2026 Blind Spot Series: Cairo Station

 

Directed by Youssef Chahine and written by Mohamed Abu Youssef and Abdel Hay Adib, Bab al-Hadid (Cairo Station) is the story of a newspaper seller at a Cairo train station who falls in love with a young woman selling refreshments as he tries to win her heart during a tumultuous time in Egypt involving workers trying to unionize and a serial killer wreaking havoc in the city. The film is a mixture of neorealist cinema with elements of melodrama as it plays into a man trying to win over the woman he loves who is love with a porter trying to unionize. Starring Youssef Chahine, Hind Rostom, Farid Shawki, Hassan El Baroudi, Abdel Aziz Khalil, and Safia Sarwat. Bab al-Hadid is a riveting and mesmerizing film by Youssef Chahine.

Set entirely in a train station in Cairo, the film is about a mentally-unstable newspaper seller with a bad limp who tries to win over a young woman selling cold drinks even though she is engaged to a porter who is trying to unionize his fellow workers. It is a film that explores a tumultuous period in Egypt’s history with this train station being the centerpiece of a conflict of an ever-changing world. The film’s screenplay by Abel Hay Adib, with Mohamed Abu Youssef writing the dialogue, is straightforward though it is first shown from the perspective of a newsstand owner in Madbouli (Hassan El Baroudi) who would find a young man in Kenawi (Youssef Chahine) in the streets and hire him as a paperboy despite his physical limitations.

Kenawi pines for Hanuma (Hind Rostom) who sells cold drinks illegally to train passengers as she is engaged to the porter Abu Serih (Farid Shawki) who is upset towards the station manager Abu Gaber (Abdel Aziz Khalil) over the lack of respect towards workers as he tries to unionize. The script also plays into many things happening at the station such as a feminist protest, a young woman waiting for her boyfriend who is about to leave Cairo, and a story about a serial killer who is on the loose.

Chahine’s direction is entrancing in its approach to realism as it is shot entirely on location in and near the actual train station in Cairo. The train station with the newsstand at the center of the station where Kenawi would get papers and deliver them to whoever is at the station is a character in the film where a lot of activities are happening including a young woman (Hilin) waiting for her boyfriend as she would be seen throughout the film. Chahine’s usage of the wide and medium shots get a nice look into the station itself as well as a few scenes outside including a fountain as it shows this conflict of Cairo entering a new phase where modernism is emerging with old ideas, old buildings, and traditional clothing are on their way out. Especially in scenes where Serih is trying to get other workers to form a union against Abu Gaber after a worker got injured on the job without any compensation. Another moment in the film that highlights this change in Egypt is a brief protest feminist movement led by an organizer (Naima Wasfi) over the issue of marriage. There are still elements of traditionalism in the film through some of its older characters, yet Chahine is aware that things must change for Egypt to move forward.

Chahine’s usage of close-ups in the film are eerie to watch as it play into Kenawi’s troubled state of mind and his obsession towards Hanuma. Notably in the film’s second half where he learns about Hanuma’s engagement with Serih as they decide to get married outside of Cairo to a rural village. It would play into this suspense-drama where things are tense as it relates to a serial killer on the loose where Kenawi would do something horrifying as it would be followed by an aftermath that is filled with suspense. Especially as it would lead to a climax where many at the station come together where Chahine would bring a sense of humanity over this moment where everyone put aside their own differences. Its ending is symbolic in some ways as it would return to the young woman who had been waiting for her young boyfriend while everyone else is focused on something else that plays into the end of an era for Egypt but the beginning of a new era. Overall, Chahine crafts an evocative and rapturous film about a train station in Cairo and the people at the station.

Cinematographer Alvise Orfanelli does incredible work with the film’s black-and-white photography with its usage of available light for some of the interior/exterior scenes in the day as well as some unique lighting for some of the scenes at night. Editor Kamul Abul Ela does excellent work with the editing as its usage of straight and rhythmic cuts to play into the drama and suspense. Art director Gabriel Karraze and set decorator Abbas Helmy do fantastic work with some of the minimal sets such as the shed that Kenawi lives as well as Hanuma’s trunk.

Makeup artists Sayed Mohammed and Hamdi Rafaat do terrific work with the look of the women in the film including Hanuma in her own exotic look. The sound work of Aziz Fadel and A. Mohamad is superb for capturing the natural atmosphere of the locations as well as the way trains sound up close and from afar. The film’s music by Fouad El Zahiri is wonderful for its orchestral score filled with Egyptian percussions and string arrangements that help play into the drama while the music soundtrack also features a scene in the train where early rock n’ roll is being played.

The film’s marvelous cast feature some notable small roles and appearances from Naima Wasif as a feminist organizer, Abdel Hamid Badaoha as a police sergeant always chasing Hanuma, Asaad Kellada as a young traveler, Hilin as the young woman waiting for that young traveler, and Safia Sarwat as a friend of Hanuma in Hallawatim who also sells drinks as she would play a major part relating to its climax. Abdel Aziz Khalil is superb as the station manager Abu Gaber as a man who runs the entire station as he deals with a growing rebellion over his leadership. Hassan El Baroudi is fantastic as the newsstand owner Madbouli who would take Kenawi under his employment where he observes everything around him as well as be the one person that Kenawi would listen to.

Farid Shawki is excellent as Abu Serih as a porter who rebels against Abu Gaber in wanting to form a union for every other worker at the station while he also tries to balance his life with Hanuma, despite her own activities as he sees as a liability, to ensure a better future. Hind Rostom is amazing as Hanuma as a cold-drinks vendor who sells drinks illegally to make money while she is an object of affection for Kenawi whom she dismisses until things go wrong. Finally, there is Youssef Chahine in a brilliant performance as Kenawi as a mentally-unstable man with a bad limp that is obsessed with Hanuma while he does not speak much yet it is a performance filled with intrigue.

Bab al-Hadid is a phenomenal film by Youssef Chahine. Featuring a great cast, gorgeous visuals, a study of life in a train station during a tumultuous period in Egypt, and a riveting music score. It is a film that explores a moment in time at a Cairo train station that plays into romantic entanglements and social changes leading to a moment of chaos. In the end, Bab al Hadid is a sensational film by Youssef Chahine.

Youssef Chahine Films: (Son of the Nile) – (The Blazing Sun) – (Struggle in the Pier) – (Jamila, the Algerian) – (Forever Yours (1959 film)) – (Saladin the Victorious) – (Dawn of a New Day) – (The Nile and the Life) – (The Land (1969 film)) – (The Choice (1970)) – (Those People of the Nile) – (The Return of the Prodigal Son) – (Alexandria… Why?) – (An Egyptian Story) – (Adieu Bonaparte) – (Alexandria Again and Forever) – (The Emigrant (1994 film)) – (Lumiere and Company-Youssef Chahine) – (Destiny (1997 film)) – (The Other (1999 film)) – 11’9”01-September 11-Egypt - (Alexandria… New York) – To Each His Own Cinema-47 Years Later - (Chaos, This is)

© thevoid99 2026

2025 Blind Spot Series: A Star is Born (1954 film)

 

Based on the 1937 film written by Robert Carson, Dorothy Parker, and Alan Campbell from a story by Carson and its director William A. Wellman, A Star is Born is the story of a film star who meets and discovers a young singer/actress whom he would marry and make her famous only for his career to go downwards. Directed by George Cukor and screenplay by Moss Hart, the film is the 2nd version of the story from 1937 as it explores a woman who falls in love with an actor as her career goes on the rise while she struggles to watch her husband spiral into descent. Starring Judy Garland, James Mason, Jack Carson, Tommy Noonan, and Charles Bickford. A Star is Born is a majestically rich and intoxicating film by George Cukor.

The film is the story of a fading film star who meets a singer at an event as he is amazed by her talent as he helps make her into a film star where she would succeed beyond his expectations with his own career going on decline. It is a story that is a rise-and-fall story of sorts, yet the rise is towards this young woman trying to get a break to become a singer and the fall is towards the man who would fall in love with her with his own career going into decline. Moss Hart’s screenplay opens and ends with a ceremony that celebrates the film stars as the opening scene revolves around the fading film star Norman Maine (James Mason) who arrives late at the event, intoxicated on alcohol. Also, at the show there is a singer in Esther Blodgett (Judy Garland) who is also part of a band as she sings on the stage where she saves Maine from embarrassing himself. Realizing what she did for him, Maine would find her singing at a nightclub with the band as he is amazed by her singing talents as he would get the attention of a film studio head and longtime friend in Oliver Niles (Charles Bickford) to sign her as she would be known as Vicki Lester.

The script does have a traditional narrative structure where Hart show the signs of Maine’s decline as he would act in films that were successful for a time, but his alcoholism has made him a liability. The film’s second act is about Blodgett’s sudden rise and Maine becoming unemployed though Blodgett does want a simple life for herself and Maine without the demands of Hollywood. Even as Maine starts to lose his identity as a star with Blodgett rising as Lester to the point that she would eclipse him. The third act is about Blodgett rising further with Maine descending further as Niles offers to help him but one of Maine’s faults as a person is his pride as it is one of the reasons for his own self-destruction.

