Recent to me, I mean. Not very recently made.
Devotion
Made in 1946, this purports to be a biography of the Bronte sisters, but can most generously be described as "based upon." Among other historical crimes, it invents a love triangle involving Charlotte, Emily, and their clergyman father's vicar. It stars Ida Lupino as Emily and Olivia de Havilland as Charlotte. Bosley Crowther of the New York Times panned it pretty harshly when it came out: "a ridiculous tax upon reason and an insult to plain intelligence." Well, I guess so, and I wouldn't make any claims for it, but as an atmospheric 1940s Korngold-scored romance, well-acted and with a charming-if-ersatz English setting (and a funny mixture of accents), I found it enjoyable. I particularly liked the brief appearance of Sydney Greenstreet as Thackeray. Here's a review by a lover of old movies who calls it a guilty pleasure.
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
I really had no idea what to expect of this one. I can't remember why I recorded it (from TCM) in the first place, because it was well over a year ago. Maybe I had heard the word "noir" associated with it. The title suggests something racy, if not semi-pornographic, but since it was made in 1946 I wasn't too worried about that. It's the story of a woman who as a teenager semi-accidentally kills the mean old aunt who is her guardian, and successfully keeps the secret for many years, until the childhood friend who may or may not know what really happened comes back to town. Martha is now rich and powerful; the friend, a boy from the wrong side of the tracks, is now a bit of a shady character, not exactly a criminal but not respectable, either. Martha thinks he intends to blackmail her. Things happen.
It's an excellent story, and noir indeed. Unfortunately for me, Martha is played by Barbra Stanwyck, and I have never really found her convincing in these femme fatale roles (e.g. Double Indemnity). I also didn't care much for the actress who played the other major female character, Lizabeth Scott. I hadn't heard of her before. She looks rather like Veronica Lake but has some mannerisms that bother me–too bad it wasn't Veronica Lake. But these are just my quirks, and if you don't share them and like this kind of movie, this is probably one of the better ones. Kind of a weird title.
Taxi Driver
So, thirty-five years later, I finally got around to seeing this film which I know to have been the source of the apparently pointless catchphrase "You talkin' to me?" I vaguely remember thinking, at the time of its release (1976) that I didn't need to see a movie about urban decay, violence, and child prostitution. As everybody but me (and my wife) has known for many years, it's about an alienated and slightly cracked New York City loner nursing fantasies of apocalytptic violence–a type who has become all too familiar to us. It's one of the movies that established Martin Scorsese as a big-name director, but I've never been terribly interested in his work, and the truth is that I only watched it now because it's considered such a classic and I've been trying, in a desultory sort of way, to fill in these gaps in my knowledge.
I was a little surprised to find that I more or less concur with those who think it's a great film. Maybe I wouldn't go as far as great, and I don't think it would make any list of essential works that I would compose. But it is really fine. I found the resolution unconvincing, but other than that it's a powerful piece of work. And I really liked the Bernard Herrmann score, his last. Robert de Niro's performance is great, as everyone has always said.
The Departed
I was not having a Scorsese festival, and didn't even realize that this was a Scorsese film until the credits. I only picked it because I'd heard it was an excellent crime drama. And it is. The basic premise almost guarantees intensity and suspense: two cops working for the Boston Police Department, one an informer for a mobster, trying to protect him, the other working undercover for that same mobster, trying to bring him to justice. Jack Nicholson is the disgustingly evil mob boss. Matt Damon is the bad cop, and Leonardo DiCaprio is the good cop. Each becomes aware of the other's existence, but not his identity. You can imagine the sort of tension and paranoia generated by that situation.
Of course I'm familiar with DiCaprio's name, but the sort of movie that he stars in is not usually the sort of movie I see, so I didn't really know what sort of actor he is. But his performance in this movie struck me as stunningly fine. His character comes from a family with a lot of criminal associations–which helps him to infiltrate the mob–and is a pressure cooker of tension and conflict which DiCaprio renders with great intensity.
This is not a big idea movie; it didn't leave me reflecting on its themes. But I'll certainly remember the people, especially Billy Costigan, DiCaprio's character. And it is a very gripping story. (It's also, of course, pretty violent.)
Interesting to see the change over the years in the way trailers–or "previews," as we used to call them–are made. The old ones were a little ridiculous, but the new ones are irritating.
Light On Dark Water 
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