The Devil Has Come To Tsavo

Some links before I get started today. Yesterday was Sunday, so we had a Snippet Sunday post at our joint blog. Cheryl had pics from an air show in her area. Parsnip had a video clip at her page and a look at a number of pics. Hilary has her birthday today. And the Whisk has a pair of troublemakers at her blog. Also, keep an eye on my photoblog by clicking at the right, as I've got Remembrance Day material for today and tomorrow.

Now then, today I have another movie review.

“I’m a monster. My only pleasure is in tormenting those who work for me.” ~ Robert Beaumont

“Darling, you know how God invented liquor so the Irish wouldn’t rule the world. Well I think he may have invented being stubborn so we can be the best at something.” ~ John Patterson

“Oh, you’re right. The devil has come to Tsavo. Look at me! I am the devil.” ~ Charles Remington

In 1898, a bridge construction over the river Tsavo in Africa was interrupted by a pair of lions, hunting and killing railway workers in the dozens, over a hundred by some counts. The lions were hunted down and killed by the project engineer, a British colonel named John Patterson, and their story has baffled people ever since. The man eaters can be found to this day in the Field Museum in Chicago, where they have been preserved and are on display. The story inspired screen writer William Goldman (The Princess Bride) to adapt it for the big screen, fictionalizing some aspects, but telling a story of murderous danger in the African high grasses, set against the backdrop of European colonial expansion at the end of the 19^th century. Director Stephen Hopkins (Blown Away) came on board to helm the film, a historical adventure in a changing Africa.

We meet Colonel Patterson (Val Kilmer), an Irishman in the British military with a reputation for doing good work as an engineer in challenging locations. He’s hired by Robert Beaumont (Tom Wilkinson), a tyrant of a financier, who’s trying to have a railroad built in Africa in order to win the race against other European colonial powers, to save Africa from the Africans, and secure his knighthood. Whichever is his priority is another matter, but Beaumont admits he’s a monster, and promises Patterson that he’ll hate him. Patterson is off to Africa after saying goodbye to his wife Helena (Emily Mortimer), who is expecting their first child.

Patterson’s quite happy to come to Africa, a place he’s dreamed of seeing, meeting his right hand man Angus Starling (Brian McCardie), the camp foreman Samuel (John Kani), and the doctor, David Hawthorne (Bernard Hill). There’s tension in the camp, between the local African workers and those who have come from India for the work. The two sides don’t like each other, Samuel explains, and the Indians don’t like other Indians- the religious differences between Muslim and Hindu rising to the surface. There’s also the problem of a lion attack before Patterson’s arrival. Patterson doesn't realize that the lions in the area will soon become a much bigger problem, in the form of two males that hunt together, seeming to kill just for the pleasure of killing. The workers take to calling them the Ghost and the Darkness.

Goldman’s script fictionalizes certain aspects of the story, including bringing in an American big game hunter, Charles Remington, played by Michael Douglas, who finally appears in a dramatic way halfway through the film. The story also ignores the fact that the lions of the Tsavo region tend to lack manes; in fact, the pair of lions still on display in Chicago have no manes. However, these are mere trifles. The story is one of suspense and dread, and for me, that’s how it’s always worked. It’s an action thriller that drives up the tension, because we don’t understand why these lions are behaving this way. More than one character points out that lions don’t act like this, they don’t kill just for the sport, and yet these lions do. The story makes us look at the long grass in a completely different way; when Patterson is first travelling and seeing wildlife, we’re struck by the beauty of the land, but we quickly start looking at those grasslands and ask ourselves what’s hiding in that long grass. It leaves the audience feeling a sense of dread; the film does for the African savanna what Jaws did for the ocean.

Goldman also allows for humour and characterization as he goes along. He frames the story with a narrator, using Samuel to recount the events. This is an unusual touch compared to what a film of fifty or sixty years ago might have gone with, as it features an African voice to tell the story, and Goldman gives his narrator depth. Characterization tends to show itself in smaller ways and in quiet moments, such as when we learn Remington’s sad past, or see Patterson’s longing to see his wife again play itself out in letters home. The film refrains from glossing over the racial issues, as tensions among the workers keep cropping up, one of them even acidly remarking to Patterson, “you’re white, you can do anything.” The humour on the other hand plays out in dialogue between characters, mostly at night around campfires, such as Samuel teasing Remington: “I don’t believe you had a mother.”