George Cukor’s direction is wondrous in its grand setting as it is shot on various locations in California including studio lots at Warner Brothers. The film opens and ends at the Shrine Auditorium where it will be 2 pivotal events for Blodgett. The opening sequence has Cukor using some wide and medium shots through the Cinemascope format where he captures the spectacle of this event. Even as he shoots a shot from Blodgett’s perspective where Maine is on the side of the stage about to make a fool of himself where the compositions and movements of the cameras have Cukor show a sense of suspense and drama in an otherwise lively and musical moment. Cukor also maintains simplicity in some of the musical numbers as well as the dramatic scenes with the usage of medium shots and close-ups. There are also these extravagant musical numbers where shots would linger for a while through dolly-tracking shots in some scenes. Aiding in the musical numbers is choreographer Richard Barstow where there is a lot that happens in the dance numbers.

Notably the scenes where Blodgett is doing dance numbers that are being filmed where there is a lot of detail into the overall presentation of the dancing and where Cukor would move the camera from one part of the location to another. Cukor’s approach to melodrama is also riveting in a scene late in the film where both Blodgett and Niles lament over Maine’s state as well as what to do. It adds poignancy to the conflict that is in Maine over his own pride and what he wants for Blodgett. The version of the film that is available widely to the public is a restored 178-minute cut (including a 2-minute intermission) in 1983 from the original 1954 182-minute premiere version of the film. A lot of footage was cut from its premiere version much to the dismay of Cukor but the 1983 restoration that includes a lot of still pictures and audio from lost scenes from much of the film’s first act does play into Blodgett’s own fears about making and what Maine wants to do for her. The small moments that got cut for the version many saw in the theaters in 1954 with a 154-minute running time does lose a lot of the weight into the drama that would loom for the second and third act. Overall, Cukor crafts a heart-wrenching yet exhilarating film about a fading film star sacrificing his own career for a talented singer/actress whom she would eclipse his own fame.

Cinematographer Sam Leavitt does brilliant work with the film’s colorful cinematography through the Cinemascope format as there is a vibrancy into many of the film’s interior shots for some scenes at night along with some subtle touches of naturalism for some of the daytime exterior scenes at the studio lots. Editor Folmar Blangsted, with additional work by Craig Holt for the 1983 restoration version, does excellent work with the editing in some rhythmic cuts to play to some of the musical numbers as well as in some of the dramatic moments in the film. Production designer Gene Allen, with set decorator George James Hopkins and art director Malcolm C. Bert, does amazing work with the look of the Maine house where he and Blodgett would live as well as the sets created for some of the musical numbers. Costume designers Jean Louis and Mary Ann Nyberg do fantastic work with the costumes with the clothes and gowns that Blodgett would wear being the major standout.

Makeup artists Del Armstrong and Gordon Bau, along with hair stylists Helen Young and Sydney Guilaroff, do terrific work with the look of Blodgett in some of the musical numbers she does for the films she is acting in plus one key scene in the first act where she is given one of the worst Hollywood makeovers ever. Special effects supervisor Hans F. Koenekamp, along with the work of Lisze Bechtold, Eric Durst, Kevin Kutchaver, and Ken Rudolph in the 1983 restoration version, does nice work with some of the visual effects for a few dance numbers and rear projection for some of the driving scenes while the pictures used for the restoration allow the film to bring more weight into what Cukor wanted originally in the film before it got re-cut. The sound work of Charles David Forrest and Charles Lang is superb for the sound work in how sound is presented on set as well as how sound appears from another room and in that room for some of the dramatic moments.

The film’s music by Ray Heindorf is wonderful for its soaring orchestral score that plays into the excitement of Blodgett’s rise as well as themes that play into Maine’s decline. The songs by Ira Gershwin and Harold Arlen are incredible for the musical numbers that Blodgett performs in that include some of the songs she sings for the movies she is in as well as a song she sings at home and the ballad at a nightclub where Maine visits.

The film’s marvelous ensemble cast feature some notable small roles from an un-credited Strother Martin as a deliveryman, Hazel Shermet as Libby’s secretary, Irving Bacon as a singer in the film’s opening number Graves, Amanda Blake as the radio host Susan Etting, and Lucy Marlow as a young starlet in Lola Lavery who works for Niles. Tommy Noonan is fantastic as Blodgett’s bandmate, who is unsure about Maine’s claims into making her a star though he would be supportive of her as well as giving a great monologue towards the end of the film about everything that had happened. Jack Carson is excellent as the studio publicist Matt Libby who does what he can to clean up Maine’s mess and such until late in the film where he proves to be unsympathetic towards Maine’s own issues. Charles Bickford is brilliant as the studio head Oliver Niles as a man who is Maine’s best friend as he does what he can to make sure Maine gets work, but he also must run a studio where he later converses with Blodgett about how to help Maine.

James Mason is great as Norman Maine as a fading film star who laments over his decline as he discovers Blodgett and helps her becoming a big film/music star where he later copes with his alcoholism, wounded pride, and a career that is going nowhere. Mason does have moments where he is upbeat and full of energy as it highlights the man at his best, but it becomes fleeting where he is often faced with uncertainty in his life. Finally, there is Judy Garland in a spectacular performance as Esther Blodgett/Vicki Lester as a singer who wows Maine where she would gain a career only to unknowingly eclipse the man she loves. It is a performance where Garland displays a lot of charisma and energy as well as a vulnerability that plays into a woman that wants to help the man she loves to the point that she is willing to sacrifice her own career as it is one of her iconic performances.

A Star is Born is an outstanding film by George Cukor that features tremendous leading performances from Judy Garland and James Mason. Along with its supporting cast, a riveting screenplay by Moss Hart, a gorgeous presentation, and a dazzling music soundtrack with musical performances that are insatiable to watch. It is a film that is not just this compelling musical drama but also a film about ambition and love. In the end, A Star is Born is a magnificent film by George Cukor.

Related: A Star is Born (1937 film) - (A Star is Born (1976 film)) – A Star is Born (2018 film)

© thevoid99 2025

2026 Blind Spot Series Announcement

 

2025 is coming to end with George Cukor's version of A Star is Born from 1954 starring Judy Garland being the final Blind Spot for the year. With that film set to be watched this month. The time has come to look ahead for the next Blind Spot Series as making the selection for the 2026 edition was not easy. I was hoping to do films that I have heard about for years but some of them are not available for streaming while wanting to purchase the films in a physical form is also too expensive or too hard to find. Instead, my selection is based on films that are available to watch digitally and physically as including films I currently own on Blu-Ray including a few I hope to get in 2026. My selection once again is largely films that have been released from the 2nd half of the 20th Century with one film being released in the 21st Century. 2 of these films are films by women as I felt that women are underrepresented as I chose 2 different filmmakers for this Blind Spot Series as they are from different continents yet are films from the 1990s. Another reason for the selection with this list is to choose films from different countries and continent including by revered filmmakers whose films I had seen before. Here are the 12 films in chronological order that I will watch for the 2026 Blind Spot Series:

Cairo Station by Youseff Chahine

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World by Stanley Kramer

The Gospel According to St. Matthew by Pier Paolo Passolini

7 Women by John Ford

Network by Sidney Lumet

That Obscure Object of Desire by Luis Bunuel

Altered States by Ken Russell

A Confucian Confusion by Edward Yang

One Hundred and One Nights by Agnes Varda

The Watermelon Woman by Cheryl Dunne

The Wind Will Carry Us by Abbas Kiarostami

Lilya 4-ever by Lukas Moodyson

© thevoid99 2025

2025 Blind Spot Series: Notorious

 

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by Ben Hecht, Notorious is the story of a U.S. spy who asks the daughter of a German war criminal to seduce a Nazi industrialist hiding out in South America. The film is a post-World War II spy drama that explores a woman caught in a deadly triangle with large stakes involving the possible return of the Nazis. Starring Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Louis Calhern, Leopoldine Konstantin, Reinhold Schunzel, Moroni Olsen, Ivan Triesault, Alexis Minotis, Wally Brown, Sir Charles Mendl, Ricardo Costa, Eberhard Krumschmidt, and Fay Baker. Notorious is a mesmerizing and gripping film by Alfred Hitchcock.

Set in 1946, the film revolves around the daughter of a German war criminal who is asked by an American spy to travel to Rio de Janeiro to seduce a former Nazi industrialist who is conspiring to revive the Nazi party. It is a film that that explores a woman who is asked by a government agent to Brazil to uncover a Nazi conspiracy plot that featured one of her father’s former colleagues. Ben Hecht’s screenplay has a straightforward narrative, yet it is more about two people who are tasked in uncovering a plot that would threaten post-war peace as they also must contend with their feelings for one another. T.R. Devlin (Cary Grant) is a government agent for the U.S. who is tasked in recruiting Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman) since her German father had been sent to prison for his Nazi activities by the U.S. government. Huberman is unwilling to help Devlin as she had her own issues with her father as she feels ruined by him though Devlin’s offer to get a second chance is something she could not refuse.

