Reviews of Selected Films

Five Star Final ***

A persistant publisher of the New York Gazette publishes a story about a murder case that occurred over twenty years earlier in hopes of boosting circulation. In doing so he ruins the life of the woman accussed of murder her cheating boyfriend. The woman had remarried and was now a mother. Due to the shame of story, she and her new husband are driven to suicide.

The Front Page *****

A classic film about hard-bitten news reporters. An editor tries everything to keep his star reporter from moving to another city. A remake is the 1940 movie "His Girl Friday."

Front Page Woman **1/2

It's male verse female in this somewhat funny story of two newswriters who also happen to be in love. George Brent play the role of a man who believes women have no place in reporting. Betty Davis plays his opposite who won't marry Brent until she proves women make worthy reporters too. They both go after the same murder story but only one finds out who the real killer is. Brent prints an incorrect story on who the killer is and is fired. Davis corrects the story, gets him rehired, and Brent agrees women do have a place in reporting.

Foreign Correspondent *****

An Alfred Hitchcock film. A new and upcoming newsreporter, McCrea, is sent to Europe as a foreign correspondent during WWII. This film is jammed packed with espionage, murder, and propaganda. Not everything is what it seems. In one scene McCrea is chasing a murderer through the country side when suddenly he disappears. McCrea is left looking at nothing but flat land and windmills. Suddenly, one of the windmills changes direction, which makes McCrea suspicious. A closer look uncovers a secret spy hideout....

His Girl Friday *****

A humerous and romantic remake of The Front Page. This time the editor, Cary Grant, tries to persuade Rosalind Russell, his star reporter and ex-wife, to stay with the paper. He assigns her to a jail break which leads to Grant and Russell uncovering a corrupt sherriff and falling back in love.

Meet John Doe *****

As a parting shot, fired reporter Ann Mitchell prints a fake letter from unemployed "John Doe," who threatens suicide in protest of social ills. The paper is forced to rehire Ann and hires John Willoughby to impersonate "Doe." Ann and her bosses cynically milk the story for all it's worth, until the made-up "John Doe" philosophy starts a whole political movement. At last everyone, even Ann, takes her creation seriously...but publisher D.B. Norton has a secret plan.

Citizen Kane

Considered one of the great cinema classics of the century, Citizen Kane was forced out of the theaters by William Randolph Hearst in the 1940s. It was revived in the 1960s due to its innovative cinematography.

Woman of the Year ****

Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn pair up for the first time as a sportswriter and a hard-nosed, oppionated international affairs writer. The two fall in love and get married but can't agree on anything. After this film, Tracey and Hepburn would go on to work together for 25 years until Tracey's death in 1967.

The Big Sleep *****

Summoned By the dying General Sternwood, Philip Marlowe is asked to deal with several prolems that are troubling his family. Marlowe finds that each problem centers about the disappearance of Sternwood's favoured employee who has left with a mobster's wife. Each of the problems becomes a cover for something else as Marlowe probes.

Network *****

An ageing reporter is told he will be fired but before his final show he declares to his viewing audience that he will commit suicide on the air. Ratings go through the roof and a crazed programmimg excutive, played by Faye Dunaway reassigns him to his own talk show where he is free to voice his opinion. When the news editor questions the aging anchors' sanity, he is fired. This film raised a stir in Holleywood due to the resemblance of the character played by Dunaway to a real life crazed programming exec. Nominated for nine oscars and won four.

All the Presidents Men ****

The story of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post who uncovered the dirty tricks campaign and the coverup of the White House's involvement in the Watergate break in. Their work led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.
Stars Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford.

The China Syndrome ****

A reporter played by Jane Fonda is working on reports about nuclear energy when she witnesses a nuclear accident. She tries to publicise the accident but becomes even more involved in uncovering a conspiracy. Ironically, a few weeks after the opening of this film, the Three Mile Island accident occured.