Double Indemnity (1944)

Double Indemnity

Call No: PS3505.A3113 D6 1997

I enjoy Billy Wilder’s films. There’s something about their openness and ability to capture human emotion at its finest that I love watching. I was talking about Billy Wilder to my uncle over the break. When he asked what I thought of Double Indemnity, he was shocked to find out that a self-proclaimed fan like me hadn’t seen it. It was one of Wilder’s masterpieces. Having watched the film, I see what he means.

When insurance salesman Walter Neff becomes entangled with the married Phyllis Dietrichson, the two plan to kill off her husband and walk away with $100,000, the payoff on Mr. Dietrichson’s insurance policy courtesy of the double indemnity clause, a special kind of clause that rewards double what the policy is worth. But when Walter’s mentor and brilliant boss Barton Keyes suspects the death was foul play, Walter must play both sides against the middle in an effort to try and stay ahead.

12 Angry Men (1957)

12 Angry Men

Call No: PN1997 .T82 2001

I need to start this review by saying that 12 Angry Men is my favourite film of all time, so I have a bit of a bias. I’ve lost count of the number of times I have seen it. I promise that this isn’t going to become a “Drop everything and see it now!” kind of review. Nor do I guarantee that this movie will change your life. It won’t. You’ll be the same person when you finish it. It won’t rattle your worldview or shake your ideologies or make you want to run out and save the planet. But if some of you see it, and I hope you will, you will be, at the very least, enjoying a good film.

The premise of 12 Angry Men, based on the play of the same name by Reginald Rose, is fairly simple. A boy is being tried for murder for stabbing his father. In order to pass a verdict of guilty, everyone must vote the same. Except that one man votes not guilty. As the eleven try to change his mind, evidence is reviewed, prejudices come to light, and it soon becomes evident that the verdict isn’t as simple as everyone thought.

M (1931)

M

Call No: TEMP 869

Note: German film, English subtitles.

I took M out of the library three times before I finally made time to sit down and watch it. I have the terrible habit of doing that with movies. I’ll find a movie that interests me, I’ll get it, and I’ll find other things to do instead of watching it. Yesterday I finally decided to sit down and watch it, and I was very glad that I did. It wasn’t for lack of interest – the plot was intriguing enough for me to keep going back for it. It was the fact that I was finally presented with a Sunday afternoon where I didn’t have an assignment pressing on me or something that needed to be done. Once it finished, I nearly started it over again.

M is the story about a child-murderer that is tormenting a German city. Parents are terrified for their children. The police are cracking down on every bit of crime in the city. And the criminals in the city trying to conduct their business are getting annoyed with the constant interruptions from the law. The top five criminals meet, each representing their area of expertise, and decide to team up and find the child-murderer. With how angry they are, the child-murderer better hope the police find him first.

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

The Maltese Falcon
Call No: PN1995.9.D4 M253 2000

Since the last two films I reviewed were both in colour, I decided to choose something a little less colourful. I’ve chosen The Maltese Falcon for three reasons. The first is that my housemate has put together a “must see” list of films for herself, and this film is on it. The second is that I spent some time watching two Marx Brothers movies earlier in the week, both of them black and white. Third and finally, the curators from the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) have released their top 100 films to watch, and The Maltese Falcon is on it (#85).

Based on the Dashiell Hammett novel of the same name, The Maltese Falcon is the textbook definition of a film noir.  It has all of the basic requirements. It’s dark, it contains a serious crime, murders, a femme fatale, and has a cynical private detective.  Humphrey Bogart, whom many people will recognize as “that guy from that Casablanca movie”, plays Sam Spade, a private detective caught up in a web of intrigue surrounding the legend of the Maltese Falcon.

According to legend, the Falcon was a bird created by the Knights Templar of Malta, made of gold and encrusted with priceless jewels and intended as a gift for the King of Spain. It never reached him, stolen before reaching its destination.  The Falcon was covered in black to hide its true value.  Over the centuries it has been lost, stolen and bartered. Finally it has landed into the lives of Sam Spade and three other people. There’s Joel Cairo, a suspiciously quiet and soft spoken criminal. Then there’s Kasper Gutman, a heavyset man whose desire for the bird is stronger than anyone else. And there’s Brigid O'Shaughnessy, a woman involved who wants nothing more than to get out... or does she?