Upon arriving in Rio de Janeiro, Huberman learns her assignment is to infiltrate the home of one of her father’s former colleagues in Alex Sebastian (Claude Rains) while Devlin would learn that his superiors want her to seduce Sebastian. Huberman reluctantly agrees to seduce Sebastian as she would charm and woo him where she learns about what he is doing with a bunch of former Nazi officials. The one person who is suspicious about Huberman is Sebastian’s mother Madame Anna Sebastian (Leopoldine Konstantin) as she becomes troubled by her son’s infatuation with Huberman. Hecht’s script also plays into the sense of tension where Huberman realizes she is in the middle as she and Devlin try to maintain their own secrecy and professionalism but have become infatuated with one another.

Alfred Hitchcock’s direction is entrancing for the way he creates this sense of dread and tension set in largely Rio de Janeiro as well as playing into a lot of the romantic drama that occurs throughout the film. Shot on locations in Los Angeles, California including RKO Studios with rear-projection and second unit shots of locations such as Rio de Janeiro and Miami. Hitchcock would create a film that has an offbeat presentation where its first 20 minutes is set in Miami where Hitchcock’s usage of medium and wide shots at Huberman’s house showcases a house party where she wants to wind down while he does not show Devlin’s face for minutes as he is mysterious party crasher. When the film moves to Rio, Hitchcock does create an atmosphere that feels lively yet there is something off about it when he shoots scenes at Sebastian’s home. Notably as it is a posh house full of people but also secrets with a key being a major prop in the film’s second act when Devlin makes a visit. Considering that the film was made during the period of the Hays Code where kisses could not be longer than three seconds, a scene early in Rio where Devlin and Huberman are in a room where they would kiss each other where it would last a couple of seconds and then another couple of seconds.

It is among these moments in the film where Hitchcock would push the envelope of what could be done while he also employ some unique close-ups to help play into the drama and suspense. Notably in his compositions where he would have something happening in the foreground and something else happening in the background. Hitchcock would also employ some unique visuals during the third function as it play into Sebastian’s own revelation about Huberman where there is a sense of danger that is to happen. Even as characters become compromised with some taking control as its ending is an ambiguous one as it plays into the fates of those involved as well as what Hitchcock does not show that adds more intrigue. Overall, Hitchcock crafts a riveting and evocative film about a German-American woman asked to spy on one of her father’s former colleagues while falling in love with an American spy.

Cinematographer Ted Tetzlaff does incredible work with the film’s black-and-white cinematography with its usage of lighting for some of the interior scenes in the day and night as well as the way some rooms are lit as it is a highlight of the film. Editor Theron Warth does excellent work with the editing as it employ some straight cuts to let shots linger for a bit while there is also a scene that include some fast-cuts that help play into the suspense. Art directors Albert S. D’Agostino and Carroll Clark, along with set decorators Darrell Silvera and Claude Carpenter, do brilliant work with the look of the home that Huberman lives in Miami as well as the American embassy interiors in Rio and the Sebastian estate. Gown designer Edith Head does amazing work with the dresses and evening gowns that Huberman would wear at parties and other social events that play into Huberman’s personality.

The special effects by Vernon L. Walker and Paul Eagler are fantastic for the rear-projects for driving scenes as well as some dazzling visuals that play into a key scene in the film’s third act. The sound work of John E. Tribby and Terry Kellum do superb work with the sound in how things sound in a room as well as a tense scene that play into an event that would add to the suspense. The film’s music by Roy Webb is wonderful for its soaring orchestral score with bombastic string arrangements and pieces that ranges from waltz-like sounds to sambas as it help adds to suspense and drama.

The film’s marvelous ensemble cast feature some notable small roles from Fay Baker as a friend of Huberman in Ethel at the dinner party early in the film, Sir Charles Mendl as another friend of Huberman in the Commodore, and Wally Brown as another partygoer friend of Huberman. In the roles of former Nazi associates working with Sebastian include Friedrich von Ledebur as Knerr, Peter von Zerneck as Rossner, Ricardo Costa as a Brazilian in Dr. Barbosa, Ivan Triesault as the conspirator Mathis, Eberhard Krumschmidt as the conspirator Emil Hupka who would become troubled during a dinner in the film’s second act. Alexis Minotis is terrific as the Sebastian butler Joseph who watches over everything while becomes suspicious about Huberman. Moroni Olsen is superb as a U.S. agent in Walter Beardsley who works with Devlin. Reinhold Schunzel is excellent as a mysterious scientist in Dr. Anderson who is a colleague of Sebastian as he is also one of the leaders of the Nazi group.

Louis Calhern is fantastic as Devlin’s partner in Captain Paul Prescott who works in the Secret Service as he is trying to keep Devlin at bay while ensuring the assignment goes well. Leopoldine Konstantin is amazing as Sebastian’s mother Madame Anna as a woman that is suspicious towards Huberman as she is also a woman that is way more powerful and cunning than people give her credit for when she realizes that she knows something is not right about Huberman. Claude Rains is brilliant as Alex Sebastian as a former colleague of Huberman’s father who had a crush on Huberman as the idea of being with her again gives him a distraction that he craves from his Nazi activities though Rains brings that sense of a man who cannot be fooled easily where he would learn the truth.

Finally, there is the duo of Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman in spectacular performances in their respective roles as T.R. Devlin and Alicia Huberman. Grant displays that sense of charm as well as a demeanor that makes him tough and cunning. Grant also displays that sensitivity when he becomes concerned about Huberman while aware that he is falling for her as he tries to not to get both in trouble. Bergman’s performance as Huberman is entrancing in her radiance as a woman that knows she is ruined by her father’s activities and a lack of a real future until she is asked to help the U.S. government to clear her own name. Bergman also displays this sense of a woman trying to maintain some control as well as knowing what is at stake where she would later cope with her own feelings for Devlin and what is at stake as it is one of Bergman’s finest performances.

Notorious is a magnificent film by Alfred Hitchcock that features tremendous leading performances from Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman. Along with its supporting ensemble cast, Ben Hecht’s riveting screenplay, gorgeous visuals, a study of love and secrecy, and a vibrant yet intense music soundtrack. It is a film that is not just an intoxicating and gripping noir film but also a film that also pushes the limits of what could be done to display sensuality and desire. In the end, Notorious is an outstanding film by Alfred Hitchcock.

Alfred Hitchcock Films: (Number 13) - (The Pleasure Garden) - (The Blackguard) - (The Mountain Eagle) - (The Lodger) - (A Story of the London Fog) - (The Ring) - (Downhill) - (The Farmer’s Wife) - (Easy Virtue) - (Champagne) - (The Manxman) - (Blackmail) - (Juno and the Paycock) - (Murder!) - (The Skin Game) - (Mary) - (Lord Camber’s Ladies) - (Rich and Strange) - (Number Seventeen) - (Waltzes from Vienna) - (The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934 film)) – The 39 Steps (1935 film) - (Secret Agent) - (Sabotage) - (Young and Innocent) – The Lady Vanishes (1938 film) - (Jamaica Inn) – Rebecca - (Foreign Correspondent) – (Mr. & Mrs. Smith) – Suspicion (1941 film) - (Saboteur) – (Shadow of a Doubt) – Lifeboat - Bon Voyage (1944 film) - (Spellbound) – (The Paradine Cage) – Rope - (Under Capricorn) – (Stage Fright) – Strangers on a Train - I Confess - Dial M for Murder - Rear Window - To Catch a Thief - (The Trouble with Harry) – The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956 film) - (The Wrong Man) – Vertigo - North by Northwest - Psycho - The Birds - Marnie - (Torn Curtain) – (Topaz) – (Frenzy) – (Family Plot)

© thevoid99 2025

2025 Blind Spot Series: Cure (1997 film)

 

Written and directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Kyua (Cure) is the story of a detective who is trying to uncover a series of murders committed by different people, yet all bear the same hallmark as he also deals with a mysterious amnesiac who might be linked to these murders. The film is a psychological horror film that explores a man who is trying to understand the motives of these murders as well as going into a labyrinth of dread and fear. Starring Koji Yakusho, Masato Hagiwara, Tsuyoshi Ujiki, Anna Nakagawa, Yukijiro Hotaru, Yoriko Doguchi, Denden, Ren Osugi, and Masahiro Toda. Kyua is a gripping and haunting film by Kiyoshi Kurosawa.

The film is about a series of murders committed by different people that all bear a mark of X on the body where a detective tries to solve the mystery where he encounters an amnesiac who is linked to these murders. It is a film that is not just a cat-and-mouse murder mystery but also a film that explores what will drive people into the darkest depths of their soul to kill someone. Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s screenplay has a straightforward narrative, yet it has a structure that is unconventional in its study of human nature as this detective in Kenichi Takabe (Koji Yakusho) who is investigating the case as the people who committed these murders are ordinary people with no criminal history. Among them includes a police officer and a doctor who commit grisly murders with no memory of why they did what they did yet they would all encounter a mysterious man before they committed these murderous acts.

The second act is about this mysterious man in Kunihiko Mamiya (Masato Hagiwara) who appears in the first function as he would wander aimlessly around Tokyo’s suburbs and a beach where he would have no clue where he is and asks questions. Then he would pull either a lighter or an object to hypnotize them as he would eventually be captured. However, Takabe’s interrogations with Mamiya would prove to be troubling where Takabe learns more about Mamiya’s background and his methods where he would also have troubling hallucinations of his own. Especially about his wife Fumie (Anna Nakagawa) who has bouts with schizophrenia and often gets lost where Takabe was hoping to take her on holiday after the case is finished. The third act is about Mamiya’s methods as well as discoveries made by Takabe’s friend in a forensic psychologist in Shin Sakuma (Tsuyoshi Ujiki) on where Mamiya learned these methods leading to disturbing revelations.

