Spring.  Sunny days. Cute flowers.  Unstoppable creatures.  Ants can be annoying.  And Hollywood has cut some wild footage of these picnic hustlers.

Them!:  One of the earliest ant themed horror movie.  With James Arness, Jim Whitmore, and Fess Parker, the cast are white lightning.  These ants are big, rip your camper apart big.  Residuals from the A-bomb lead to Them!.

Typical of the era, the movie includes a “documenarty short’ about ants.  Entertaining and cheesy, Them! is actually more high end then one might expect.

The Naked Jungle:  Two words: Charlton Heston.  The man takes on a couple hundred trillion little ants.  The movie slips between the glitter of Moses and the glamor of Omega Man.

Empire of the Ants:  Back to the big ants.  This 1970’s horrible horror has giant ants snacking on visitors at a Florida timeshare sales seminar.  And from there it only gets better—plaid leisure suit catharsis, penitent dialogue among the palms, and ants that have harnessed the local sugar business in what had to be a “hostile takeover”.  More Deep South creepiness for those who like watching ants reinstate slavery.

Ants!:  Definitely not a winner.  Lots of little ants lay seige to a northern California B & B.  True the B & B is up against a cliff.  But the ants are neither giant nor uncounted trillions.  Yet the humans are neither swift of foot or brain. A real loser of a film, best to be lost,

“Great” movies rarely remake themselves in the same glory and majesty as the original production.  King of Kings plays equally well in 1961 as did in 1927 when the always pedestal bound Cecil B. deMille “made” it.

deMille’s production (screened at Wilton Town Hall Theater) had zebras, harlots, and black and white to color.  The movie was long by even today’s standards, but Jeff Rapsis played the scenes (on his do everything electric keyboard) with gusto, fury, and stamina–lots of stamina.  Unfortunately the crowd was less than hoped due to the “religious nature” of the film.  Jeff also emceed–laying out front office information and back story with humor and celerity.  The 1961 version is no small thing.  As 1961 was at the height of the Hollywood big budgets this production was big, bold, and beautiful.  Jeffrey Hunter and Robert Ryan lead the cast of multitudes.  Both are well worth the time and effort to see.

An old friend, Jeff Rapsis (Dangerous Crosswinds), has been a fan of silent films for many, many years, Back in the 1970’s he entertained the Spring Street Junior High crowd with his imitations of Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin,  Since then Jeff has made great success in media, arts, and humanitarian causes.

For the last few years Jeff, with help from fellow enthusiasts and supporters, has run in NH a series of silent films for the public’s viewing pleasure.  The experience of watching a silent film in an old theater as it was meant to be seen (with Jeff at the piano playing ORIGINAL works) is truly a fantastic sensation of simpler times and community bonding.

Donations are encouraged for defraying the costs involved.

(I will list the movies and particulars, but check www.Hippopress.com for more information)

Palace Theatre 80 Hanover Street Manchester NH Mondays 7PM

April 5th “The Sea Hawk” (1924) Swashbuckling action, so good that some fo the footage ended up in Errol Flynn’s 1940 remake.

May 10th “Greed” (1924)  Originally 10 hours long, now just a modest 2 1/3 hours.  Money, and the boneheaded reactions its causes.

Wilton Town Hall Theatre  Main Street Wilton NH Sundays 430pm

March 28th (Palm Sunday) “King of Kings” (1927) Cecil B. DeMille and all the pageantry and “casts of thousands”—more extras than a Hearst run.

April 25th TBA–Comedy

May 30th “The Last Command” (1928) The world was between world wars when this one came out.  Old battles and emotions are re-fought–even in black and white, there is a lot of grey.

Two movies, similar name, but oh so different.  Phantom Submarine U-67 was a creature of the 1930’s.  This is a tale of a washed up sea captain played eerily by Alan Hale, Sr. (You’ll scream “Gilligan”) who missed a U-boat that hit a freighter. Made in 1931, this swashbuckling captain has his eye of a blond dame, his hands on the neck of the ex-u-boat captain, and a grudge against a snotty, twerpy lawyer.  Cutting edge for 1931, this movie has it all—underwaterfootage with “modern” diving gear, intrigue and sultry soundtrack, prophetic war guilt (“I was only following orders”), as well as a  thoroughly doltish British sidekick who walks the stereotype  plank right into the deep blue.  Finally this anti-attorney movie probably has the first “lawyer dunking” in cinematic history. Pathetic by today’s standards you can’t fault the makers who made magic, albeit 1930s style.

Fast forward to the edge of the century, 1999.  Phantom the Submarine was a  Korean (South) more intense feature set in the present day.  This is a heavy movie made with spin shots, long close ups, and (typical) edgy Korean storyline.  Picture a secret submarine with a very strange crew.  The South Koreans go after another secret submarine (owned by the Japanese government).  Beyond the extreme unlikelihood of the premise, the action is gritty, edge of your seat quality.  There are reasons that submarines make such awesome action/drama settings.  Enjoy.  

World War 2 ended with victory for some and loss to others.  Among those facing a bitter and hard defeat was Japan.  There are a string of movies–all black and white and all focused on an individual soldier–that capture the shock and anguish of the end.  One of the most powerful is A Soldier’s Prayer which is actually the third part of the trilogy called The Human Condition.  The film set in Manchuria in the final days as Russian armies overrun areas fought over in the very early days of the war.  Swallowed by vast expanse and far from home, one man fights to hold it all together, only to meet his lonely end months after the war (and the dying) is supposed to be over.

