Great point and it is the thing that sets that era apart.
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Officially, Paramount still is owned by Viacom, pending government regulatory approval. The deal was signed almost a year ago, but the final deadline has been extended at least once already, most recently last week.
And judging by the current state of USA government bureauocrazy (not a typo) from the mole’s penetration, I wouldn’t take it for granted that this deal will be done.
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M * A * S * H loses me with the humiliation of Hot Lips. Much of Altman’s treatment of women in his films is problematic, but the issue seems to get better in his late work.
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Agreed
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Had to rewatch The Long Goodbye and Capricorn One now because Elliott Gould was so good in M.A.S.H.
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I bought Capricorn One a few years ago, it was not since the eighties that I watched it on Dutch television, but it was still great again. There is a great scene with Gould driving his car and realising that someone has disassembled the brakes.
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I’ve never seen that and have always wanted to. Annnnd now I see it’s free in full on YouTube.
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The Odessa File. Much, much better than I remember it. Haven’t read the book so unsure how faithful it is, but in and of itself, most diverting.
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Good to see love for Ronald Neame.
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IIRC, it’s rather close to the novel, but it’s been ages since I last saw it. Maybe I should give it another try, as I didn’t like it very much. I found Jon Voight as miscast as Brosnan in The Odessa File, and also, I’ve never been Voight’s biggest fan…
On the other hand, apart from the original Jackal, I didn’t like any movie made from one of Forsyth’s books. Could have to do with the fact that Jackal is the only one of which I first saw the movie and then read the book. But it got me into reading more Forsyth novels, and I enjoyed them very much back in the day.
Unfortunately, I felt the need to separate my views on his work from my views on the man himself… 
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Zinnemann helps.
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Definitely 
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Forsyth sadly is no interior decorator of his characters. But many of the themes of his stories have proven quite relevant and often ahead of their time.
That said, I rarely found his books really at the top of their respective themes. Clancy was working similar ground - but more detailed and with an authentic feel even in the more outlandish books. Le Carré and Deighton deliver interesting, relatable characters Forsyth often lacks. A theme like the Nazi rat lines was more engrossingly handled in some of Kerr’s Bernie Gunther books. And The Wild Geese is the superior mercenary novel to The Dogs of War.
Also, though I usually enjoyed Forsyth’s books, I found his habit to pack in a twist at the end a bit too predictable over the years. And I very rarely reread a Forsyth, though that need not be a bad thing.
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Has anybody seen the 1972 Robert Mulligan film „The Other“?
I always wanted to see it, after having read about it being one of those forgotten great early 70‘s horror films, and the Jerry Goldsmith score is so wonderful.
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I literally watched it for the first time ever on Monday of this week! It’s solid and genuinely creepy. It goes some places that even as it’s happening you’re questioning if it really will be a fake-out and pull its punch or not (it doesn’t). Really solid old school slow burner horror with a very early 70s film atmosphere. Its budget is much bigger but the general tone and slowly building dread reminded me of “Let’s Scare Jessica to Death,” another highly effective early 70s exercise in slow dread.
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I bought the blu-ray now!
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Please share your thoughts on the other side of watching it.
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I watched Turks & Caicos today. It’s the follow-up to Page Eight. I would describe it as very slow boil (if it even reaches a boil) thriller. The movie is very mysterious and it takes a while to figure what is actually happening in terms of the plot but I thought it worked. Once again a great cast. Looking forward to seeing the third one ( Salting the Battlefield).
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The Johnny Worricker Trilogy? I enjoyed it very much. It’s been years since I watched it and it’s not available to stream in my area now, but I do remember that it was good enough to watch repeatedly.
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I happened upon Page Eight last year on Netflix. I kept seeing auto-trailer clip play a bunch of times as I scrolled through and finally decided to watch it. So glad I did. I was keen to watch the sequel but it was not available on any of my streaming services. Happily my public library had it but had to wait months for my turn after putting a hold. I think I should get the next one within the month. Love the library.
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