Kurosawa’s direction is mesmerizing not just in the compositions he creates but also in the atmosphere he brings that also has elements of offbeat yet dark humor. Shot on location in and around Tokyo, Kurosawa creates a film that does not play like a conventional horror film as it opens with Fumie reading Bluebeard at a mental hospital as it sets the tone of what Takabe would deal with. Even as these murders would prove to be gruesome where Kurosawa uses a lot of wide and medium shots to capture the scope of the locations and settings as well as long shots to have scenes linger throughout the film. There are a few close-ups in the film, yet Kurosawa maintains a distance at the action such as the first kill where it is shown in a wide-medium shot in a hotel room as the violence is swift and sudden. There are also bits that are filled with dark humor where a man would jump out of a window as it would be so abrupt in a comical manner in a wide shot.

During the film’s second act, Kurosawa would maintain an element of intrigue where Takabe would interrogate Mamiya in a prison cell as it goes on for minutes where Kurosawa would keep the camera moving while also knowing when to have the camera be still. There is also this sense of dread as it relates to a lighter that Mamiya carries that he uses to hypnotize people only it would not work on Takabe. Still, Takabe’s encounter with Mamiya would have a surreal effect on him as he sees things that play with his own mind. The third act is not just about who influenced Mamiya but also what people would do under things beyond their control as it relates to human nature and the expectations of society. Even as Sakuma would make a discovery himself where he would also start to lose his own grip on reality, leading to Takabe dealing with his own issues including his own feelings about his wife who is also unraveling due to her illness. Overall, Kurosawa crafts an unsettling and evocative film about a mysterious murder case committed by different people unaware of their actions.

Cinematographer Tokusho Kikumura does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its emphasis on low-key and available light for some of the interior scenes at night along with its usage of available light for the exterior scenes including some eerie yet natural colors in some of the surreal moments in the film. Editor Kan Suzuki does excellent work with the editing where a lot of it is straightforward apart from a few surreal sequences that involve abrupt jump-cuts that does play into the nightmare that Takabe would deal with. Production designer Tomoyuki Maruo and set decorator Fumiaki Suzaka do amazing work with the look of Takabe’s home as well as the mysterious home of Mamiya that is filled with books and animals as it adds to the sense of dread that would loom throughout the film. Costume designers Hiroshi Koto and Ryusui Morita do terrific work with the costumes from the clothes that Takabe wears as well as the sweater and loose pants that Mamiya wears.

Special makeup effects artist Yuichi Matsui does fantastic work with the makeup effects design of the gore and the X mark on necks of the murder victims. The sound work of Hiromichi Kori is superb for its sound in maintaining an atmosphere in creating that sense of dread and terror as it is a highlight of the film. The film’s music by Gary Ashiya is wonderful for its mixture of somber piano pieces as well as a few ambient and electronic bits to play into the suspense.

The film’s marvelous ensemble cast include some notable small roles from Masahiro Toda and Misayo Haruki as a couple who meet Mamiya and invite him to their house, Touji Kawahigashi as Fumie’s psychiatrist, Hajime Tanimoto as the police chief, and Ren Ogusi as a police officer in Fujiwara who would share a police box with the officer who captured Mamiya in the first act. Denden is terrific as the police officer Oida who would encounter Mamiya and arrest him only for things to go wrong. Yukijiro Hotaru and Yoriko Doguchi are fantastic in their respective roles as the businessman Kuwano and Dr. Miyajima as two people who would meet Mamiya as their encounters with him would bring trouble. Anna Nakagawa is excellent as Takabe’s wife Fumie as a woman that is dealing with her own schizophrenia and memory issues as she unknowingly becomes a burden for her husband despite his love for her.

Tsuyoshi Ujiki is brilliant as the forensic psychologist Shin Sakuma who helps Takabe in the investigation as he would make a discovery about Mamiya’s methods only to start to lose his grip on reality during his study of Mamiya. Koji Yakusho is great as Kenichi Takabe as a police detective who leads the case of the series of murders as he starts to lose control in his pursuit and his own encounters with Mamiya where he tries to stay grounded as he also deals with his wife’s mental illness where he would imagine things that shock him. Finally, there is Masato Hagiwara in a phenomenal performance as Kunihiko Mamiya as this amnesiac who wanders around places and meets people where he repeatedly ask questions and then hypnotize them. It is a performance where Hagiwara has this air of restraint and calmness that is unsettling as the only time, he shows any emotion is a scene in his cell by himself during the third act as it only leads to more trouble as a man who is in control of everything as he creates one of the finest antagonists ever captured in cinema.

Kyua is a tremendous film by Kiyoshi Kurosawa that features spectacular performances from Koji Yakusho and Masato Hagiwara. Along with its supporting cast, study of human nature, eerie visuals, and an unsettling atmosphere in its sound and music. The film is an unconventional psychological-horror film that explores a series of murders committed by different people who do not remember what they did as they are all connected by a mysterious figure as it plays into their darkest fears. In the end, Kyua is a sensational film by Kiyoshi Kurosawa.

Kiyoshi Kurosawa Films: (Kandagawa Pervert Wars) – (Sweet Home (1989 film)) – (The Guard from Underground) – (Serpent’s Path (1998 film)) – (License to Live) – (Charisma) – (Séance) – (Pulse (2001 film)) – (Bright Future) – (Doppelganger (2003 film)) – (Kazuo Umezu’s Horror Theater-House of Bugs) – (Loft (2005 film)) – (Retribution) – (Tokyo Sonata) – (Real (2013 film)) – (Seventh Code) – (Journey to the Shore) – (Creepy) – (Daguerrotype) – (Before We Vanish) – (Foreboding) – (To the Ends of the Earth) – (Wife of a Spy) – (Cloud (2024 film)) – (Serpent’s Path (2024 film))

© thevoid99 2025

2025 Blind Spot Series: The Mother and the Whore

Written, co-edited, and directed by Jean Eustache, La maman et la putain (The Mother and the Whore) is the story of a love triangle between a Parisian pseudo-intellectual, his tempestuous girlfriend, and a sexually-liberated woman as they deal with the intensity of their love triangle. The film is an unconventional romantic-drama that explores three people who all deal with being in a love triangle during a tumultuous period in France. Starring Jean-Pierre Leaud, Bernadette Lafont, Francoise Lebrun, and Isabelle Weingarten. Le maman et la putain is a riveting yet unsettling film by Jean Eustache.

The film revolves around a love triangle between a man and two women where it plays into post-1960s ideals as well as the rise of the feminist movement in the early 1970s. It is a film that explores the dynamic of a threesome where a man tries to find his ideal partner in two different women. Jean Eustache’s screenplay does not have a conventional plot as the narrative is driven by monologues and dialogues as it relates to its three central characters in the unemployed intellectual Alexandre (Jean-Pierre Leaud), his girlfriend in Marie (Bernadette Lafont) who works a dress shop, and a sexually-liberated nurse in Veronika (Francoise Lebrun). The script plays into Alexandre going through his own issues with Marie while his attempts to reunite with his former girlfriend Gilberte (Isabelle Weingarten) were futile. While walking through the city, he notices Veronika at a café drinking as he would meet her where they would keep their affair a secret from Marie though she is suspicious that Alexandre has met someone. She would eventually meet Veronika as she is initially not fond of her but eventually realizes her worth in the film’s third function as it plays into some of the freedoms she has as a woman.

Eustache’s direction is entrancing for its minimalist approach where there are not a lot of wide shots in favor of intimacy through its medium shots, close-ups, and static shots. Shot on location in Paris, Eustache creates a film that plays into the ideas of relationships between a man and two women as there are a lot of dialogues and monologues that occur. Notably as it would go on for several minutes during the film as the camera would often remain still. Eustache’s direction would rarely have movements in the camera unless the characters are walking in the streets or to go from one room to another. The approach to long shots and a minimalist presentation with a 218-minute running time would make scenes ponderous at times since Eustache wanted to create something that feels confessional. Especially given the subject matter and the many contradictions of these characters where Alexandre is pretentious in his views on art and sex, yet he is also someone that is also traditional. He is also a manipulative person in his attempts to women where it would frustrate Marie who can see through his bullshit even though she is just as bad as him.

Editing with co-editor Denise de Casabianca, Eustache would create a presentation that is the antithesis of the editing and filmmaking style of the French New Wave for a style that is akin to realism. It is a style that also sort of plays like a documentary even though it is fiction, yet Eustache does play into the sexual politics between men and women in how they view each other. Eustache also maintains a sense of ambiguity in its finale as it relates to Alexandre and his view on women where he still has a lot to learn about love, commitment, and understanding. Even though both Marie and Veronika are also flawed in their own views about sex and love, they manage it better than Alexandre who is full of contradictions. Overall, Eustache creates a compelling and unsettling film about a love triangle that becomes toxic.

