Rope

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Rope!

Original image located here. Accessed 27th June 2025

Well seeing as it's pride month....

It is an interesting thing with approaching Alfred Hitchcock's filmography: he produced so many movies and a large of them have gone down as classics that it is difficult to pick between them. And as such, a number of his films can slip through the cracks. 
It seems to me that this title is one such movie: Well regarded but nowhere near the likes of Psycho or The Birds. Still should be worth a look...

Maybe it's just me it seems this movies reputation, at least from modern audiences, lies in the fact that the two murderers here are clearly a gay couple. Certainly daring for the time (1948) but that does overshadow the technical achievements of the movie: Its constructed out of ten minute takes. It is impressive that it was done, that Hitchcock had the gall to do it and it suits the story's origins as a stage play well. 
At the end of the day though this was an experiment and whether or not Hitchcock succeeded is up to debate (one could make the argument that the homosexual overtones were far more interesting). Still, this is compelling and it's fun to see The Master branch out and try something different.

Hamlet

 And this week's Friday night movie has been... Hamlet!

Original image located here. Accessed 8th March 2024

Best Picture Oscar winner no.: 21 (1948)

 I recall watching the Academy Awards on TV back in 1998. It was the seventieth anniversary year so, as part of the broadcast, a montage was shown of previous Best Picture winners. Many of these winners were new to me and I saw plenty of names I recognised. But one standout was the 1948 winner: An actual adaptation of a Shakespeare play.
This was a major surprise to me because the Academy didn't strike me as the kind who would honour such an adaptation. This is compounded by the fact that, as anyone who has adapted Shakespeare will tell you, the challenge presented by Shakespeare is taking material that has been performed countless times before and putting a new spin on it. 
Needless to say, when I started this year-long project, this was one movie I was keen on seeing - moreso considering that this featured Laurence Olivier, quite possibly the greatest Shakespearean actor ever lived, in the title role. And director. And producer. 

And what Olivier does is approach the title with that of a horror movie. There are plenty of shadows, towering sets, lots of fog, and striking angles, all building up to an astonishing atmosphere. And even the Ghost is the most frightening interpretation that I have ever seen.
Other highlights are Jean Simmons' performance of Ophelia, nailing the moment where she goes insane, Patrick Troughton (yes, THAT Patrick Troughton) as the Player King, the handling of Claudius' character and the final duel. But in the end, it's Olivier's show and he delivers in spades.
Certainly a surprise to see a Shakespeare adaptation win the Best Picture Oscar but it seems it was a well-deserved winner.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

And this week's Friday night movie has been... The Treasure of the Sierra Madre!

Original image located here. Accessed 25th June 2021

Its difficult to assess a classic movie like this (classic as in pre-New Hollywood era). The problem being? Much has been written about such movies in the decades since their release that it's difficult to come up with something new. Indeed, if people are still talking about Shrek in 2021, it would be interesting to see if they will have something new to say about in 2051.

In all honesty, there's not a lot I can say about this movie: It's a fascinating study of paranoia, greed and seeing how these three guys are playing off each other. Everyone involved here - particularly actors Humphrey Bogart and Walter Huston and Director John Huston - are at the top of their game.
And it is noteworthy of having the "laughter of the Damned' at the end: The kind of laughter one has borne of the frustration of trying to make some headway in the world but not succeeding (a laughter i know all too well).