Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut

PLOT:

The film opens with highlights of events from the first movie: Jor-El condemning three Kryptonian villains, General Zod, Non, and Ursa, to the Phantom Zone and sending his son, Kal-El, to Earth in a rocket ship, the launching of the two XK-101 missiles, Superman being trapped in the swimming pool by wearing the Kryptonite necklace by Lex Luthor and being rescued by Ms. Teschmacher, and Superman diverting the XK-101 missile programmed to hit Hackensack, New Jersey into outer space. Meanwhile, the Phantom Zone drifts through space towards Earth because the shock waves after the destruction of Krypton sends it on a new course, and the XK-101 missile explodes near it, causing shock waves that destroy the Phantom Zone, freeing the three villains, who then head toward the Moon.

Later, at The Daily Planet, Lois Lane begins to suspect that Clark Kent is Superman. She confirms this belief when she draws clothes that Clark is wearing on a picture of Superman in the newspaper; the posture of both looked almost the same. She tries to prove to Clark she knows his secret by jumping out of a window believing that Superman wouldn’t allow her to die. Instead, Clark races outside at super-speed and uses his super-breath and heat vision to slow her fall and open roof curtains to act as a trampoline. Lois bounces off them and lands in a fruit stand. By the time she looks up, Clark has already raced back up to the window and looks down, appearing not to have done anything at all.

General Zod, Non, and Ursa arrive on the Moon and kill all astronauts on a joint NASA-Soviet moon expedition. They note that they have become more powerful from how easily they have killed all of the moonwalkers, having acquired more powers from being closer to a yellow Sun. They decide to fly off to Earth, which they believe to be called ‘Houston’, upon overhearing radio transmissions between the moon mission and mission control in Houston, Texas.

In prison, Lex Luthor devises a plan with Otis to break out. When Otis reveals to Luthor that Superman always flies north to escape radar detection, Luthor decides to track him down using a ‘black box’ he has created that detects alpha waves. Luthor finally breaks out of jail with the help of Ms. Teschmacher using a hot air balloon, but leaves Otis behind as his weight holds the balloon down. Using the black box device, he goes north to the Fortress of Solitude. Luthor, activating the Fortress control panel, then learns from hologram recordings of Jor-El about the three Kryptonian villains who have escaped. He decides that he will collaborate with the Kryptonian villains to defeat Superman and take over the world.

Meanwhile, Clark and Lois have arrived at Niagara Falls, Ontario to investigate a ‘honeymoon racket’ assigned to them by Perry White. Lois sees a boy falling over a railing and calls for help; Clark, outside of anyone’s sight, transforms into Superman to rescue him. Later, in their suite, Lois decides to try to prove again that Clark is Superman by pointing a gun at Clark and firing a shot. She looks with amazement as Clark, who is unharmed, removes his glasses and, giving Lois a stern look, says, “If you had been wrong, Clark Kent would have been killed.” Lois, in a humorous twist, reveals that she has used a blank in her gun. Meanwhile, the three Kryptonian villains arrive on Earth in a small town in Idaho, where they declare their reign over the entire planet to the townspeople after using their powers to easily stop incoming military forces. They then fly to the White House and easily defeat the military defenses that are protecting the President of the United States. General Zod forces the President to kneel before him as the President prays for Superman to come to the rescue.

Meanwhile, Superman takes Lois to the Fortress of Solitude, where he confesses his love for her as they retire to his bedchamber and make love. Kal-El then speaks to his father through hologram about his desire to give up his responsibilities as Superman so he can live a normal life with Lois. In order for him to relinquish being Superman, Kal-El must enter a crystal chamber and be exposed to harnessed rays from the Krypton red sun in order to lose his powers permanently Despite his father’s pleas to reconsider, Kal-El enters the chamber without hesitation and undergoes the de-powering process, which culminates in the destruction of the crystal control panel. Later, Clark and Lois visit a diner, Clark, now powerless, finds that he can’t even handle a bullying customer named Rocky, who easily beats him up. Clark’s mood is worsened when he watches the President announcing his surrender to General Zod on the diner’s TV. Clark realizes that he has to return to the Fortress and find a way to have his powers restored. Clark returns back at the Fortress, now a darkened sanctum, and calls out to his father for help. He then notices the Green Crystal glowing among the remains of the destroyed control panel and he uses the crystal to activate the panel. Jor-El appears and tells Kal-El about his terrible mistake and offers him one last resort to regain his powers – he will channel all of his remaining energy to his son, thereupon dying. Jor-El bids farewell and emerges in full body and spirit; upon touching Kal-El, he restores his son’s powers and dies by fading away.