Cinematographer Pierre Lhomme does brilliant work with the film’s black-and-white photography with its emphasis on realism in shooting on available light for some of the exterior scenes set at night as well as the way some of the daytime interior/exterior scenes are presented. Costume designer Catherine Garnier does excellent work with the costumes from the stylish clothing that Marie and Veronika wear to contrast their personalities with the latter often wearing all black. The sound work of Jean-Pierre Ruh, Paul Laine, and Nara Kollery do amazing work with the sound as it captures everything presented on location including the music that is played on film. Among the music that is played on the film ranging from classical music, pop, and rock from acts like Zarah Leander, Damia, Jacques Offenbach, Edith Piaf, Frehel, Marlene Dietrich, and Deep Purple with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The film’s marvelous ensemble cast feature some notable small and appearances from Jean Eustache as a man at a supermarket/Gilberte’s husband, Andre Techine and Jean-Claude Biette as a couple of men at a restaurant wanting to talk with Veronika, Genevieve Mnich as a friend of Veronika, Jean-Noel Picq as a fan of the composer Offenbach that Alexandre meets, Jacques Renard as a friend of Alexandre who shares the same intellectual views as Alexandre, and Isabelle Weingarten as a former girlfriend of Alexandre in Gilberte who is upset over Alexandre’s lack of commitment in their relationship. Francoise Lebrun is great as Veronika as a French-Polish nurse who is also sexually-open in her ideas of sex to cope with avoiding commitment until her affair with Alexandre has her thinking about wanting a relationship with him and Marie until she sees the many faults from Alexandre’s views on love.

Bernadette Lafont is phenomenal as Marie as a dress shop worker who allows Alexandre to live with her as she has a cynical view on relationships though she loves Alexandre while later becoming fond of Veronika in her openness in realizing Alexandre’s own faults. Finally, there’s Jean-Pierre Leaud in a tremendous performance as Alexandre as an unemployed intellectual who is in love with two different women where he is hoping to win them over with his own views only to be filled with contradictions about everything to the point that his attempts to manipulate his lovers become futile.

Le maman et la putain is an incredible film by Jean Eustache that features a trio of great performances from Jean-Pierre Leaud, Bernadette Lafont, and Francoise Lebrun. Along with its visuals, realistic and minimalistic presentation, and its study of sexual politics and desires in early 1970s France. The film is not an easy watch due to a presentation that requires patience as well as the fact that it goes into uncomfortable subject matters about sex and love. In the end, Le maman et la putain is a remarkable film by Jean Eustache.

© thevoid99 2025

2025 Blind Spot Series: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

 

Based on the play by Edward Albee, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is the story of a college professor and his wife who invite a couple new to the university to their home during a late night of drinking and terror. Directed by Mike Nichols and screenplay by Ernest Lehman, the film is an exploration of a late night where two couples drink as everything unravels during the night where secrets and revelations are unveiled. Starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, and Sandy Dennis. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is an unsettling and intoxicating film by Mike Nichols.

Set in the span of one late night at a university residence, the film revolves around an associate college professor and his wife as they invite a young couple new to the university for a chat and some drinks where everything goes to hell. It is a film that is about one late night where much of the action takes place at this couple’s home at the university as they invite a new professor and his wife for a drink that ends up being a night of chaos. Ernest Lehman’s screenplay is straightforward in its term of the narrative as its first and third act take place at the home of Martha (Elizabeth Taylor) and her associate professor husband George (Richard Burton) with a bit of the film’s second act taking place outside of the house and at a roadhouse. Part of the film’s strength is the dialogue and monologue spoken by the characters with George often pushing people’s buttons while telling stories to observe his guests in Nick (George Segal) and Honey (Sandy Dennis).

Nick is the new biology professor despite Martha’s claim he is teaching math as he is fascinated by George’s time in the university as well as what to expect though Honey is a woman who is fragile as she will get sick if she drinks. As the night goes on, things start to unravel when Martha talks about her son whose birthday is the next day when George is upset over the mention of him. At a brief stop at a roadhouse, more drinks happen with Honey wanting to dance and have fun yet things between Martha and Nick would anger George as he decides to push everyone’s buttons where he ends up walking home. Yet, revelations about Nick and Honey are unveiled during the night including a conversation between George and Nick outside of the house and another one between George and Honey in the third act.

Mike Nichols’ direction is rapturous in its setting as it is shot on location at the Warner Brothers soundstage for all the interior scenes with all the exterior scenes are shot at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. While there are wide shots for some of the exterior scenes including the opening shot of the film where George and Martha walk out of a party on their way home. Much of Nichols’ direction is emphasized on close-ups and medium shots to play into the intimacy of the house that George and Martha live in as well as scenes at the roadhouse during the film’s second act. Notably in how Nichols creates compositions in the way characters are seen in the foreground and in the background during a shot. Nichols’ direction also maintains this air of theatricality where he utilizes long shots for monologues and dialogues to be spoken for minutes uncut as well as scenes where the camera would move from one room to another to follow a character. It adds to this sense of tension as well as moments of dark humor such as a scene where George carries a rifle that would be served as a prank.

Nichols also maintains moments that are somber such as George and Nick’s conversation outside of the house where Nichols create some unique camera angles to play into whether the characters are equal or dominating one another in the conversation. The scenes at the roadhouse are tense for the way everyone starts to unravel with Honey wanting to dance and have fun, yet George starts to notice something is happening with Nick and Martha. The third act is where a lot of revelations about everyone comes into play with George, ready to push everyone’s buttons in revealing something including himself. Especially as Martha brought up the subject of their unnamed son as well as George’s failed novel early in the film, forcing George to get confrontational where Nichols’ direction is always fixed on what is happening. Even as he knows where to place the camera waiting for something to happen that will just blow things up. Overall, Nichols crafts a gripping and ravishing film about a drunken couple’s meeting with a young couple for a late night of drinks going wrong.

Cinematographer Haskell Wexler does incredible work with the film’s black-and-white photography with the way the home of George and Martha is lit in its living room and kitchen as well as spacious look of the roadhouse and the low-key lighting for the exterior scenes. Editor Sam O’Steen does brilliant work with the editing with a few scenes of fast-cuts during the second act where all the characters are in a car before they arrive at the roadhouse along with cuts that allow shots to linger to play into the emotional moments in the film. Production designer Richard Sylbert and set decorator George James Hopkins does excellent work with the look of the interiors of George and Martha’s home with a messy kitchen as well as a living room full of books and a bar full of drinks as well as the spacious interior of the roadhouse. Costume designer Irene Sharaff does fantastic work with the costumes in the suits the men wear to Honey’s dress and coat as well as the posh yet ragged clothes that Martha wears.

Makeup artists Gordon Bau and Ron Berkeley, along with hair stylist Sydney Guilaroff, do amazing work with the look of Martha from her big hairstyle as well as the makeup where she looks older than she is as it is a highlight of the film. The sound work of M.A. Merrick and George Groves do superb work with the sound as it plays into the atmosphere of a room as well as whatever music is played in the roadhouse. The film’s music by Alex North is wonderful for its low-key orchestral score that is used sparingly to play into the dramatic tension that looms throughout the film.

The film’s ensemble cast feature a couple of notable small yet uncredited performances from Frank and Agnes Flanagan as the couple who run the roadhouse. Sandy Dennis is great as Honey as a young woman who is fragile due to her inability to deal with alcohol where she would have mood swings where she can be upbeat but also feel down as she wonders if Nick really loves her for who she is or for something else. George Segal is phenomenal as Honey’s husband Nick who is the new biology professor at the university as he is troubled by George and Martha’s behavior though he would briefly have a moment with George about his marriage to Honey realizing they are the same in some respects.

Richard Burton is tremendous as George as an associate history professor who is reluctant to invite new guests while he starts to unravel over things his wife said that would force him to push everyone else around him. Burton has this gravitas of a man who has experiences a lot yet is also carrying something that is deep inside him that he does not want to reveal. Finally, there’s Elizabeth Taylor in a spectacular performance as Martha as George’s wife whose father is the university president as she is known for drinking and oversharing information that would humiliate George. Taylor is also someone that is also hiding something as she is also someone who is willing to get what she wants no matter who she hurts as it is one of her career-defining performances.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a magnificent film by Mike Nichols that features great leading performances from Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton as well as impressive supporting performances from George Segal and Sandy Dennis. Along with Ernest Lehman’s confrontational screenplay, Haskell Wexler’s stunning cinematography, and its unsettling presentation. It is a film that is an engaging drama that is about an older couple meeting a young couple only for a late night of drinking just to unravel. In the end, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is an outstanding film by Mike Nichols.

Mike Nichols Films: (The Graduate) – (Catch 22) – Carnal Knowledge - (The Day of the Dolphin) – (The Fortune) – (Gilda Live) – (Silkwood) – (Heartburn) – (Biloxi Blues) – Working Girl - Postcards from the Edge - (Regarding Henry) – (Wolf (1994 film)) – The Birdcage - (Primary Colors) – (What Planet Are You From?) – (Wit) – (Angels in America) – Closer (2004 film) - (Charlie Wilson’s War)

© thevoid99 2025

2025 Blind Spot Series: The Public Enemy

 

Based on an unpublished script entitled Beer and Blood by John Bright and Kubec Glasmon, The Public Enemy is the story of two young hoodlums who rise from poverty to become top-tier gangsters as they later be involved in a gang war with rival mobsters. Directed by William A. Wellman and screenplay by Harvey F. Thew, the film is a gangster movie set during the era of Prohibition as two men rise to the top while dealing with many foes from the police to rival gangs on their ascent to the top. Starring James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods, Donald Cook, and Joan Blondell. The Public Enemy is a riveting and exhilarating film by William A. Wellman.

