Easy Rider

Easy Rider

Directed By Dennis Hopper
Released on July 14, 1969

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Easy Rider (1969) is the late 1960s "road film" tale of a search for freedom (or the illusion of freedom) in a conformist and corrupt America, in the midst of paranoia, bigotry and violence. Released in the year of the Woodstock concert, and made in a year of two tragic assassinations (Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King), the Vietnam War buildup and Nixon's election, the tone of this 'alternative' film is remarkably downbeat and bleak, reflecting the collapse of the idealistic 60s. Easy Rider, one of the first films of its kind, was a ritualistic experience and viewed (often repeatedly) by youthful audiences in the late 1960s as a reflection of their realistic hopes of liberation and fears of the Establishment.
The protagonists are two bikers: Wyatt,nicknamed 'Captain America' (Fonda), and Billy (Hopper). Fonda and Hopper have said that these characters' names refer to Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid. Wyatt dresses in American flag-adorned leather, while Billy dresses in Native American-style buckskin pants and shirts and a bushman hat. After smuggling drugs from Mexico to Los Angeles, Wyatt and Billy sell their contraband to a man (played by Phil
Spector) in a Rolls-Royce. With the money from the sale stuffed into the Stars&Stripesadorned
fuel tank of Wyatt's California style chopper, they ride eastward in an attempt to reach New Orleans, Louisiana in time for Mardi Gras. During their trip they pick up a hitch-hiker (Luke Askew) and agree to take him to his commune. An odd part to the commune scene is that here are studio sets of Native American tipis in the background as they go up the canyon for swimming, obviously a faux pas. They stay for a few days. Life in the commune appears to be hard, with hippies from the city finding it difficult to grow their own crops. One of the children seen in the commune is played by Fonda's four-year-old daughter Bridget. At one point the bikers witness a prayer for blessing of the new crop, as put by a communard: A chance "to
make a stand," and to plant "simple food, for a simple taste." The commune is also host to a traveling theater group that "sings for its supper" (performs for food). The notion of "free love" appears to be practiced, with two women seemingly sharing the affections of the hitch-hiking communard, and who then turn their attention to Wyatt and Billy. As Wyatt and Billy leave, the hitch-hiker (known only as "Stranger on highway" in the credits) gives Wyatt some LSD for him to share with "the right people." While jokingly riding along with a parade in a small town, the pair are arrested by the local authorities for "parading without a permit." In jail, they befriend alcoholic ACLU lawyer George Hanson (played by Jack Nicholson). George helps them get out of jail and decides to travel with Wyatt and Billy. As they camp that night, Wyatt and Billy introduce George to marijuana. As an alcoholic and a square, George is reluctant to try the marijuana ("It leads to harder stuff"), but he quickly relents.
While attempting to eat in a Louisiana restaurant, the trio's appearance attracts the attention of the locals. The local high school girls in the restaurant want to meet the men and ride with them, but the local men and police officer make menacing remarks. One of the men even states, "They won't even make the parish line." Wyatt, Billy and George leave without eating and make camp
outside of town. The events of the day cause George to comment: "This used to be a hell of a good country. I can't understand what's gone wrong with it." In the middle of the night, the local men return and brutally beat the trio while they sleep. Wyatt and Billy suffer minor injuries, but George is killed by a machete strike to the neck. Wyatt and Billy wrap George up in his sleeping bag, gather his belongings, and vow to return the items to his parents. They continue to New Orleans and find the brothel which had been recommended by George. Taking two prostitutes, Karen (Karen Black) and Mary (Toni Basil), with them, Wyatt and Billy decide to go outside
where the Mardi Gras is going on. They wander the parade-filled streets of New Orleans. They end up in a cemetery, where all four ingest LSD. They all experience a psychedelic bad trip infused with Catholic prayer, represented through quick edits, sound effects and over-exposed film. In the end, though Billy remains oblivious, Wyatt declares: "You know Billy, we blew it."
Wyatt realizes that their search for freedom, while financially successful, was a spiritual
failure. The next morning, the two are continuing their trip to Florida (where they hope to retire wealthy) when two rednecks in a pickup truck spot them, and decide to "scare the hell out of them" with their shotgun. As they pull alongside Billy and insult him, Billy sticks his middle finger up at them. In response, one of the men fires the shotgun at Billy and seriously wounds him, perhaps by accident. Wyatt immediately turns around to see his friend crashed and bleeding on the side of the road. As Wyatt goes for help, one of the rednecks fires at him as he speeds by the pickup. The shot hits the gas tank of Wyatt's bike, causing it to explode. The explosion not only kills Wyatt, but also destroys the money - which was what they had staked their life on. From the flaming bike on the side of the road, the camera ascends towards the sky, and the duo's journey "looking for America" ends once and for all.

