Movie Review: ***Supergirl (1984)

 This movie is made as a sequel to the Superman movies and to take advantage of the Superman buzz.  Supergirl/Linda Lee (Helen Slater) comes to earth looking for a device she lost.  It is an orb that keeps the refugee ship powered as the group has left Krypton.  Without the orb they are doomed.  Zaltar (Peter O' Toole) leads the group and condemns himself for the loss of the orb.

Supergirl follows the orb, and as luck would have it, it falls into the hands of a witch, Selena (Faye Dunaway), who wants to use the power to take over the world.  She has a couple helpers (Brenda Vaccaro and Peter Cook) Only Supergirl stands in her way.  Supergirl is cousin to Superman, and she goes to boarding school where she rooms with Lucy Lane (Maureen Teefy), Lois' young sister.  There is a handsome man (Hart Bochner) in the mix that Selena is determined to have, but her spell goes wrong and he attaches to Linda Lee, Supergirl's alter ego.  

This movie is mildly entertaining, but goes over the top and as a result did not get good reviews.  The other actor involved, from the Superman series is Marc McClure who plays Jimmy Olsen.  He is a friend of Lucy's.

Movie Review: ****How to Steal a Million (1966)

Not that I like stealing shows, but in this case the motivation is different; they are stealing to cover father's habit of forging artwork.  Bonnet (Hugh Griffith) is the forger, Nicole (Audrey Hepburn) is his daughter who wants him to quit the forging business.  However Bonnet is obsessed with fooling people, and creating replicas of the masters.  The art expert, Simon, set to expose everything, is he who falls in love with Nicole (Peter O'Toole).  Finally there is lover of art, Davis Leland (Eli Wallach) who will even become engaged to Nicole, in an effort to convince her father to let him purchase the statue created by his grandfather.
This is really a delightful romantic comedy.  The characters work together and it is a fun show.  I especially like the hiding in a small closet thing.

Musical Movie Review: **** Goodbye Mr. Chips

This is the 1969 movie musical which stars Peter O'Toole as Arthur Chipping (Mr. Chips) and Petula Clark as Katherine Bridges.  This a movie about two people from two different worlds, Chipping a school master and Bridges an actress, who fall in love with each other and make a life together.  This is a musical, but at times seems less so because many of the songs have been relegated to to being sung under the action, rather than in the fashion of a musical.  Petula Clark is a terrific singer.  Peter O' Toole sounds like Don Quijote through most of the movie.  However this movie proved to be very effective with me.  I was drawn into the story, and was weeping at the end of the story.  This is a passing of time story, showing Mr. Chips before meeting his wife, falling in love, bringing her to the school, being over looked for promotion, and then going through the war and the death of his wife due to The Battle of London.  We then see him briefly after.  The coming of age song, I find very touching:

In the morning of my life I shall look to the sunrise.
At a moment in my life when the world is new.
And the blessing I shall ask is that God will grant me,
To be brave and strong and true,
And to fill the world with love my whole life through.

(Chorus)
And to fill the world with love
And to fill the world with love
And to fill the world with love my whole life through

In the noontime of my life I shall look to the sunshine,
At a moment in my life when the sky is blue.
And the blessing I shall ask shall remain unchanging.
To be brave and strong and true,
And to fill the world with love my whole life through

(Chorus)

In the evening of my life I shall look to the sunset,
At a moment in my life when the night is due.
And the question I shall ask only I can answer.
Was I brave and strong and true?
Did I fill the world with love my whole life through?

(Chorus)

I think this movie becomes more poignant as one gets older.  I really enjoyed it.

Musical Reviews: ****Man of La Mancha

Man of La Mancha (1972) is the movie version of the musical.  It is available on instant Netflix.  It is based on the book by Miguel de Cervantes.  It stars Peter O'Toole and Sophia Loren with Coco as Sancho.   I studied this book in college, and I like the way the musical and movie take concepts from the book and reworks them.  For example in the book there are often side stories.  The characters will find a manuscript and sit down to read it.  In the musical, the prisoners retell the story, taking part as characters.  In the book, Cervantes makes fun of the Catholic Church during the inquisition.  He dressed a donkey as a priest.  In the movie, it starts with making fun of the Church in a drama.  Cervantes walked a thin line.  Another aspect of Cervantes is the distortion of reality.  Such as the helmet of Mambrino.  If a barber's basin is worn on the head, is it in fact a helmet?  In the book an artifact is used as a door knob.  It then had become a door knob.
As for the movie, it is based more on actors portraying characters, rather than great singing.  The characters come through, and carry their parts.  One of my favorite scenes is when Don Quijote finds Dulcinea by the side of the road after being raped.  The emotion really comes through.