Hopkins has a good visual style for the story; his work on Blown Away with its themes of Irish terrorism and revenge showed that, and he handled the direction for this well, sometimes giving us the lion’s point of view in how a scene was shot, sometimes using the light of fires as the only lighting for a scene, giving it a more dangerous, uncertain quality. There’s a sequence where one of the lions gets caught in a trap where a group of handpicked riflemen are waiting; the way he films the sequence has a nightmarish feel where you can almost feel as if the lion’s a supernatural being; not one round hits the beast, and the roars of the animal are deafening.

Much of the filming was done on location in South Africa, and the film definitely has an African feel in the look of the terrain. Real lions were used in the filming, albeit ones that have worked with humans extensively and were trained. I recall a documentary on the filming, which showed that the attacks were filmed in three stages: first on sound stages with the lions just being lions, pouncing upon an invisible prey against a green screen. The camera movements of that shot were memorized by computer and replicated with a second shot featuring whichever victim might be falling next, and the third shot used the exterior footage, all blending together seamlessly. Almost everything we see are real lions, though with a couple of exceptions, and in fact the real lions themselves, from a zoo in Ontario, were not quite sure of themselves in the open, having had lived their lives among people instead of zebras and antelopes.

The score is by Jerry Goldsmith, and it’s my favourite personal work by him. It blends together Irish and English sounds with a rich African influence into a single score, making liberal use of choral voices. It’s a blend of adventurous themes and malevolent, dangerous motifs that just drive up the tension all that much more.

Tom Wilkinson is only in the film briefly, on a couple of occasions, and this was the first film I ever saw featuring him. He makes a huge impression though. His Beaumont is an arrogant man, totally contemptuous of those around him. He says he’s a monster, and he certainly proves it, treating the deaths of dozens of workers with disdain, not giving a damn about anything but his own ambitions. By contrast, Emily Mortimer, who turns up here and there mostly in letters (and a nightmare sequence) is a loving and supportive wife, eager to see her husband again, to present him with their first born, and proud of him. Their relationship seems grounded, and she’s secure enough in herself to let him go off on a trip he’s wanted to make his entire life.

Bernard Hill, who would go on to appear in Titanic as Captain Smith and The Lord Of The Rings films as Theoden, plays Hawthorne as a drunken hard edged cynic who sees the railway as a sham, but admits that no one else would hire him. Cynic though he might be, he still acts to protect and care for his patients. Brian McCardie plays Angus as an idealistic man, quite out of his element, but relentlessly cheerful. Aside from his practical work, he also thinks of himself as a missionary doing the good work of the Lord in Africa. He’s given to talking a lot, and informs Patterson and Samuel that he has taken on a great task even more difficult than the salvation of Africa: he will not rest until both of them are safely in the fold. 

John Kani is a South African actor and playwright, and he gets to play the pivotal role of Samuel, the only man in the camp that everyone trusts. He plays the role with conviction and gravity, so the audience can believe him as a foreman, and as a man who’s good at mediating disputes. There’s a great warmth to the performance, a character we get to like very much. Patterson certainly gets along with him right from the beginning, and we learn he’s been friends with Remington for years. We also learn more about the man himself- he has several wives (he doesn’t like any of them, mind you), and he admits that he’s afraid of lions. Fear or not, he still acts without hesitation in the face of danger.

Michael Douglas was one of the producers on the film, and took the fictional role of Remington for himself. He comes into the story in a big, sudden way in the midst of a lot of tension in a crowd, and certainly makes an impression. Remington, we learn, is a man who does not like hunting, a strange thing in a man who makes that his profession, and only does it because he happens to be good at it. He hunts all over the world, but never returns to America; it turns out he lost everything in the Civil War when his family died. He mourns that loss years later, but doesn’t go too much into it, so we’re left to wonder at the tragedy. He makes for a good mentor for Patterson, and the two get along well with each other. Douglas conveys all of these aspects of the character with gravity and depth. He also moves like a hunter, with precision, speed when needed, care and slowness when needed as well.