Lex Luthor finally arrives at the White House and offers the three villains a way to find Superman, who he notes is the son of Jor-El, their imprisoner, in exchange for possession of ‘beachfront property’: Australia. Luthor agrees to help the three villains and hopefully find a way to have Superman defeated. The Kryptonian villains attack the Daily Planet and confront Perry White, Jimmy Olsen, and Lois Lane. Superman appears, taking up Zod’s challenge to fight. During an epic battle in the Metropolis streets, Ursa and Non throw a bus at Superman crashing him into a building. To the people of Metropolis, Superman appears to be dead, and they try to attack the villains, who blow them back with super-breath (with much less slapstick than the Richard Lester version). However, Superman emerges alive, but flies off, seemingly in defeat. After the battle, Luthor offers the villains the location of the Fortress of Solitude, in exchange for Cuba.

The villains fly north bringing Luthor and Lois with them. When they arrive at the Fortress, they confront Superman and Zod threatens Lois’ life to force his surrender and, in the meantime, betray Luthor and plan to kill him as well. Luthor seemingly sides with Superman, who tells Luthor about trying to trick the villains into entering the de-powering chamber. However, Luthor double-crosses Superman and warns Zod of the trap in which Zod decides to spare Luthor’s life and agrees to the term of his demands. Superman enters the de-powering chamber and later emerges with a look of weakness and hopelessness on his face. Zod orders him to kneel and take his hand in submission, but Superman crushes his hand and throws him across the room down into the abyss below. Luthor then realizes that Superman switched the process so that the de-powering rays have been set loose in the Fortress while Superman has been safe inside the chamber. Non and Ursa are also defeated and Superman and Lois leave Luthor stranded in the Fortress and fly away (however, in a deleted scene it is stated that Luthor has been arrested and taken away by the artic police). Superman then uses his heat vision to destroy the Fortress and flies Lois home. Lois begins to break down in despair since life would never be the same, she heartbreakingly assures Superman that she can be trusted to keep his secret identity, which Superman acknowledges consolingly, and he flies off.

Superman once again turns back time by flying around the Earth at tremendous speed and reversing events that have occurred throughout, such as the destruction and mayhem done to Metropolis during Superman’s battle with the villains and the shattering of the Phantom Zone that releases the Kryptonian villains, as well as Lois’ knowledge of his secret identity. The status quo is finally changed back to normal, although both Lois and Perry White seem to experience a sense of déjà vu. Clark also goes to the diner and confronts Rocky, who is more than willing to pick a fight with him. Much to everyone’s surprise, this strange, young man handles the bullying customer like a little child, eventually felling him across the counter and sending him crashing into the pinball machine, knocking him unconscious. Clark then offers to pay the owners of the diner for the damage. With those around wondering how the stranger was able to beat the bully, Clark simply replies: “Oh, I’ve been… working out.”

REVIEW:

Before I begin this review, in case you didn’t catch in the title or plot synopsis, I need to make sure that you all know this is about the Richard Donner cut (the way Superman II was intended to be) of the film, so if you were expecting a review of the “standard” version, you will be sadly disappointed.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I have to say this is one of the best sequels I’ve seen in my lifetime and a worthy sequel to Superman. Of course, this did come out in a time when sequels were made to improve upon the original and keep the story going rather than make a quick buck like today’s films.

Christopher Reeve does more of an acting job in this film than in the last, showing conflicting emotions as both Clark Kent and Superman. Reeve really captures Superman’s “weakness” for both Lois and humanity here in this film. I did find it a bit funny that with his longer hair in some scenes he resembled Zack Efron.

Margot Kidder isn’t annoying as Lois Lane as she is in the first, except for her constant prodding and assumptions that Clark Kent is indeed Superman. Once that gets out of the way, though, she becomes your typical damsel in distress.

Gene Hackman takes a backseat to the Kryptonian villains from the Phantom Zone here, but is no less effective or eccentric as Lex Luthor.

Speaking of the Phantom Zone villains, Terence Stamp is perfect as General Zod. The lack of emotion on his face is fitting of a man who wants nothing more than to rule and case destruction. Not to mention the fact that he utter s the infamous line, “Kneel before Zod.”