The film is about the rise and fall of two young hoodlums in Chicago who become top-tier gangsters during the early days of Prohibition only to find themselves in a gang war with rival mobsters. It is a film with a simple premise that plays into two men who work as hoodlums since they were boys for a local boss only to grow up as men who would work for another boss as they would rise and make money through bootlegging alcohol. The film’s screenplay by Harvey F. Thew is based on an unpublished screenplay by John Bright and Kubec Glasmon is straightforward as it spans 15 years from 1905 to 1920 when Prohibition begins. The protagonists in Tom Powers (James Cagney) and Matt Doyle (Edward Woods) are two Irish-American men who would do small jobs and rise the ranks working for a local hood in Putty Nose (Murray Kinnell). After an incident that made Nose flee, the two would work for the more prominent Paddy Ryan a few years after World War I had ended.

Once Prohibition begins, Powers and Doyle get rich while remaining loyal to Ryan as they also get women and all the good things in life. The script also plays into conflict between Powers and his older brother Mike (Donald Cook) who is a strait-laced man that does everything expected in society including joining the marines in World War I as he would struggle to make ends meet for himself and the family despite Powers giving their mother (Beryl Mercer) money. It would play into tension where Powers knows he is not an honorable man but does not tell his mother what he really does yet he shoots back at his brother for what he has done while at war. Powers would eventually cope with the chaos of conflict following the death of a colleague as it plays into the intensity of violence that occurs during Prohibition.

William A. Wellman’s direction is engaging in the way he captures a period that are the early days of Prohibition just a few years before it ends. Shot on location at the Warner Brothers studio backlot at Burbank, California along with additional locations in Los Angeles, Wellman does create an atmosphere of a world that is finding itself in a new century though some struggle to get by with Powers and Doyle doing things for this local hood as they live in the poor side of Chicago with their families. Wellman’s direction does have some wide and medium shots to get a scope of the locations in in its 1:37:1 aspect ratio. Even as he would do unique camera movements in a medium shot during a conversation while also using close-ups in a few scenes to play into the drama and suspense. Wellman also play into the way bootleggers steal from breweries before they close and how they transport alcohol in secrecy as well as the lifestyle the gangsters have. There are also moments that are violent though Wellman chooses to shoot scenes involving the intense violence by having it be shown offscreen.

The usage of sound is a key element in the offscreen violence while the death of a friend of Powers and Doyle would also be shown offscreen as it would mark the fall for both men. The film’s third act is one filled with suspense and drama as it plays into Paddy Ryan becoming concerned for everyone around him as he also knows he is a target from rival gangs. Its climax would involve Powers with an aftermath in which his brother realizes the severity of what his brother had been trying to do as well as the danger. The final image is shocking as it plays into the world of gang violence as well as it is followed by a postscript that explains the futility of the gangster life and the failures of Prohibition. Overall, Wellman crafts a gripping and intoxicating film about two young men who rise into the gangster world during the early days of Prohibition.

Cinematographer Devereaux Jennings does brilliant work with the film’s black-and-white photography in the way the exterior scenes at night are lit as well as the usage of shadows for some of the nighttime interior scenes. Editor Edward Michael McDermott does excellent work with the editing with its rhythmic cuts to play into the drama and suspense along with some lively cutting for some of the energetic scenes. Art director Max Parker does amazing work with the look of the nightclub Powers and Doyle go to as well as the family home of the former and the hotel suite the two men live in with their partners.

Costume designer Edward Stevenson does fantastic work with the costumes in the suits the men wear as well as additional wardrobe designed by Earl Luick in the dresses that the women wear. The sound work of Oliver S. Garretson is superb for the sound effects in how gunfire sounds as well as the way natural sound is presented on set. Title music by David Mendoza is wonderful in its orchestral piece to play into the air of suspense and drama while its music soundtrack features music from that period that is performed by the Vitaphone Orchestra.

The casting by Rufus Le Maire is remarkable as it feature some notable small roles from Mia Marvin as Paddy Ryan’s girlfriend Jane who would seduce Powers late in the film, Dorothy Gee as Nathan Nails’ girlfriend, Frank Coughlan Jr. as the young Powers, Frankie Darro as the young Doyle, Beryl Mercer as Powers’ mother, Mae Clarke as Powers’ first girlfriend Kitty, and Murray Kinnel as Powers and Doyle’s first boss in the hood Putty Nose. Robert O’Connor is superb as Paddy Ryan as a boss for Powers and Doyle who treats them like his children as well as be someone that is rational as he is aware of the intensity of the gang wars that is happening. Leslie Fenton is fantastic as Nathan Nails as a fellow gangster whom Powers and Doyle would befriend as he would get them some connections as well as some influence for them as well as for Paddy Ryan. Joan Blondell is excellent as Doyle’s girlfriend/future wife Mamie who would help and support Doyle at home while also being the one person to give Doyle stability despite his criminal activities.

Jean Harlow is brilliant in a small role as Powers’ second girlfriend Gwen Allen whom he would meet while driving with Doyle and later become someone that loves the lifestyle as well as giving him an idea of a future. Donald Cook is amazing as Powers’ older brother Mike who is a straitlaced man who is not fond of his brother’s criminal activities as well as lying to their mother where he is later forced to realize his own faults and the danger that his brother is in. Edward Woods is great as Powers’ friend Matt Doyle as a man who knows what he wants while is more low-key in his pursuits where he wants to make money to have a good life for himself and Mamie. Finally, there’s James Cagney in a tremendous performance as Tom Powers as this young gangster who likes to live the life of a criminal with all its rewards where Cagney displays charisma in every moment as he brings an energy that is insatiable to watch. Even as he knows he is a flawed man and does not apologize for it while is also someone that any crime boss or friend can count on as it is one of Cagney’s finest performances.

The Public Enemy is a phenomenal film by William A. Wellman that features an iconic performance from James Cagney. Along with its supporting cast, story of ambition and danger, its gripping presentation, and a fun music soundtrack. It is a pre-Code gangster film that is quite daring for its time in its presentation of violence as well as its approach in not glamorizing a world that is dark for its time. In the end, The Public Enemy is a spectacular film by William A. Wellman.

© thevoid99 2025

2025 Blind Spot Series: The Misfits

 

Based on the short story by Arthur Miller, The Misfits is the story of a recently-divorced stripper who meets a trio of men in Reno, Nevada as they decide to form a business in capturing wild horses. Directed by John Huston and screenplay by Arthur Miller, the film is a western-drama that plays into four different people who all work together while the three men fall for this woman who is trying to start a new life. Starring Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Eli Wallach, Thelma Ritter, and Montgomery Clift. The Misfits is an evocative and riveting film by John Huston.

The film revolves a recently-divorced woman who meets a mechanic who would introduce her to an aging cowboy where she falls for him where they all decide to capture wild horses for money. It is a film that has a simple premise though writer Arthur Miller has created something more complex with its characters as they all try to deal with the modern world around them as the days of the cowboys and horse wrangling waning. Miller’s screenplay is more of a study of people who all face uncertainty in the next stage of their lives with the stripper Roslyn (Marilyn Monroe) just getting her divorce as she laments over failure in her marriage as well as the idea of falling in love again. Helping her with her issues is her landlady Isabelle Steers (Thelma Ritter) as well as a mechanic/pilot in Guido (Eli Wallach) who is smitten by her as he would later meet her with his friend in the aging cowboy Gay Langland (Clark Gable). Roslyn and Gay hit it off as they both have dealt with a lot in their lives with the latter having been through relationships while is coping with changing times.

With an idea to capture wild horses as part of a business plan, Gay and Guido decide to get another cowboy in the rodeo rider Perce Howland (Montgomery Clift). Miller also explore the fragility of these characters with Perce being a man that has been in too many rodeos as he is struggling with his finances and takes Gay’s offer to do something. Even as he gets injured at the rodeo where he has a conversation with Roslyn about his own life as he is among the group of broken people that include Roslyn, Guido, and Gay as there is a scene where he calls out for his adult children who have left him after he told them he would be back. The film’s third act is about the capturing of wild horses including mustangs and stallions where Roslyn is taken aback by the cruelty of what the men must do as well as the aftermath yet what is more shocking is how many they find.

