|
A trio of classic jazz features come to the small screen
with this release. The best of the bunch is Bertrand Tavernier's
"Round Midnight" which captures the rough authenticity of
the many jazz veterans who were abandoned by their audience
or became lost in a maze of drugs. Sax player Dexter Gordon
plays Dale Turner a man fighting his own personal demons
and addictions to try and stay straight so he can perform
in a Parisian club. Battered, Turner finds his legs again
due to the courtesy and kindness of a young French fan (François
Cluzet) allowing Turner to retain a sense of dignity and
rediscover the fire that burned bright allowing him to create
some of his most indelible music. Featuring jazz greats
Herbie Hancock (who also wrote the film socre), Wayne Shorter
(a veteran of the jazz band Weather Report), Ron Carter
and Freddie Hubbard, Tavernier's film is a moving valentine
to the music he loves and that inspired him. ***
Inspired by a true story, "'Round Midnight" is a marvelous
film that has held up amazingly well. The inspiration for
Turner was jazz musicians Bud Powell and Lester Young the
former of which was a very good friend of Francis Paudras
who was the inspiration for the character played by François
Cluzet. ***
The second film in this set the 1955 drama "Pete Kelly's
Blues" features the oddly miscast Jack Webb as the title
jazz trumpet player who leads his own band The Big Seven.
Kelly ends up hiring a racketeer (Edmund O'Brien chewing
the scenery) alcoholic girlfriend (the great Petty Lee)
to sing with his band. Even though Webb IS miscast he manages
to make the role strangely his own with his often flat readings
of dialogue. It's an interesting movie not least because
of the strong supporting cast (including lee Martin, Janet
Leigh as Pete's girlfriend, Jayne Mansfield in a small part
and Andy Devine) ***
The 1941 film "Blues in the Night" is the least known
of the trio of films here but almost as compelling and tragic
in its own way as "Round Midnight". "Jigger" Pine (Richard
Whorf) uses his new friendship with gangster Del Davis (Lloyd
Nolan at his slimiest) to land a gig at a New Jersey roadhouse.
Lane falls for Davis' former main squeeze Kay (Betty Field)
and has her front the band even though she really isn't
quite right for them. From there the plot spirals into an
absurd parody of a woman's picture with tragedy at every
turn. Featuring a terrific cast including director/actor
Elia Kazan ("East of Eden", "On the Waterfront"), Priscilla
Lane and Jack Carson the direction by Anatole Litvak (who
also directed the cult classics "The Snake Pit" and "Sorry,
Wrong Number") does wonders with a script so full of clichés
that I have to wonder if the writer Robert Rosen (who wrote
and directed the classic films "All the King's Men", "The
Hustler" and "Island in the Sun") took all of the stock
situations of the plot, throw them in a bag and then randomly
pull one out for each scene he was writing. It's not awful
by any means but it certainly IS an acquired taste. ---
Image & Sound:
All three movies look quite good with the smooth black
and white photography of the latter two films receiving
some nice clean up by Warner Home Video. "Round Midnight"
looks the best of course simply because it is the most contemporary
of the three AND the source interpositive that was used
for the print is in much better shape than the other two
films. ***
Audio sounds fine and with "'Round Midnight" sounding
the best. ---
|
