boirin's reviews

I was well and truly an adult (50+) when I first watched this series. Strange that an ongoing tale about 10-year-olds getting up to mischief over a 200-year period would move me so greatly. I became aware of the series because of a book I was editing. I was enthralled from the first episode. It has a unique perspective. Each episode covers the story of a ten-or-something year old child, who gets into trouble but learns their lesson. Each episode goes back ten years in time. So the adults in one episode often become the children in the next. At the heart of the series is a magnificent tree that the children play on or meet at. In some episodes, they see an Aboriginal girl in the tree, but she quickly fades. The series creates a vast history lesson that has been used in schools to teach Australian children about their past. All kinds of political issues are dealt with - multiculturalism, immigration, Aboriginal rights, the two World Wars, the rise of the labour movement, the convict legacy - but it also deals with personal family issues, tragedies and grief. The girl in the tree is the subject of the last episode. A mischievous Aboriginal child that assumes her way of life will go on forever. Not so. I shed tears for this. Of course, the series has lots of modern interpretations of the past, but the intentions are sincere.

This could have been a fantastic mystery melodrama, but it's hopelessly let down by the ridiculous casting. Humphrey Bogart is just plain silly as the psychopathic artist and Barbara Stanwyck is even more silly as the wide-eyed, sweet young thing who marries him. Their screen histories at that point were too stratospheric and their screen personas too hard-boiled to make this modest dramatic romance material at all believable.

It's basically a B film, and a very good one at that, but it would have worked much better with a cast of middle-range or second-tier actors. The standout performance is that of Anne Carter. In fact, she is the main reason to watch it. I'm a big fan of Alexis Smith, but she seems to be playing a caricature of her own ice-queen screen persona. She is also hopelessly miscast.

In the hands of a good B director, with a decent B budget and a strong but lesser-known cast, this might have been a sleeper hit or even a cult classic. Sadly, it's just an embarrassment.

Why this series was dropped after only one season is one of those mysteries of behind-the-scenes TV politics.

As well as providing reliably enjoyable entertainment, it gave us tight-knit plots, great dialogue, well-established character actors, lots of off-beat (albeit sometimes corny) humour, a sizzling onscreen chemistry between the leads and an overall innovative approach to television - in its editing and creative style, and its trailblazing female protagonist. On top of that, the lead actress, Anne Francis, scored a Golden Globe best actress award and one episode, The Gray Lady, a nomination.

So ... it was dropped after one season. Why? For heaven sake why?

Yeah, I've read some stuff about the network ratings blunder of showing it on a Friday night when most of its potential viewers would have been out for the evening and those that stayed in watched Gomer Pyle (no VCR or DVD in those days), and producer Aaron Spelling's comparative cost decision of importing The Avengers rather than going to a second season, even though ABC studios wanted to renew.

Whatever. At least we are left with a gorgeous, but sadly limited, TV feast of 30 episodes to look back on.

This a soap opera tour de force, which basically means it's a very good film about women.

One of the women (Lupino) is a free spirit, following her heart and soul to live the life she wants, even if it's not the life that is best for her. Her sister (King) is straight down the line, married and devoted to a man damaged by war, but still equally devoted to keeping her dysfunctional family intact. Their younger sister (Vickers) is masochistically devoted to a married man, a self-destructive pursuit that is annoyingly vindicated by film's end. A neighbor (Moran) seethes with non-fulfilment, a party girl straight-jacketed by marriage and responsibility.

The lives of these women are laid bare over the course of a Christmas- New Year period of celebration, ending in a curious mixture of tragedy and transcendence. Of course, being a 1940s film under the Production Code, the 'good' women get their just rewards, but the 'bad' women are punished with either death or sexual rejection.

Lupino's central character pushes the boundaries of 1940s film heroines. A cynical dame who fights tooth and claw, literally bashing up a man to prevent him from doing more self-destructive violence to himself and others. The man's intended victim (Alda) is left open- mouthed and seemingly repentant. Her actions are also protecting her brother (Douglas), an overall creep but, as with all the roles in the film, an ultimately sympathetic character.

Yet, she loses out in the love stakes. There is still a hope left in the end that the man she loves (Bennett) will come back to her. Maybe, maybe not. Whatever, she followed her heart and protected her family.

This was loosely based on the Henry Handel Richardson novel, 'Maurice Guest', which explored obsessive, destructive and unrequited love amid the backdrop of music students in Leipzig at the turn of the twentieth century. This film adaptation took huge liberties with the plot, played down or eliminated most of the characters, sanitized the sexuality and ditched the bleak ending (though happily so).

Enough has been said here about Elizabeth Taylor's breathtaking gorgeousness, the lushness of the classical music score and the brilliant instrumental simulations by Vittorio Gassman and John Ericson, but not enough about Charles Vidor's direction, which keeps the film on a thoroughly entertaining, albeit melodramatic, path.

The best part IMO is the last fifteen minutes or so, which takes a wrenching turn and builds the tension with a spectacular rendition of Rachmaninoff's Concerto 2 (by far the best version I've ever seen on screen). Ericson's performance here is amazing and almost runs away with the film.

Last but not least, leave cynicism aside and enjoy that hopelessly gorgeous ending!

Although these dozen or so pre-horror Hammer noir films of the early 50s are largely forgotten, they are making something of a comeback through TCM and other vintage film outlets. Of these, 'Blackout' is definitely the best of them.

It's well acted and (despite complaints here about the convoluted plot) well written with plenty of humour. Obviously the producers had to struggle with a low budget that inevitably compromised its production values, but the film makes the most of what it had. Still, it's a treat for Dane Clark fans and those who can see an unrealised talent in Belinda Lee before dying far too young. Their on-screen chemistry is terrific and so are Clark's scenes with Eleanor Summerfield (one of my favourite British supporting actors).

One of 'Blackout's most interesting elements is that, unlike most film noirs, that usually involve male protagonists with a token femme fatale, the plot of 'Blackout' is mostly female-driven.