Kilmer is a good protagonist for the film, taking on the role of Patterson and playing it in what feels just the right way. He might be a military officer, but as an Irishman, he’s always going to be an outsider among English officers, and that attribute does come across. He’s hired, not accepted, by the English financier, and he knows it. Kilmer gives him the competent, efficient sensibility that you’d expect out of an engineer, mixing that with qualities of a devoted husband and a man happy to get out to a place he’s dreamed of for years. Patterson is a man who genuinely gets along with the people who work for him, a stark contrast to his employers, and he shows concern for the well being of those around him. He forms friendships with the locals, particularly Samuel, in a way that another British officer would never think of, so it’s a measure of his personal integrity and decent nature.

The Ghost And The Darkness is one of my personal favourite action thrillers, an adventure set in an Africa undergoing great change. It takes full advantage of the beautiful surroundings before driving the audience into a tense, uneasy state at the sign of long savanna grasses… and what beasts might lurk within. 

Mr. Kaplan, Two Henchmen Are Calling

Some links before getting started today. Parsnip had a series of pics at her blog the other day, and yesterday having had been a Friday, her usual Square Dog Friday post. Shelly had a post the other day from the dog's point of view on such matters like Ebola. Krisztina had a recipe and pics from Woodward Gardens.

“Has anyone ever told you that you overplay your various roles rather severely, Mr. Kaplan?” ~ Phillip Van Damm

“War is hell, Mr. Thornhill, even when it’s a cold one.” ~ The Professor

“How do I know you aren’t a murderer?” ~ Eve Kendall

“Now you listen to me. I’m an advertising man, not a red herring. I’ve got a job, a secretary, a mother, two ex-wives, and several bartenders that depend upon me, and I don’t intend to disappoint them by getting myself slightly killed.” ~ Roger Thornhill

The great director of suspense Alfred Hitchcock had a long career filled with classic films that drove up the tension, some of which are among the greatest films ever made. Psycho would make the audience never quite look at a shower the same way again. Rear Window had a voyeuristic streak in its story of a man stuck at home recovering from an injury and having nothing better to do than watch his neighbours. Vertigo deals with the theme of obsession. The Birds features nature wrecking havoc on man. For those of us who love the work of the master of suspense, there’s usually one film that stands out as a personal favourite. For me, it’s North By Northwest, his 1959 classic spy caper bringing in the man in the wrong place notion that was favoured by Hitchcock.

We first meet Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant), an ad executive in New York City coming to have drinks with friends. By chance he is mistaken by two hoodlums for an elusive George Kaplan, and the two spirit him off to a waiting car. Despite his protests that he’s not Mr. Kaplan, they remain silent, taking him to an estate on Long Island, where he meets a man by the name of Lester Townsend (James Mason). We will later learn that the man’s actually one Phillip Van Damm, and he interrogates Roger, who finds himself increasingly confused by the situation he’s in. Not getting the answers he wants, Van Damm leaves Roger to his associates, including Leonard (Martin Landau), who proceed to get him drunk, with the intention of setting up a fatal car crash.

Roger manages to survive and escape, but the police, the courts, and his mother (Jessie Royce Landis) refuse to believe his account of what happen. He soon finds himself on the run, framed for murder, hunted by the police and Van Damm’s men, beginning a cross country effort to elude them all. And along the way he meets the enigmatic Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint), who recognizes him as a wanted man and yet has no issue at all dining with him, flirting with him, and assisting him in hiding from the police. Her motives are her own, as are the motives of a group at the CIA, headed by The Professor (Leo G. Carroll), all of whom know that Roger is indeed innocent- because there is in fact no George Kaplan.

The story is by Ernest Lehman, who worked with Hitchcock on a film that never made it past pre-production and wanted to write a Hitchcock film to top them all. The question of who came up with what idea is a bit murky- the director and writer discussed story ideas and plotlines, but the end result is a fast paced caper film that serves as a harbinger for the James Bond films. It deals with Cold War intrigue, treachery, double dealing, hidden agendas, and the notion of what Hitchcock called the MacGuffin, an object sought by all characters in a film that’s only important because the characters want it. In this case, the MacGuffin is microfilm with state secrets. The story tone is lighter than much of the director’s usual work, with a romantic streak between the characters, a great sense of humour, and the pacing of a mad dash across the countryside with no way to know where danger lurks. While it takes the man in the wrong place concept and runs with it, the story also shows us a protagonist who starts to adapt to the situation he’s in, a man capable of thinking and improvising his way through trouble.