An upgrade that this film has above its predecessor is that there is actually a fight scene. Superman squares off against the three villains in downtown Metropolis for a good 5-10 minutes near the end of the film. Why can’t all Superman films include a fight song. This one proves that even though it isn’t the longest fight in history, it makes for an even more exciting film.

It’s been years since I’ve seen the original Superman II cut, so I can’t tell you all the differences and what I think of them, but from what I hear, this film is far superior to the wannabe version that is considered the “real” film. There is a nice mixture of action and drama, and even a bit of comedy thrown in for good measure. Who wouldn’t like this film? It is a sure-fire must-see for everyone.

4 1/2 out 5 stars

Superman

PLOT:

On the planet Krypton, using evidence provided by scientist Jor-El, the Ruling Council sentences three insurrectionists, General Zod, Ursa and Non, to “eternal living death” in the Phantom Zone for attempting a totalitarian rebellion. Although the Council widely respects him, Jor-El is unable to convince them of his belief that the Kryptonian sun will shortly explode and destroy their planet. As a result, Jor-El launches a spacecraft containing his infant son, Kal-El, towards Earth, a distant planet with a suitable atmosphere, and where Kal-El’s dense molecular structure will give him superhuman powers (since all Kryptonian life-forms gain superpowers from exposure to a yellow sun, such as Earth’s sun). Shortly after the ship launches, Krypton is destroyed.

The ship crashes near an American farming town, Smallville, Kansas, where Kal-El is found by Jonathan and Martha Kent and raised as their own son, Clark. Immediately after his discovery by the Kents, the toddler Kal-El hoists the bumper of a pickup truck about to fall on Jonathan Kent. As a teenager, Clark exhibits other extraordinary powers, outrunning speeding trains, and punting a football into the stratosphere. Shortly thereafter, Jonathan Kent dies of a heart attack, and Clark can do nothing. Following the funeral, Clark hears a psychic “call”, discovering a glowing green crystal in the ship stored in the barn.

Compelled to travel north, Clark heads to the Arctic Circle, where the crystal builds the Fortress of Solitude, resembling the architecture of Krypton. Activating a control panel inside the fortress, a vision of Jor-El appears, stating that he has been dead for “thousands of your years,” and explains Clark’s origins, educating him in his powers and responsibilities. After twelve years, with his powers fully developed, Clark leaves the Fortress and finds a job at The Daily Planet in Metropolis. He meets and develops a romantic attraction to reporter Lois Lane, but the feelings are not returned: she regards him as merely a friend. Lois becomes involved in a helicopter accident where conventional means of rescue are impossible, requiring Clark to use his powers in public for the first time in order to save her.

Later, he visits her at home, takes her for a flight over the city, and allows her to interview him for a newspaper article in which she dubs him “Superman.” Meanwhile, criminal genius Lex Luthor has developed a cunning plan to make a fortune in real estate by buying large amounts of “worthless” desert land and then diverting a nuclear rocket from a missile testing site to the San Andreas Fault. This will destroy California and leave Luthor’s desert as the new West Coast of the United States, greatly increasing its real estate value. After his incompetent henchman Otis accidentally redirects the first rocket to the wrong place, Luthor’s girlfriend, Eve Teschmacher, successfully changes the course of the second missile. Knowing Superman could stop his plan, Luthor lures him to his underground lair via a supersonic greeting and exposes him to Kryptonite. As Superman weakens, Luthor taunts him by revealing the first missile is headed to Hackensack, New Jersey, in the opposite direction, knowing Superman could not stop both impacts.

Teschmacher is horrified because her mother lives in Hackensack, but Luthor does not care and leaves Superman to a slow death. Teschmacher rescues Superman on the condition that he will deal with the New Jersey missile first. He is consequently too late to stop the second impact, causing a massive earthquake which he battles to correct. While he is busy saving others, Lois’ car falls into the ground as a result of an aftershock, and quickly begins to fill with dirt and debris, which suffocates her to death. Distraught at being unable to save Lois, Superman ignores Jor-El’s warning not to interfere with human history, preferring to remember Jonathan Kent’s advice that he must be here for “a reason”, and travels back in time in order to save Lois, altering the historical timeline so that her car is never caught in the aftershock. Superman then delivers Luthor and Otis to prison, where he knows they will be secure until they receive a fair trial.

REVIEW:

Superman is one of the first names many think of when you say superhero, often times he is the first name. This film was, for the longest time, the benchmark for superhero films and with good reason.