Duck Soup

Duck Soup

Directed By Leo Mccarey
Released on 17 november,1933

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The Marx Brothers' greatest and funniest masterpiece - the classic comedy Duck Soup (1933) is a short, but brilliant satire and lampooning of blundering dictatorial leaders, Fascism and authoritarian government.The film, produced by Herman Mankiewicz, was prepared during the
crisis period of the Depression.
The wealthy Mrs. Teasdale (Margaret Dumont) insists that Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx) be appointed leader of the small, bankrupt country of Freedonia before she will continue to provide much-needed financial assistance. Meanwhile, neighboring Sylvania is attempting to take over the country. Sylvanian ambassador Trentino (Louis Calhern) tries to foment a revolution, woos Mrs. Teasdale, and attempts to dig up dirt on Firefly by sending in spies Chicolini (Chico Marx) and Pinky (Harpo Marx). After failing to collect worthwhile information about Firefly, Chicolini and Pinky infiltrate the government when Chicolini is appointed Secretary of War after Firefly sees him on the street selling peanuts. Meanwhile, Firefly's personal assistant, Bob Roland (Zeppo Marx) suspects Trentino's questionable motives, and counsels Firefly to "get rid of that man at once" by saying "something to make him mad, and he'll strike you, and we'll force him to leave the country." Firefly agrees to the plan, but after a series of personal insults exchanged between Firefly and Trentino, the plan backfires and Firefly slaps Trentino instead. As a result, the two countries reach the brink of war. Adding to the international friction is the fact that Firefly is also wooing Mrs. Teasdale, and likewise hoping to get his hands on her late husband's fortune. Trentino learns that Freedonia's war plans are in Mrs. Teasdale's possession and orders Chicolini and Pinky to steal them. Chicolini is caught by Firefly and put on trial, during which war is officially declared, and everyone is overcome by war frenzy, breaking into song and dance. The trial put aside, Chicolini and Pinky join Firefly and Bob Roland in anarchic battle, resulting in general mayhem. The end of the film finds Trentino caught in a makeshift stocks, with the Brothers pelting him with fruit. Trentino surrenders, but Firefly refuses to stop throwing until they run out of fruit. Mrs. Teasdale begins singing the Freedonia national anthem in her operatic voice and the Brothers begin hurling fruit at her instead.

Ben-Hur

Ben-Hur

Dircted By William Wyler
Released on 18 November,1959

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The film's prologue depicts the traditional story of the birth of Jesus Christ. Twenty-six years later, Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) is a wealthy merchant of noble blood in Jerusalem. Preceding the arrival of a new governor, Ben-Hur's childhood friend Messala (Stephen Boyd), a military Tribune, returns as the new commanding officer of the Roman garrison. At first Judah and Messala are happy to meet after years apart, but their differing political views separate them: Messala believes in the glory of Rome and worldly imperial power, while Ben-Hur is devoted to his faith and the Jewish people. Messala asks Ben-Hur to caution his countrymen about protests, uprisings, or criticism of the Roman government. Judah counsels his countrymen against rebellion but refuses to disclose dissidents' names, and the two part in anger.

Judah's family welcomes two of their slaves who arrive with a caravan from Antioch: Simonides (Sam Jaffe), their loyal steward, and Simonides's daughter Esther (Haya Harareet), who is preparing for an arranged marriage. Judah gives Esther her freedom as a wedding present, and the two realize they are attracted to each other.

