Witness for the Prosecution (1957) - 8.5-9/10The first 35 minutes in the apartment drag a bit but after that it goes smooth as a train. The last minutes are 10/10.
Zulu - 8\10I had missed this all these years and found it very interesting in the puntilicstic depiction of a war episode not in racist terms. What I didn't like is: 1) little blood in the fight scenes2) the unnecessary characters of the preacher and his daughter3) the usual unheroic heroes-to-be.
Still, once you know the ending, there isn't much repeat viewing value in the film, dontcha think?
Come, come, these are hardly the film's most egregious failings. What about the very convenient cattle stampede in the middle? Suddenly, the film defaults to a Western: war in South Africa isn't an interesting enough subject, it's necessary to import genre conventions from afar. Good grief!
Actually, Jenkins, if you've read, oh, ANYTHING about the film, you'd know it was intended to be, more or less, a Western with Zulus instead of Indians. Have I called you a clown recently?
Ah, I see, the mere intention to do something hideous somehow renders the act innocuous. That's brilliant. Have I called you a dickfor recently?
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) - 7.5/10After that music hall scene the supposed climax isn't so powerful. And the very ending was stupid. But other wise I enjoyed it
Really, I didn't think there was a whole lot aside from the music hall scene that was worth watching. Easily in my bottom five Hitchcocks, though it's not outright bad like, oh, Torn Curtain.
I think you mean the Albert Hall scene. I agree, it's not Hitchcock at his best, but the film does have other things of merit. The opening 30 minutes, which set up all that is to follow, is a good example. I especially like the way matters build until the scene where Stewart has to give Doris Day the bad news. That scene itself is especially well written (thank you, John Michael Hayes), and the conceit of drugging Day before she has the chance to play the hysterical mom is positively inspired. Not only does it convincingly alibi Ms. Day's character, it prevents Day from overacting, or at least, giving a less-than-satisfactory performance. In the event, she brings it off, and the drugging actually works to elicit added empathy from the viewer. Masterfully written, acted, and directed.Unfortunately, after that and until the Albert Hall sequence, there is little of interest.