The film covers the basic origin of the Man of Steel, complete with a glimps at the villains of Superman II and appearances by Lana Lang and a young Lois Lane on the train. What is most impressive about the film for me was the fact that they handled the original similarly to the source material.

Sure those Krypton scenes seemed to drag on forever and a day, but as the film progresses, you start to realize how they fit into the Superman origin.

There are a few things that bothered me about this flick, though. First off, there is the rule that Superman cannot change human history. Now, even though he does change human history near the ned of the film, it seems as though he does so without consequences. My  issue is that it is never said why it is forbidden for him to do so. Sure, if was to go back and change the outcome of the Civil War or prevent something major from happening, then it would make sense that he isn’t meant to go back. He goes back to save Lois, but it seems like he undoes everything that he raced to do. It just makes no sense. Yes, I realize its just a movie and there needs to be some suspension of disbelief, but this just seems like a plothole that is never addressed.

The other issue I have deals with the fact that Superman doesn’t fight. Obviously Lex Luthor is not going to go toe to toe with Supes, but Kal-El’s only bit of action along those lines is when he knocks the door out of the way when he first meets Luthor. It just seems like they could have done more with the action part of the film, as opposed to the story…though the story is very well written and executed.

John Williams’ score captures the true essence of the characters. Aside from the main theme, the most impressive  pice has to be the fanfare that is played when we first see Krypton. It is Williams’ genius at its best.

The cast really makes their characters believable. I’d love to sit here and heave praise of Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent/Superman, but he takes a backseat to Gene Hackman’s over the top Lex Luthor. As Luthor, Hackman gives us a character who is not only evil and sadistic, as showing in his first appearance on screen where he knocks a cop onto the subway tracks, but also a flamboyant businessman with plans of world domination.

As good, and near perfect, s this film is, I cannot give it a full 5 star rating sue to the plotholes and lack of Superman action. However, as everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I’m just going to say that you should see it for yourself before making a decision. Rumors have it that they are trying to reboot this franchise and make it super dark, in a way they did with Batman. I have to vehemently object to this decision. Superman is a lighter superhero. He is, more or less, a boy scout, not a spoiled rich kid playing dress up. Having said that, it may be best if you watch this film before the it does indeed get rebooted (and bastardized).

4 1/2 out of 5 stars

The Godfather

PLOT:

In late summer 1945, guests are gathered for the wedding reception of Don Vito Corleone’s daughter Connie (Talia Shire) and Carlo Rizzi (Gianni Russo). Vito (Marlon Brando), the head of the Corleone Mafia family – who is known to friends and associates as “Godfather” – and Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall), the Corleone family lawyer and consigliere(counselor), are hearing requests for favors. Meanwhile, the Don’s youngest son Michael (Al Pacino), a decorated Marine war hero returning from World War II service, tells his girlfriend Kay Adams (Diane Keaton) anecdotes about his family, attempting to inform her about his father’s criminal life; he reassures her that he is different from his family.

According to tradition, a Sicilian cannot refuse a request made on his daughter’s wedding day, and therefore, several supplicants come to him asking for various favors. The Don’s wealth and his ability to bribe various judges and congressmen make him a powerful man in New York.

Among the guests at the celebration is the famous singer Johnny Fontane (Al Martino), Corleone’s godson, who has come from Hollywood to petition Vito’s help in landing a movie role that will revitalize his flagging career. Hagen is dispatched to California to fix the problem by convincing the head of the studio, Jack Woltz (John Marley) to give Fontane the part. Woltz refuses but is soon persuaded, when he finds the severed head of his prized $600,000 stud horse in bed with him, after waking up the next morning.

Upon Hagen’s return, the family meets with Virgil “The Turk” Sollozzo (Al Lettieri), who is being backed by the rival Tattaglia family. He asks Don Corleone for financing, and political and legal protection for importing and distributing heroin. Despite the huge profit to be made, Corleone doesn’t agree and feels his political influence could be jeopardized. The Don’s eldest son, Sonny questions Sollozzo’s assurances along with the family’s investment with the Tattaglia family. Don Corleone then sends his primary enforcer Luca Brasi (Lenny Montana) to infiltrate Sollozzo’s organization and report back with information. During the meeting, Brasi is stabbed in his hand to prevent him from defending himself and garroted by an assassin.