During the welcoming parade for the new Roman governor, a tile falls from the roof of Ben-Hur's house and startles the governor's horse, which throws him off, nearly killing him. Although Messala knows that it was an accident, he condemns Judah to the galleys and imprisons Judah's mother Miriam (Martha Scott) and sister Tirzah (Cathy O'Donnell), in an effort to intimidate the restive Jewish populace by punishing the family of a known friend. Ben-Hur swears to return and take revenge. En route to the sea, he is denied water when his slave gang arrives at Nazareth. He collapses in despair, but a then-unknown Jesus Christ gives him water and renews his will to survive.

After three years as a galley slave, Ben-Hur is assigned to the flagship of Consul Quintus Arrius (Jack Hawkins), tasked by the Emperor to destroy a fleet of Macedonian pirates. The commander notices Ben-Hur's self-discipline and resolve, and offers to train him as a gladiator or charioteer, but Ben-Hur declines, declaring that God will aid him.

As Arrius prepares the galley for battle, he orders the rowers chained but unaccountably orders 41 (Ben-Hur) to be left unchained. When the pirates attack the Romans, Arrius's galley is rammed and sunk, but Ben-Hur escapes and saves Arrius's life and, since Arrius is believing the battle to have ended in defeat, also prevents him from committing suicide during their time afloat. Eventually, they are rescued by a Roman vessel and Arrius is credited with the Roman fleet's victory, and in gratitude petitions Tiberius Julius Caesar (George Relph) to drop all charges against Judah, eventually adopting Judah as his son. With regained freedom and wealth, Judah learns Roman ways and becomes a champion charioteer.

On his journey home to Judea, he happens to acquaint an Arab sheik Ilderim (Hugh Griffith), along with Balthasar (Finlay Currie), who owns four magnificent white Arabian horses and wishes to have them trained for chariot racing. Discovering that Judah had been a winning charioteer in Rome, Ilderim introduces him to his "children" and requests that he drive his quadriga in the upcoming race before the new governor, Pontius Pilate (Frank Thring). Ben-Hur accepts upon learning that Messala, considered the finest charioteer in Judea, will also compete in the race. (As Ben-Hur is leaving, Ilderim adds, "There is no law in the arena. Many are killed.")

Returning to Judea, Judah finds that Esther's arranged marriage had not occurred and that she is still in love with him. He visits Messala and demands that he free his mother and sister; Messala sends Drusus (Terence Longdon) to the fortress to look for them. When the soldiers enter the cell, they discover that Miriam and Tirzah have contracted leprosy, and they turn them out of the city. Esther learns of their condition when she finds the two women after nightfall in the Hur house's courtyard; and they beseech her to conceal their condition from Judah and allow him to remember them as they were. Esther tells Judah that his mother and sister have died in prison.

In the run-up to the chariot race, we see a widescreen view of the imposing Circus building and nine four-horse chariots. (Ilderim warns Ben-Hur that Messala has a "beaked chariot," with blades on the hubs, designed to chew up opposing chariots that get too close. (The DVD subtitles read, in four languages, "Greek chariot"; the Portuguese subtitles also call the quadriga a biga.) In the violent and grueling chariot race, Messala removes several opponents by damaging their chariots with his beaked hubs, but in a collision he falls and is run over and trampled, sustaining severe injuries. After receiving the victor's laurel wreath from Pilate, Judah visits Messala in the infirmary, where surgeons are amputating both legs in a futile attempt to save his life. Before dying, Messala bitterly tells Judah that the race is not over: he can find his mother and sister in the "Valley of the Lepers." Judah leaves in anguish to search for his family, and he is devastated when he finds them in their diseased and disfigured condition.

The film is subtitled "A Tale of the Christ", and it is at this point that Jesus reappears. Esther witnesses the Sermon on the Mount and is moved by Christ's words. She tells Ben-Hur about it, but he remains bitter and will not be consoled. Learning that Tirzah is dying, they take her and Miriam to see Jesus, but they cannot get near him, as his trial has begun. (We don't hear the testimony, verdict, or sentence; but we see Pilate famously washing his hands.) Recognizing Jesus from his encounter with him as he was being taken to the galleys, Judah attempts to give him water during his march to Calvary, echoing Jesus' kindness to him, but he is shoved away by the guards.