Some of the filming was done on sets, such as the Frank Lloyd Wright inspired home of Van Damm seen towards the end of the movie, or the climactic sequence on the face of Mount Rushmore. Other filmwork was done on location; portions of the film were done in the Rushmore visitor center, for instance, where if you look carefully you can see a boy in the background cover his ears just before a very loud noise. The iconic cropduster sequence, in which Roger is placed in peril in the middle of nowhere by a pilot, was actually filmed in California, though it feels quite Mid-Western in the location. It’s one of the great sequences of the movie, a masterpiece of sheer tension as you wonder how on earth does he get out of this?

 The score is by Bernard Herrmann, who collaborated frequently with Hitchcock. It’s my favourite of the composer’s work, with romantic and charming melodies for the leading man and the woman crossing his path, sinister undertones for the villains, and rousing music to underscore the action and the tension. It suits the spy thriller aspect of the film very well indeed, and the entire Mount Rushmore sequence features Herrmann at his best, driving up the suspense and terror of the moment exquisitely.

The casting of the whole film is spot on. Hitchcock of course does his customary cameo early on, turning up in the opening titles and missing his bus as it drives away- a hint of the sense of devious humour yet to come. His choice of Jessie Royce Landis for Roger’s mother is a good one; they had worked together some years before on To Catch A Thief, where she played the mother of Grace Kelly’s character. Her take on the role of Clara Thornhill is one of exasperated amusement at her son, and we’re left to wonder which of the pair is more of an adult. Some of the humour comes from her, such as asking two of the henchmen in a crowded elevator, “you gentlemen aren’t really trying to kill my son, are you?”

Leo G. Carroll also appeared regularly in Hitchcock films, appearing in six of them, including Rebecca, Suspicion, and Strangers On A Train. This was his last work for Hitchcock, but his best too. He plays The Professor in a number of ways. At first he’s pragmatic, seeming not to mind that an innocent man might be living on short time if it means the protection of an agent in the field, but that’s understandable coming from a spymaster. He seems too bookish in his looks to be a spy, but there’s a devious streak to the character that very much suits the profession, and ultimately he’s much more of an ally than he starts out as. He gives the character a calm, steady hand in his performance, and we see him as a man who’s dedicated his life to service to his country.

This was an early role for Martin Landau, but a good one. Leonard is seemingly polite, but there’s a lot of menace and malice lurking under that, as we quickly see. He’s suspicious of everyone, totally loyal to his boss- to the point of jealousy, even, and one can interpret that devotion in more than one way. Fundamentally though, the character’s a dangerous man, with a ruthless streak.

James Mason is wonderful as Van Damm. His character is a traitor, selling spies to the other side in the Cold War. As sinister as he is, there’s a civilized, charming side to him. He doesn’t particularly care to do the dirty work of being a villain, and leaves all that to his various henchmen. He moves through the film with a sophisticated smoothness, a prelude to many a James Bond villain yet to come, and gets what I consider to be the greatest final line of a villain in movie history. Like the rest of his dialogue, it perfectly fits the character, and has the added benefit of being brilliantly funny.

Eva Marie Saint has to play Eve in a number of ways. We doubt her motives, as we must, not sure of what she’s playing at. But there’s no doubt that she suits the character so well. There’s a boldness in her, a seductive energy that works well on Roger. Things change through the film, and she plays those changes in just the right way as they come. And she’s got great chemistry with Grant, which comes across in their every scene. It’s a very adult role- there’s little doubt what happens between the pair on an overnight train trip- and quite risqué for the time, but her Eve is an irresistible charmer and glamorous heroine with a heart.

Cary Grant worked with Hitchcock on several occasions, and here he is the charming leading man, placed out of his element. Roger is an elegant and refined man who doesn’t mind wisecracking. He’s somewhat self-deprecating, thrown by chance into a world of secret agents that he doesn’t understand, and yet he comes into his own. He proves to be resourceful in getting out of trouble time and time again, and manages to keep his calm, even noting at one point while in great peril that his ex-wives divorced him because they thought he lived too dull a life. It’s a marvellous role for Grant to have chosen for his last collaboration with Hitchcock, and he certainly makes the best of it. His Roger Thornhill is one of my favourite Grant roles.