Soon after Brasi’s meeting with Sollozzo, Don Corleone is shot in an assassination attempt. Sollozzo Sollozzo “>abductsTom Hagen and persuades him to offer Sonny the deal previously offered to the Don. Sonny instead issues an ultimatum to the Tattaglia family to turn over Sollozzo or face war. They send him “a Sicilian message,” in the form of a fresh fish wrapped in Luca Brasi’s bullet-proof vest, to tell the Corleones that Luca Brasi “sleeps with the fishes.”

Michael, whom the other Mafia families consider a “civilian” uninvolved in mob business, visits his father at the small private hospital. There are supposed to be family soldiers on constant watch at the hospital but Michael finds the entire facility almost empty. Realizing that his father is again being set up to be killed, he calls Sonny for help, moves his father to another room, and goes outside to watch the entrance. With the assistance of a young man who benefited from the Don’s favors, Michael scares away a car full of hoods who presumably expected no resistance. Police cars soon appear with the corrupt Captain McCluskey (Sterling Hayden), who breaks Michael’s jaw when he insinuates that Sollozzo paid McCluskey to set up his father. Just then, Hagen arrives with “private detectives” licensed to carry guns to protect Don Corleone, and he takes Michael home. Sonny responds by having Bruno Tattaglia, son and underboss of Don Phillip Tattaglia (Victor Rendina), killed.

Following the attempt on the Don’s life at the hospital, Sollozzo requests a meeting with the Corleones, which Captain McCluskey will attend as Sollozzo’s bodyguard. Michael volunteers to kill both men during the meeting. Although police officers are usually off limits for hits, Michael argues that since McCluskey is corrupt and has illegal dealings with Sollozzo, he is fair game. Before the meeting in an Italian restaurant, McCluskey frisks Michael for weapons and finds him clean. Michael excuses himself to go to the bathroom where he retrieves a planted revolver, and returning to the table, he fatally shoots Sollozzo, then McCluskey. Michael is sent to hide in Sicily while the Corleone family prepares for all-out warfare with the other four mafia families (Five Families) who are now united against the Corleones, as well as a general clampdown on the mob by the police and government authorities.

When Don Corleone is brought home from the hospital, it falls to Hagen to tell him that Michael did the hit on Sollozzo and McCluskey and is now in hiding. Vito’s face becomes pained and he dismisses Hagen and Sonny. Sonny then tells Hagen he wants a hit on Don Tattaglia. Hagen objects on the grounds that they’re losing too much money due to the war. Sonny loses his temper, accusing Hagen of incompetence, but then apologizes.

As the war rages, Sonny has to be accompanied by family soldiers at all times, including visits to his mistress. They are also with him when he viciously beats Carlo who, Sonny discovers, has been physically abusive to Connie.

Later, Carlo again beats Connie who is visibly pregnant. When Sonny receives a telephone call from Connie he is enraged and speeds off in his car, without protection, to confront Carlo. However, he is ambushed at a tollbooth and shot dead. When news reaches the still-recovering Don, he demands a meeting of the Five Families to end the violence between them.

During this time, Michael waits in exile and is protected by Don Tommasino, an old family friend. In a small village, he meets and falls in love with Apollonia Vitelli (Simonetta Stefanelli), the beautiful young daughter of a bar owner. They quickly marry, but soon after, Michael is informed of Sonny’s death and needs to leave immediately. As the couple are about to be moved to a safer location, Apollonia is killed when their car is bombed; Michael, who barely escapes alive, spots his bodyguard, Fabrizio, hurriedly leaving the grounds mere seconds before the explosion, implicating him in the assassination plot.

A meeting among several Mafia bosses including many from outside New York City is held. Emilio Barzini (Richard Conte) acts as the primary arbitrator among the Five Families. He implores Vito to reconsider his position on drugs. Another boss, Don Zaluchi, tells the organization that drugs are inevitable, but the families can at least control distribution. As long as the narcotics are kept in the ghettos and never sold to children, there should be little opposition from the Don’s patrons. Vito now softens his stance on narcotics, but also demands that no harm comes to Michael who stands accused of the Sollozzo hit. In return he swears not to seek revenge for Sonny’s killing. He and Don Tattaglia embrace, but on the drive home, he tells Hagen that it is now obvious to him that Don Barzini has been pulling the strings of the entire situation.

With his safety guaranteed, Michael returns home. More than a year later, he reunites with his former girlfriend Kay after a total of four years, three in Italy, and one in America. He tells her he wants them to be married. Although Kay is hurt that he waited so long to contact her, she accepts his proposal. With the Don semi-retired, Sonny dead, and middle brother Fredo (John Cazale) considered incapable of running the family business, Michael is now in charge; he promises Kay he will make the family business completely legitimate within five years.

