton just didn't pull it off. Next time use an American. Anyway, I just don't watch that episode. But in the other eleven, they are a treat. Just one final thought. I just wonder what would happen if Basil were to meet up with Hychiccin, Hycathin, Hyachitin, You know the Bucket woman. We can only hope and imagine.