The master of suspense really outdid himself with this film. Some might argue the point, but personally, I think North By Northwest is Alfred Hitchcock at his best. It brings humour into the midst of unbearable tension, taut suspense, and the world of secret agents and treachery, all while following  the path of an innocent man desperately out of his element. It’s an entertaining film, stylish, and fresh even now, and a marvellous caper.

Benedict Otter And The Worst Friend Ever

Some links before I get started today. Norma wrote about election campaigns. Parsnip had a mix of shots at her blog. Eve wrote about positive energy. And Maria wrote about villains.

Today I've got a mixed batch of funny pics. Enjoy!

George Clooney Already Pulled That Con

Before getting started, some links to see to first of all. Yesterday was a Snippet Sunday at our joint blog. Cheryl had crime blotter items at her page. Mark had a press release at his blog. And the Whisk had a pre-Sharknado item at her blog.

Now then, as for today, shall we commence with the mischief?

Quite often we get the inevitable spam in our email or in our blog spam folders. Most of it's incomprehensible junk. Sometimes it comes out to yet another variation on the tried and not so true Nigerian spammer routine. You know the one, the overly friendly letter from the wife/ daughter/ secretary/ concubine/ surrogate/ dominatrix of the late reverend/ president/ benevolent tyrant/ cult leader/ professor Whatshisname Goodfellow. The letter promises a good fortune (if you distribute the funds fairly) in return for, oh, your bank account number. The letter is always filled with creative grammar and incorrect capitalization. 

This one came into my email a couple of weeks ago. It's a bit of a new angle, but with some of the same tell tale signs of a typical scam. I've copied and pasted it in its entirety.

Greetings

I am sorry to encroach into your privacy in this manner, I

found you Listed in the Trade Center Chambers of Commercedirectory  in Iraq,

I find it pleasurable to offer you my partnership in

business. I only pray at this time that your address is

still valid. I want to solicit your attention to receive

money on my behalf  in the states or any safe country you are.

I am Capt. Denning Brown , an officer in the US Army, and also

a West Point Graduate I was serving in the Military with the 82nd Airborne Division Peace keeping force in Baghdad,

Iraq.

I  Am now in Afghanistan from Iraq, and I really need your help in assisting me with

the safe keeping of two military trunk boxes which has just  arrived the USA from the Iraq. I hope you can be trusted?

if you can be trusted will explain further when i get a

response from you.

Waiting for your early reply

Best regards.

Capt Denning Brown

US ARMY.

And there we have it. Capital letters where there shouldn't be capitals. Misspellings (I wasn't aware Commercedirectory is a word in the English language). And a graduate from West Point who seems to think the 82nd Airborne is a peacekeeping force (oh, wait, a Peace keeping force; for the sake of clarity, I must make certain to write the scammer's creative spacing and incorrect capitalization in the same style as he does).

So if we're to believe our scamming Captain (if there's a real Denning Brown in the American military, I have two questions: were your parents by chance punishing you by naming you Denning, and how do you feel to have your name hooked up with an obvious scammer?), he has a couple of trunks that need to be safeguarded after arriving in the US from a war zone, and he wants to trust a complete stranger with it.

I wasn't aware I'm listed in any directory in Iraq, Captain Scammer. 

So what's in the trunks that you want to go into "partnership in business" with me? Is it stolen Iraqi gold? Because let's face it, that was already done in a George Clooney movie. 

And for a West Point graduate, you can't even muster it in you to capitalize States? Any true blooded American would automatically spell it that way. But no, you have to go ahead and just write "the states". 

Whoever's hiding behind that fake name must be following standard operating procedure and sending the same email to countless others. Most of us aren't blithering idiots. Every once in awhile, though, the scammer scores paydirt, takes the sucker for everything he can get, and laughs all the way to the bank, conveniently located somewhere without extradition treaties.

Maybe the scammer can try sending the email to the douchebag at the center of the pic below. Trump deserves to get robbed blind.