A couple of years have passed. Peter Clemenza (Richard S. Castellano) and Salvatore Tessio (Abe Vigoda), two Corleone Family caporegimes(captains), complain that they are being pushed around by the Barzini Family and ask permission to strike back, but Michael denies the request. He plans to move the family operations to Nevada and after that, Clemenza and Tessio may break away to form their own families. Michael further promises Connie’s husband, Carlo, that he will be his right hand man in Nevada (this contradicts Vito’s earlier declaration that Carlo must never be included in true family business). Tom Hagen has been removed as consigliereand is now merely the family’s lawyer, Vito will now fill that role. Privately, Hagen complains about his change in status, and also questions Michael about a new “regime of soldiers” secretly being built under Rocco Lampone (Tom Rosqui. Don Vito explains to Hagen that Michael is acting on his advice. It is obvious that everyone feels Vito is senile and Michael is not qualified to be Don.

On a trip to Las Vegas, Michael intends to buy out the casino owned by gambling mogul Moe Greene (Alex Rocco). The Corleone family financed the casino, but it loses money. Fredo has now been in Vegas for a few years and has grown close to Moe. Greene and Michael start arguing. Greene tells Michael that he’ll make a deal with Barzini, and that everybody knows the Corleones power is fading. Fredo yells at Michael afterwards, and Michael prophetically tells him, “Don’t ever take sides with anyone against the family. Ever.”

In a private moment, Vito explains his expectation that the Family’s enemies will attempt to murder Michael by using a trusted associate to arrange a meeting as a pretext for assassination. Vito also reveals that he had never intended a life of crime for Michael, hoping that his youngest son would hold legitimate power as a senator or governor. Shortly after, Vito collapses and dies while playing with his young grandson Anthony in his tomato garden. At the burial, Tessio conveys a proposal for a meeting with Barzini, which identifies Tessio as the traitor that Vito was expecting. Michael, acting sheepish, agrees to it. Tessio, along with others in attendance, shakes hands with Barzini, ostensibly congratulating him. It is clear that, now, with Vito’s passing, Barzini no longer has to share power and is now considered the capo di tutti capi (“boss of all bosses”) of the families.

Michael arranges for a series of murders to occur simultaneously while he is standing godfather to Connie’s and Carlo’s newborn son at the church.

• Don Stracci and another man are shot by a shotgun-wielding Clemenza while in an elevator.
• Don Cuneo is trapped in a building’s revolving door and shot by Willi Cicci.
• Moe Green is shot point blank through his right eye as he receives a back massage.
• Don Tattaglia is in bed with a girl when Rocco Lampone and an unknown associate knock down the door and riddle them both with tommy guns.
• Al Neri (disguised as a cop) threatens Barzini’s illegally parked chauffeur with a ticket. When Barzini and his assistant come out of the building to confront him, he shoots all three.

After the baptism, Tessio believes he and Hagen are on their way to the meeting between Michael and Barzini that he has arranged. Instead, Tessio is surrounded by Willi Cicci and other button men. Realizing that Michael has uncovered his betrayal, Tessio tells Hagen “It was only business” (a recurring slogan throughout the film). He is led away, his murder occurring off-screen. Later, Michael confronts Carlo over Sonny’s murder and forces him to admit his role in setting up the ambush. A weeping Carlo is handed a ticket for exile in Las Vegas and will now be excluded from all family business. Upon entering the car, he is garroted to death by Clemenza.

Later, a hysterical Connie accuses Michael of murdering Carlo. Kay questions Michael about Connie’s accusation, but he refuses to answer, telling her to never inquire into the family business. She presses for an answer, and Michael tells her that, this one time, he will let her ask him about his business dealings. Kay asks again if he had Carlo killed, and he lies and says no. A visibly relieved Kay goes to pour drinks for the two of them. Michael walks into his office. As Kay watches through the open door, Clemenza and new caporegimes Rocco Lampone and Al Neri enter the office to pay their respects to Michael. Clemenza kisses Michael’s hand and greets him as “Don Corleone.” Kay suddenly realizes that, despite his assurances of future legitimacy, Michael has now become his father’s successor in every way. As she watches in evident horror, Neri shuts the door.

REVIEW:

Classic films such as these that are a bit on the lengthy side, tend to feel a little drawn out at times. The Godfather falls into that trap, but only briefly. This film is so well made in every aspect, that there is no doubt in my mind that it deserves its ranking as one of the greatest of all time.