Eventually, Judah witnesses the Crucifixion. Immediately after Christ's death, Miriam and Tirzah are healed by a miracle (Christ's blood from the Crucifixion washes into the cave where the women are hiding and touches them), as are Judah's heart and soul. He returns to his home and tells Esther that as he heard Jesus talk of forgiveness while on the cross, "I felt His voice take the sword out of my hand." The film, which had begun with the Magi visiting the infant Jesus, ends with the empty crosses of Calvary in the background and a shepherd and his flock (a prominent Christian symbol) in the foreground.

It was one of the most honored, award-winning films of all time. It was
nominated for twelve Academy Awards, Best Picture, Best Actor (Charlton
Heston - his sole career Oscar), Best Supporting Actor (Hugh Griffith),
Best Director (William Wyler), Best Color Cinematography, Best Color Art
Direction/Set Decoration, Best Sound, Best Score, Best Film Editing, Best
Color Costume Design, Best Special Effects, and Best Screenplay (solecredited
Karl Tunberg). It was the first film to win eleven Oscars - it lost
only in the Screenplay category due to a dispute over screenwriting
credits (Maxwell Anderson, Christopher Fry, and Gore Vidal were all
uncredited).

The Apartment

The Apartment

Directed By Billy Wilder
Released on 15 June,960

Story-Line

The Apartment (1960) is producer/director Billy Wilder's bittersweet, heart-rending tragi comedy/drama of a compliant insurance clerk(Lemmon) who secretly lends out his apartment to other company executives for adulterous sexual affairs and liaisons. The plot thickens when the clerk realizes that his building's elevator operator (MacLaine) is being taken for trysts by his married boss (MacMurray) to his apartment.

C. C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) is a lonely office drone for an insurance company in New York City. Four different company managers take turns commandeering Baxter's apartment, which is located on West 67th Street on the Upper West Side, for their various extramarital liaisons. Unhappy with the situation, but unwilling to challenge them directly, he juggles their conflicting demands while hoping to catch the eye of fetching elevator operator Miss Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine). Meanwhile the neighbors in the apartment building, a medical doctor and his wife, assume Baxter is a "good time Charlie" who gets a different woman drunk every night. Baxter accepts their criticism rather than reveal the truth. The four managers write glowing reports about Baxter — a little too glowing, so personnel director Mr. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray) suspects something illicit behind the praise. Mr. Sheldrake lets Baxter's promotion go unchallenged on condition that Baxter's apartment accept him as a fifth regular customer. Still delighted about his promotion, Baxter asks Miss Kubelik to a Broadway show. She agrees, then stands him up. Later, on Christmas Eve, Baxter is astounded to come home and find her in his bed, fully clothed, and overdosed on sleeping pills. Mr. Sheldrake had borrowed Baxter's apartment for the evening and evidently left Miss Kubelik there. Baxter and his neighbour the doctor keep Miss Kubelik alive and safe without notifying the authorities. She explains that she had an affair with Mr. Sheldrake the previous summer, ended it when his wife returned from vacation, and caved in to his appeals and promises later in the fall. When Sheldrake offered her money instead of a Christmas present she realized the ugliness of the situation and tried to commit suicide. The act shows a startling side of her usually sunny personality. Baxter tries to comfort her with assurances of Sheldrake's concern, but she refuses to speak to him on the telephone. Kubelik recuperates in Baxter's apartment for two days, long enough for her taxi driver brother-in-law to assume the worst of Baxter and come to blows. Sheldrake's catty secretary, one of his former mistresses, finally "educates" Mrs. Sheldrake about her husband's infidelities. Faced with divorce, Sheldrake moves into a room at his athletic club and continues to string Kubelik along while he enjoys his newfound bachelorhood. Baxter finally takes a stand when Sheldrake demands the apartment for New Year's Eve, which results in Baxter quitting the firm. Kubelik realizes that Baxter is the man who truly loves her, and she leaves Sheldrake on New Year's Eve to be with Baxter that evening and runs to him. They end as two misfits, both out of a job, playing a game of gin rummy. When Baxter declares his love for Kubelik, her reply is the now-famous final line of the movie: "Shut up and deal."

It won five major Academy Awards out of ten nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay (co-written by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond), Best B/W Art Direction/Set Decoration, and Best Film Editing.