John Huston’s direction is exquisite in not just its setting of the American West but also this clash of the old ways and the modern world. Shot on location in and around Reno and Dayton, Nevada with locations in the deserts of the state, Huston uses a lot of wide and medium shots to capture the beauty of the deserts and small towns as it plays into a world that is changing though the traditions of the West such as rodeos and gatherings are still happening. Huston’s direction is often shown in certain places and locations where there is a sense of a modern world overshadowing the old world where Gay would first meet Roslyn at a diner with his dog while the unfinished house that Guido has where Gay would stay at times is set on the desert. Huston would also use close-ups for some scenes in the way characters would interact with one another while also knowing how to film a simple conversation in scenes such as Gay and Roslyn having breakfast or Perce and Roslyn conversing behind the bar. Huston also plays into the male gaze in how men look at Roslyn where there are moments where she does not seem to mind but during a scene where she is hitting a ball with a paddle tied to a string. A man slaps her ass causing some trouble where she is little troubled by it but still brushes it off.

Huston’s approach to shooting the desert and mountain landscapes of Nevada plays into the West that still has its magic but there is also a sense of loss in the land. Even as Guido uses his plane to find wild horses that include mustangs and stallions where he would find them running, Huston’s usage of aerial shots are gorgeous to play into the vastness of the West. For Roslyn, it is a world that she does not know about while learning about what they need to do to capture the horses, and the aftermath is upsetting. There is a great wide shot of her screaming in the desert over the way horses are treated while the men are more upset in how many they captured as it plays into the times and how the West is no longer what it used to be. It becomes something that Gay has trouble accepting where Huston creates a scene of Gay trying to assert his own power only to realize that the world is changing. Overall, Huston crafts a somber yet rapturous film about a former stripper, an aging cowboy, a pilot/mechanic, and a broken-down rodeo cowboy all trying to find the next phase in their lives in the modern world set in the West.

Cinematographer Russell Metty does brilliant work with the film’s black-and-white photography with its usage of natural and available lighting that captures the beauty of the landscape as well as the usage of low-key natural lighting for the scenes at night and in the morning. Editor George Tomasini does brilliant work with the editing as its usage of rhythmic cuts play into the elements of drama and suspense that occurs throughout the film as it is a major highlight of the film. Art directors Stephen B. Grimes and Bill Newberry, with set decorator Frank R. McKelvy, do excellent work with the look of Guido’s home that includes a section that has yet to be built as well as the saloon that all the characters go to during the rodeo. Costume supervisor Jean Louis does fantastic work with the dresses and clothes that Roslyn wears that includes jeans and a shirt when she is riding a horse in one scene as well as the dresses she wears in social engagements.

The special effects work of Cline Jones does terrific work with the scenes involving the rodeo and horse wrangling scenes to play into the sense of realism that happens in those moments. Sound recordists Charles Grenzbach, Philip Mitchell, and R.D. Cook do superb work with the sound as it plays into the way a location is presented whether it is in the quiet scenes in the deserts or the loud and raucous atmosphere of the rodeo. The film’s music by Alex North is incredible for its orchestral score with somber yet swelling string pieces for some of the dramatic moments and bombastic arrangements with its percussions and strings for the suspenseful scenes.

The film’s wonderful ensemble cast feature some notable small roles from Marietta Tree as a girlfriend of Gay he takes to the train station early in the film, Philip Mitchell as Isabelle’s ex-husband she sees at the rodeo, Rex Bell as an old cowboy staring at Roslyn’s ass, James Barton as an old cowboy hanging at the rodeo with his young grandson, Estelle Winwood as a church lady collecting money, and Kevin McCarthy as Roslyn’s ex-husband Raymond who only appears in one scene waiting for her at the courthouse. Thelma Ritter is excellent as Isabelle Steers as Roslyn’s landlady who had seen a lot in her life as she is also someone who does what she can to help Roslyn while often being the wisest person in the room as it an understated yet charming performance.

Eli Wallach is brilliant as Guido as a mechanic/pilot who is smitten by Roslyn as he hopes to give her a decent life as he must contend with Gay while also doing what he can to help Gay in capturing wild horses even though it is a job that is becoming more useless in these changing times. Montgomery Clift is brilliant as Perce Howland as a broken-down rodeo cowboy who is in financial dire straits as he agrees to help Gay and Guido in their job while lamenting over his own misfortunes and numerous injuries in the rodeo where he befriends Roslyn where he also deals with what he has to do in capturing wild horses where Clift shows a lot of conflict in his face as a man who had seen too much.

Finally, there is the duo of Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe in their final film performances in their respective roles as Gay Langland and Roslyn Taber. Gable’s performance is phenomenal as this aging cowboy is a man that is trying to find meaning in his old age while also being someone who seeks companionship in Roslyn as he also tries to assert his own masculinity in a world where his ideas of masculinity is becoming futile. Monroe’s performance as Roslyn is tremendous where Monroe displays a fragility and uncertainty of a woman who has been through too many bad relationships and a lack of a future as she is seeking meaning in her own life where she is fascinated by the men she meets while falling for Gay where Monroe has great chemistry with her co-stars as well as showcasing her own rage in a key dramatic moment as it is a career-defining performance from the actress.

The Misfits is an outstanding film by John Huston that features great performances from Eli Wallach, Thelma Ritter, and Montgomery Clift as well as spectacular final performances from Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe. Along with its gorgeous visuals, Alex North’s music score, and Arthur Miller’s gripping and somber screenplay. The film is a dramatic-western that is more about a world where people find themselves unable to adapt to changing times while trying to cope with what they do to live in that new world. In the end, The Misfits is a magnificent film by John Huston.

© thevoid99 2025

2025 Blind Spot Series: Limite

 

Written, co-edited, and directed by Mario Peixoto, Limite is the story of two women and a man as they are lost at sea as they reflect on their past through flashbacks. The film is an experimental silent-film drama that explores three people on a boat as they think about their past and their uncertainty in their future. Starring Olga Breno, Taciana Rey, and Raul Schnoor. Limite is an entrancing and intoxicating film by Mario Peixoto.

The film is the simple story of two women and a man stranded on a lifeboat in the middle of the sea as they contemplate their present situation as well as their own respective past. It is a film that does not have much of a premise where it plays more into the visuals rather than plot schematics. Mario Peixoto does not bring in a lot of dialogue aside from a conversation between a man on the boat (Raul Schnoor) and another man he meets at a graveyard over a shared lover. The usage of flashbacks allows Peixoto to bring in depth to why these people are on this lifeboat as the first woman (Olga Breno) is a fugitive who is still on the run while the other woman (Taciana Rey) has left her alcoholic husband over their unhappy marriage. The scenes would play into the many emotional turmoil that these characters would endure as they contemplate about their isolation on this boat in the middle of the sea.

Peixoto’s direction is stylish in not just his approach to the compositions he creates but also in the overall presentation where it is shot on location at Mangaratiba which is 50 miles from Rio de Janeiro. Peixoto’s usage of close-ups and medium shots added to the drama where he would also create some camera movements and repeated shots to play into the emotional states of the characters. Even in scenes at the boat where Peixoto uses some unique high and low angles to capture the sense of uncertainty as well as wide shots such as a scene of a woman looking afar at her surroundings on a cliff as the camera would then fly off in a disorienting state. Editing the film with cinematographer Edgar Brasil, Peixoto would infuse some unique stylish cutting that would become a precursor to the jump-cut that include some rhythmic cuts that add to the sense of chaos and turmoil that the characters go through. Brasil’s black-and-white photography would add to the striking visuals of the film as well as bringing a sense of mystique to the surroundings the characters are in.

The direction also has Peixoto use music to help drive the film with help from some original score music by Brutus Pedreira as it plays into the sense of despair that the characters go through. The film’s music soundtrack features pieces by Erik Satie, Claude Debussy, Sergei Prokofiev, Maurice Ravel, Igor Stravinsky, Alexander Borodin, and Cesar Franck add to the visuals where it has this air of poetry into the images that Peixoto creates. The film’s ensemble cast that includes Peixoto as a man that the main male protagonist meets in a graveyard, composer Brutus Pedreira as a lover one of the women, and Edgar Brasil as a man playing piano at a movie theater. Other notable small roles include Carmen Santos as a woman eating fruit that the man meets and Iolanda Bernardes as a woman on a sowing machine. The trio of Olga Breno, Taciana Rey, and Raul Schnoor are incredible in their respective roles as the two women and the man stranded on the boat as they all lament over their situation and their past.

As part of the second volume of Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project, the film is presented in a new 2K restoration on a print from the late 1970s in which its restoration was completed in 2010. Released both as a Region 1 DVD and a Region A Blu-Ray shared with Ermek Shinarbaev’s 1989 film Revenge. The Blu-Ray also features two special features with the first being a 2-minute introduction from Martin Scorsese about the film and its restoration with the usage of available footage including a few that have been damaged with one missing scene presented in an intertitle. The 14-minute interview with Brazilian filmmaker Walter Salles as he talks about the film and what inspired Peixoto to make the film based on a photograph by Andre` Kertesz as well as the making of the film. Salles talked about its disappearance as it was a rare film to find until the 1970s as it was rediscovered by Saulo Pereira de Mello as its restoration took a long time despite the damage it endured due to poor storage conditions.