The film begins with an amazing scene that allows us to get to know the character the film is partially about, the Godfather himself, Vito Corleone, played masterfully by Marlon Brando. As the film progresses we get to know about the Corleone family, and their business.

A major plot point in the attempted assassination of Don Vito Corleone. This event causes the Corleones to rally together as a family, and brings Michael, who was expected to not be part of the business, into the fold.

James Caan, as Sonny Corleone, is a total hothead. Before his death near the end of the film, Vito tells Michael that Sonny is a bad don. As I was watching the parts of the film where he was in charge, I was thinking the same thing. I don’t think its his temper that made him a bad don, so much as it was he just made bad decisions, but the temper eventually got the best of him and was his undoing.

Michael Corleone, as I mentioned before, wasn’t expected to be a part of the family business. The guy is a decorated war hero and college graduate, for goodness sakes. It is apparent that he is not oblivious to what his family did, though.  In a bit of irony, at the beginning of the film, he tells his girlfriend, Kay, that he will never be like them. Al Pacino puts on a very powerful performance, but I think the transition from innocent Michael to cold hearted Don Corleone was a bit sudden. That may have been because the film skips a couple of years, though.

I’ve always been a fan of the gangster-era, and the Mafia Wars application on Facebook that I’ve become addicted to inspired to finally clear out 3 hours and watch this masterpiece. I must say that I was captivated with the picture from start to finish, and I’m sure that anyone who watches it will be. It isn’t very often that a film comes along this close to perfect. If you’re like me and haven’t seen it yet, then clear out a few hours so that you remedy that problem. I only hope that the other two parts of the trilogy are as good.

5 out of 5 stars

Guys and Dolls

PLOT:

Although there are detail differences between the stage and movie versions, the plot is essentially based around the activities of New York petty criminals and professiona in the late 1940s.

Gambler Nathan Detroit (Frank Sinatra) is under pressure from all sides: he has to organize an unlicensed crap game but the police, led by Lieutenant Brannigan (Robert Keith), are “putting on the heat”. All the places where Nathan usually holds his games refuse him entry due to Brannigan’s intimidating pressure. The owner of the Biltmore garage does agree to host the game provided Nathan pays him $1000 in cash in advance. The garage owner will not even accept a “marker” or IOU, he insists on having the money itself. Adding to Nathan’s problems, his fiancée, Miss Adelaide (Vivian Blaine), a nightclub singer, wants to bring an end to their 14-year engagement and actually tie the knot. She also wants him to go straight, but organizing illegal gambling is the only thing he’s good at.

Trying to obtain the money for the garage, Nathan meets an old acquaintance, Sky Masterson (Marlon Brando), a gambler willing to bet on virtually anything and for high amounts. Nathan proposes a $1000 bet by which Sky must take a girl of Nathan’s choosing to dinner in Havana, Cuba. The bet seems impossible for Sky to win when Nathan nominates Sergeant Sarah Brown (Jean Simmons), a straight-walking sister at the Save a Soul Mission (based on the Salvation Army) which opposes gambling.

Sarah herself has problems. She has been in charge of the Broadway branch of the Mission for some time now and no drunks or gamblers have come in to confess or reform. It’s “a store full of repentance and no customers”. To approach Sarah, Sky makes out that he is a gambler who wants to change. Sarah knows of his reputation and is suspicious: “It’s just so unusual for a successful sinner to be unhappy about sin.”

Hearing that Sarah’s superiors are threatening to close down the Mission in order to concentrate their activities in other places, Sky suggests a bargain: he will get the sinners into the Mission in return for her having dinner with him in Havana. With little choice left, Sarah agrees.

Confident of his victory, Nathan has gathered together all the gamblers, among who is Big Jule (B.S. Pully), a Chicago mobster. When Lieutenant Brannigan appears and notices this gathering of “senior delinquents”, Nathan’s sidekick, Benny Southstreet (Johnny Silver) covers it up by claiming that they are celebrating the fact that Nathan is getting married to Adelaide. (Nathan is shocked by this, but is forced to play along). Later, when he sees the Save a Soul Mission band passing by and that Sarah is not amongst them, he collapses on the realisation that he has lost the bet. He has no money and nowhere to play the game and he is now committed to actually marrying Adelaide. (Nathan does love Adelaide but is rather uneasy about going straight, either maritally or lawfully.)