Fire on the Plains is another movie where cohesion and humanity slip as days drag on, chased by hunger, disease, and hazy noble principles.  Stark loneliness and desperation make a pawn of an average Japanese GI in the Philippines.

Along the same lines, The Burmese Harp, is done by the director of Fire on the Plains, makes a different tangent.  Here the lone charcter Mizushima becomes consumed by the war’s destruction.  He becomes a harp playing monk dedicated to burying the dead in postwar Burma.  The Burmese Harp is in many ways ”creepy” as not all war casualties are physical.  And there are deep psychological losses uncounted.

War, as portrayed and often forgotten, is the unhinger, the great game changer, shaking things up far and wide.  World war 2 certainly scrambled up millions of lives.  The three movies above bring to life the fate of just three within millions.  They are anti-war, and pro-humanity, pointing only to the wanton destruction of the war.

Dawn is considered a positive word in English.  It generally has a good context.  Generally.  Here are some movies with “Dawn” in the title.

Red Dawn:  A Reagan era romp that is the epitome of  “get them Ruskies” genre.  The Commies invade and the high school jocks fight back. Lots of action and Patrick Swayze.

Zulu Dawn:  Another invasion–this time the (British) Commonwealth goes out to provoke the Zulus.  This is a case of “the natives are restless”.  Note Peter O’Toole, Bob Hoskins, and Burt Lancaster duke it out with the impis.

September Dawn:  Back to the American West.  This time Pioneers cross paths (and swords, guns, etc.) with Mormon Settlers or Indians.  Pioneers get the worst of it.  Indians blame Mormon Settlers.  Mormons blame Indians. Bad times for all and hey, call in the CSI unit.

Rescue Dawn: More downers, with a “happy” ending. Vietnam War and the American pilot goes down. Escape is impossible and imprisonment is a bummer. But Dieter (the pilot) is persistent (and lucky).  He gets his rescue or better put rescue dawn.  A nice dramatization done by Werner Herzog who also produced a companion documentary (Little Dieter Needs to Fly).

Two very different movies, very much alike.  The Gods Must Be Crazy was a 1980s sleeper from South Africa. The story is about an adult Bushman who is struck by a falling coke bottle.  He journeys to return it and gets caught up in many adventures.  Mongolian Ping Pong has a ping pong floating down a lazy river and a bunch of kids getting the road picture urge.  Ping Pong has obviously taken much from The Gods.  Both are very live, no CGI here.  In Ping Pong the bugs are visible by lights at night.  The scenery is beyond awesome.  Both have culture clashes that are both cute and condescending.

This is Alpha male stuff. You’ll need a hunting license, a copy of Redneck Weekly, and plenty of moonshine (or its local equivelent).  Deer Woman is a good place to start. It is also the most respectable movie in this bunch.  The movie itself is cop versus Deer Woman (woman or deer or both depending on her mood). Pretty corny, but respectable.  Less graceful and mournfully pathetic is The Incomplete Deerhunter 3.  The comedian Jeff Foxworthy leads a cast of real characters.  It is Hee-Haw with guns and extremely cheap humor.  I have yet to see the first two installments and have very little incentive to watch what I fear will be more of the same.  Hunting for Bambi.com not only has a unique title, but is truly a standalone.  This has men with paintball guns “hunting” women (the Bambis) running about in their birthday suits. It actually goes down from there.  This is not the movie to get kudos from Oprah or The View.  Taken together these movies “highlight” the strange deep sub genres that are found in our wide open movie world. I don’t mean to give high marks for these movies.  They are nonetheless valuable as cultural markers and part of our cinematic culture.

M*A*S*H is well known as the classic military hi-jinks movie. Kelly’s Heroes can also be seen as military run amok.  Two Israeli movies that show the sillier side of army life are The Troupe and Hill Halfon Does Not Answer.  Hill Halfon really is over the top whereas The Troupe is more sedate in its wacky behavior.  Then there is H.M. Deserters, a Polish movie banned in Hungary because of its portrayal of World War 1 soldiery taking liberty in a chaotic time.  In many ways H.M. Deserters is a stand-out. Just like the real multi-ethnic Austro-Hungarian Army, this band of strange bedfellows exploits the biases and prejudices of race, class, ethnicity, and rank to avoid service and find trouble and excitement while their empire crumbles around them.

The Sino-Japanese War 1931-1945 was long, hard, and not that well known in the West.  But the People’s Republic has made many a film on the subject.  There are three movies in particular that reflected the brave and creative way the Chinese fought against long odds.  Red Sorghum is a love story with a helping of Japanese soldiers on the side.  The locals take it to the Japanese in the sorghum fields.  The realism is strong.  And the price of success is dear.  Less well known are two Red Movies Studios movies best described as “Ways to Whack the Japanese”.  The Japanese are ruthless, stupid, and bad shots.  The Chinese are bold, brave, and better shots.  The movies speak for themselves…The Warfare of Landmine and Tunnel Warfare.  Both have historical basis, but with poetic license.  Watched together, you gain an appreciation on why the Chinese are as great as they proudly claim.