The box set featured a booklet that included an essay about the film entitled Memory in the Present by film scholar Fabio Andrade. Andrade’s essay talks about the film as well as Peixoto who saw this photograph and what inspired him to make the film as he would do it himself since other directors decided not to telling Peixoto to direct it himself. The essay also discusses its initial reception in Brazil where it was not well-received, but it was praised by other filmmakers including Orson Welles during a trip in the 1940s. The film would be lost due to the poor storage conditions in Brazil during the 1950s and 1960s where it would be confiscated by the police during a tumultuous period in Brazil’s political history. It would be Saulo Pereira de Mello who would save the film in the 1970s though its single nitrate print had deteriorated where it took years for the film to be restored in the best condition possible. Thanks to Pereira de Mello’s work, the film would find new life as well as be a major foothold in Brazil’s cinematic history.

Limite is a sensational film by Mario Peixoto. While it is not a conventional film in terms of its lack of plot and a traditional narrative. It is a film that is a ravishing look of three people stranded on a lifeboat as they contemplate the past, their present, and an uncertain future. Even where it plays into ideas that would become key elements that would influence cinema in the years to come. In the end, Limite is a phenomenal film by Mario Peixoto.

© thevoid99 2025

2025 Blind Spot Series: Love Streams

 

Based on a play by Ted Allen, Love Streams is the story of two middle-aged siblings who reunite following their own respective relationships with other people falling apart. Directed by John Cassavetes and screenplay by Cassavetes and Allen, the film is an exploration of two adult siblings whose respective family lives have fallen into chaos as they turn to each other for emotional support. Starring John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands, Seymour Cassel, and Diahnne Abbott. Love Streams is a riveting and heart wrenching film by John Cassavetes.

The film is the story of two adult siblings who have not seen each other in years as both endure turmoil in their individual lives where they reunite to understand what is wrong with them. It is a film that explores two people who both deal with loneliness with one breaking away from her family while her brother is losing himself to a lifestyle that has become fleeting. The film’s screenplay by John Cassavetes and Ted Allen, which is based on the play by the latter, is a study of sibling relationships as well as two people who are in and out of love. Robert Harmon (John Cassavetes) is a novelist who spends his time going to nightclubs as he is doing research for a novel as he spends his time at home with a bevy of women while is pursuing a singer in Susan (Diahnne Abbott). His sister Sarah Lawson (Gena Rowlands) has just divorced her husband Jack (Seymour Cassel) as they are in a custody battle over their teenage daughter Debbie (Risa Martha Blewitt) who is choosing her father instead of Sarah due to Sarah’s own emotional issues.

The first act is about the individual lives of Robert and Sarah where the two become lost in their own lives with the former continuing a troubling lifestyle while he wants to go out with Susan but does not want any emotional attachments. For Sarah, Debbie’s decision to be with her father becomes emotionally and mentally crushing where she would take bad advice from her psychiatrist to distract herself from her issues only to put herself in a worst situation. The second act begins with not just Sarah’s own reunion with Robert but also an unexpected visitor to his 8-year-old son Albie (Jakob Shaw), whose mother is going away for the weekend, forcing Robert to spend a day with him. Despite Robert’s faults as a man who cares more about himself than Albie, he is aware of his faults as he knows he is not the parental figure Albie needs where he would have an unfortunate encounter with Albie’s stepfather. The third act relates to Sarah trying to do something for Robert as he is alone in his house while she is also trying to deal with her own situation where elements of surrealism would occur.

Cassavetes’ direction is stylish for some of the moments that involve surrealism as it plays into Sarah’s own thoughts about her family. Yet, Cassavetes maintains a sense of normalcy in terms of the compositions he creates with much of the film set in Robert’s home which is the home that Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands own in Los Angeles, California. Shot on locations in Southern California including Los Angeles and parts of Las Vegas, Cassavetes creates a film that is lively yet also full of uncertainty in his compositions with the wide and medium shots to get a look into the locations including Robert’s home where the hallways has this sense of claustrophobia to play into Robert’s own isolation. There are also close-ups that play into the loneliness that both Robert and Sarah deal with, as Cassavetes also aims for this sense of drama that does feel theatrical only because it is set at Robert’s house. Cassavetes’ usage of tracking shots is also key as its help play into the movement of one location at the house to another instead of aiming for something loose with hand-held cameras.

Cassavetes’ approach to surrealism plays more into Sarah’s own thoughts as her own family life begins to crumble. Notably a violent scene in the first act when she is in Paris thinking about her husband and daughter as well as a few other moments in the film’s third act. It all plays with Sarah trying to make sense of her faults where she decides to do something for Robert since he no longer has his many girlfriends at the house. What she does is a shock to Robert, but he cares about Sarah that he is willing to go along with it despite his own faults. Even when Sarah goes into a state of delirium as she becomes overwhelmed with her own drama as Robert begins to do anything to get her out of her state. Cassavetes would create a sense of urgency in the drama while also keeping things uncertain as it relates to the fates of both Robert and Sarah as they are both at a crossroad over their own individual lives as they need each other more than ever. Overall, Cassavetes crafts a somber yet rapturous film about two siblings who reunite to deal with their own loneliness.

Cinematographer Al Ruban does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with the way some of the nighttime interior/exterior scenes are presented along with the sunny look of the daytime exterior scenes. Editor George C. Villasenor does excellent work with the editing with its stylish approach to jump-cuts while knowing when not to cut during some of the long tracking shots. Production designer Phedon Papamichael and art director Maria Caso do amazing work with the look of Robert’s home with its array of picture galleries as well as the hotel room he and his son stayed in Vegas as well as the home of Susan. Costume designers Jennifer Smith-Ashley and Lydia Manderson do fantastic work with the costumes in the posh dresses that Sarah wears to the suits and tuxedos that Robert wear as it plays into their lifestyles.

Makeup artist Michael Stein and hairstylist Deann Power do terrific work with the look of the characters in some of the performance parts such as the nightclub and a weird ballerina performance in the film’s third act. The special effects by John Eggett does nice work with some of the film’s minimal effects that play into a few surreal moments that Sarah dreams about. Sound mixers Bo Harwood, Richard Lightstone, and Mike Denecke do superb work with the sound in capturing everything that is happening on location including music that is played in a room or at a club. The film’s music by Bo Harwood is wonderful for its music score that only appears sparingly in its mixture of jazz and electronic music that plays into the drama and some of the surreal elements while its music soundtracks consists largely of jazz, folk, and cabaret music including the stuff played at the nightclub that Robert goes to.

The film’s marvelous ensemble cast include some notable small roles from Raphael de Niro as Susan’s son, Xan Cassavetes and Dominique Davalos as backup singers for Susan, John Roselius as a man that Sarah meets in a bowling alley, David Rowlands as Sarah’s psychiatrist who gives her bad advice, Robert Fieldsteel as a doctor that appears late in the film, Tom Badal as Jack’s lawyer, Al Ruban as Sarah’s lawyer, Joan Foley as the judge in the custody case, Christopher O’Neill as a drag performer named Phyllis that Robert meets at a nightclub, Julie Allan as Robert’s secretary Charlene, Magaret Abbott as Susan’s mother Margarita whom Robert would party with, Eddy Donno as Albie’s stepfather who hates Robert, Michele Conway as Albie’s mother, and in the role of Robert’s girlfriends at his house include Leslie Hope, Renee Leflore, Joan Dykman, Bronwyn Bober, Victoria Morgan, Barbara Difrenza, and Cindy Davidson.

Jakob Shaw and Risa Martha Blewitt are fantastic in their respective roles as Robert’s son Albie and Sarah’s daughter Debbie as two kids who are in complicated situations with the former trying to get to know his dad is despite Robert’s troubling lifestyle while the latter is someone who feels smothered by her mother and prefers to be with her father. Diahnne Abbott is excellent as the cabaret singer Susan as a woman that Robert pursues as she is hesitant about spending time with him while being aware of his charms and good qualities though she is troubled by his bad qualities. Seymour Cassel is superb as Sarah’s ex-husband Jack Lawson who is weary of his ex-wife’s mood swings and behavior where he is trying to get custody of their daughter even though he admits to knowing much in how to deal with a teenage girl.

Finally, there’s John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands in tremendous performances in their respective roles as the siblings Robert and Sarah. Cassavetes brings a charm and liveliness to the character of Robert who likes to party and be around women while also works as a writer where he goes to nightclubs to do research as is reluctant to get serious in being in a relationship despite his feelings for Susan. Rowlands is the more dramatic of the two as a woman that is in anguish over her custody battle and often loving too much where she is coping with not just uncertainty in her life but also the fear of being truly alone. Cassavetes and Rowlands together are electrifying to watch as two broken people who are troubled by the past as well as issues in their own life as they play into this sibling dynamic of two people who really need each other.

Love Streams is a spectacular film by John Cassavetes that is highlighted by the performances of himself and wife Gena Rowlands. Along with its supporting cast, colorful visuals, study of loss and loneliness, and a playful yet eerie music soundtrack. The film is an intense dramatic film that is about two siblings who are both falling apart in their own lives as they also try to help each other after a long period of estrangement. In the end, Love Streams is a sensational film by John Cassavetes.

John Cassavetes Films: (Shadows (1959 film)) – (Too Late Blues) – (A Child is Waiting) – (Faces) – Husbands - (Minnie and Moskowitz) – A Woman Under the Influence - (The Killing of a Chinese Bookie) – (Opening Night) – Gloria (1980 film) - (Big Trouble (1986 film))

© thevoid99 2025