Over the course of their short stay in Cuba, Sky manages to break down Sarah’s social inhibitions, and they begin to fall in love with one another. He even confesses that the whole thing was part of a bet but she forgives him as she realises that his love for her is sincere.

They return to Broadway at dawn and meet the Save a Soul Mission band which, on Sky’s advice, has been parading all night. At that moment police sirens can be heard and before they know it the gamblers led by Nathan Detroit are hurrying out of a back room of the Mission! They took advantage of the empty premises to hold the game!

The police arrive too late to make any arrests but Lieutenant Brannigan finds the absence of Sarah and the other Save a Soulmembers too convenient to have been a coincidence, and implies that it was all Sky’s doing: “Masterson, I had you in my big-time book. Now I suppose I’ll have to reclassify you — under shills and decoys”. His suspicions are passed on to Sarah who dumps Sky there and then, refusing to accept his denials.

In the meantime Sky has to make good his arrangement with Sarah to provide sinners to the Mission. Sarah would rather forget the whole thing, but Uncle Arvide Abernathy (Regis Toomey), who acts as a kind of father figure to her, warns Sky that “If you don’t make that marker good, I’m going to buzz it all over town you’re a welcher.”

(A “marker” is slang for a debt that has to be paid off, while a “welcher” means someone who fails to repay that debt.)

Feeling that he has little to lose anyway, Sky lies to Nathan about succeeding in the original bet and pays him the $1000. Nathan has continued the game in a sewer. With his revolver at his side, Big Jule won’t let the game break up until he has recovered all his losses, which seems unlikely since “Big Jule cannot make a pass to save his soul”. Sky overhears this and makes a bold bet: he will play and if he loses he will give all the other gamblers $1000 each; if he wins they are all to attend a prayer meeting at the Mission.

The Mission is near to closing when suddenly the gamblers come parading in taking up most of the room. Sky won the roll! They grudgingly confess their sins, though they show little sign of repentance: “Well … I was always a bad guy. I was even a bad gambler. I would like to be a good guy and a good gambler. I thank you.” Even Big Jule declares: “I used to be bad when I was a kid. But ever since then I’ve gone straight, as I can prove by my record — 33 arrests and no convictions.”

When Nathan tells Sarah that Sky denied winning the Cuba bet (which she knows he won), she hurries off in order to make up with him.

It all ends with a street double wedding, with Sky marrying Sarah, and Nathan marrying Adelaide (who is given away by Lieutenant Brannigan). They arrive in a food delivery van and leave in police cars, though this just seems to be an attempt at humour since Brannigan has been unable to find any witnesses against Sky and Nathan and their activities.

REVIEW:

I’ve heard nothing but good things about this film, so I decided to see if it did indeed live up to the hype. I cannot say that I was disappointed, but I will say that I think all the hype and hoopla surrounding this picture may have caused me to raise my expectations, thusly lessening my enjoyment factor for this picture.

From the musical standpoint, the songs, for the most part, are forgettable, with a couple of exceptions. As with all musicals that jump from the stage to the big screen, some songs get cut in favor of new songs. From what I’ve read was cut and added, that may not have been as good of a choice as they think it was.

I’ve never seen a stage production of this material, so I can’t rate and contrast stge to screen performances, but I can say that the leads are sensational! Marlon Brando, who is still a young, thin man here, astounds us all with his singing and dancing.

Surprisingly, Frank Sinatra doesn’t have that much singing to do here, and many say thst he should have switched roles with Brando. I can see the logic in that argument, but at the same time, I think there is a reason he was cast in this role, part of which was to not have to sing in every film he starred in even though this is a musical.

Vivian Blaine appears to be trying too hard to be Marilyn Monroe, which takes away from her performance here. not to mention the fact that she seems to be overly agitated and emotional.

On the other hand, there is the other female lead, Jean Simmons. Jean, like Brando, was not known for her sininging and dancing, so seing her take on thois kind of role was quite refreshing. She didn’t do half bad in it either.

Gangster film usually are my cup of tea. There is just something about tht period in time that I like. Guys and Dolls fits intp that mold perfectly, especially since the various gamblers spoke in the chopped language that you hear in a Bugs Bunny cartoon starring hte gangsters over there. Having said that, this is a good film. If you don’t like it, there has to be  good reason, such as its not your cup of tea or something. Whatever the case, its worth a viewing, just don’t let the hype fool you. For me, this was good, but not great. It was just an above average film with nothing spectacular happening.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars