The Wild Bunch review

 Number 286 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 1969 epic revisionist Western 'The Wild Bunch.'

Pike Bishop (William Holden) is the leader of an ageing band of cowboys who are finding their way before the outbreak of the first world war. Wishing to retire soon, they want to do one last robbery, but they are pursued savagely by a rival gang led by Pike's father partner Deke Thornton (Robert Ryan.)

The Wild Bunch takes place at the end of the cowboy era, as these rustlers and would-be outlaws try to find their way in the ever-changing world. It is a swan-song to their legacy, but I would argue it is also a swan-song to the Western genre itself.

By 1969, Leone had released his dollars-trilogy and the best days of the Western genre were behind them. Spaghetti Westerns were becoming a thing of the past. Roll on the 70's with the resurgence of the gangster genre, as well as the rise of the Vietnam war films. Coppola and Scorsese released the Godfather and Mean Streets, which were followed at the end of the decade by the Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now. But the Wild Bunch paid homage to the best of the genre while keeping everything grounded in a gritty realism.

These aren't the romanticised, pretty-boy cowboys of Gary Cooper in High Noon, but rather the brutal anti-hero that Eastwood played in the Dollars' trilogy. The Wild Bunch have their own code of honour, but this doesn't apply to the civillians around them who are largely seen as collateral damage. It was a nice demystification of a highly romanticised figure. The Wild Bunch were just petty crooks masquerading as honourable cowboys.

They were led by William Holden in another morally duplicitous role similar to this Oscar-winning turn in Stalag-17. But he was good as the ageing, world-weary protagonist who just wants to retire and put the world behind him.

The Wild Bunch was an intensely violent, but enjoyable affair that acted as a lovely swan-song to the Western genre.

Stalag 17 review

 Number 202 on the top 1000 films of all time is Billy Wilder's 1953 war-film Stalag-17.

J.J Sefton (William Holden) is just one of six hundred and thirty sergeants being held prisoner in a German WW2 POW camp. He is a cynical, jaded loner who stays apart from the rest of his men. When an escape attempt that leads to two of his fellow prisoners being shot dead, he is quickly suspected of being a collaborator.

Admittedly, I wasn't looking forward to watching this. I thought that because it's a war film, it would be depressing, hard-going and difficult to watch. However, I was surprised to find it had plenty of laughs and light-heartedness. A lot of that was down to William Holden who was great as J.J Sefton. Sefton is your standard wise-cracking smart-arse. He is also enterprising often bartering with his guards for luxuries, as well as improvising a distillery, organising mouse-races for gambling, as well as other activities to keep the other prisoners entertained. Holden played the role well, stopping Sefton from becoming overly-cynical.

Billy wilder has done such a wide array of films over the years from noir to rom-coms to screwball comedies that it was no surprise that Stalag-17 succeeded in the way it did. It had the same off-beat humour as Some Like it Hot but also the drama of Sunset Boulevard.  Originally adapted from a stage-play, Wilder was able to keep that same theatrical feel, while making it suitable for the screen. He made everything bigger and better.

If the film fell down anywhere, it would have been the supporting cast. Although some of them like the German guards were funny in their own right, mostly they all blended into one. I did have trouble distinguishing the different characters. I did get mixed up between Lieutenant James Dunbar (Don Taylor) and security officer Frank Price (Peter Graves.) Other than Sefton, the only other character I really remember is Sefton's loyal, if naive aide Cookie (Gil Stratton) who also narrates the film.

Overall, I did enjoy Stalag-17. It was an entertaining war film with a great turn by William Holden.

Sabrina review

 Number 520 on the top 1000 films of all time is Billy Wilder's 1954 romantic-comedy 'Sabrina.'

Sabrina Fairchild (Audrey Hepburn) is the daughter of Thomas Fairchild - the chauffeur to the wealthy Larabee family. All her life, she has held an unrequited love to younger brother and playboy David (William Holden.) Also present is David's older brother Linus (Humphrey Bogart) who soon starts harbouring feelings of his own towards Sabrina.

Never mind 520 on the top 1000 films of all time, this film should be number one on the most boring films of all time. Seriously, it was as dull as your average period drama. And I'm not hating on romantic-comedies - I thoroughly enjoyed Breakfast at Tiffany's and Roman Holiday - but Sabrina was insufferably dull.

It was all so flat. There was so little drama. And so little conflict. Okay, fair enough, Sabrina's broken heart at David's constant womanising leads to her trying to commit suicide by locking herself in a garage with a running car, but she is quickly rescued by Linus, no harm done.

She is shipped off to a French-finishing school where she takes some cooking classes for a couple of years, before returning home where David finally starts taking an interest in her. It's hardly on the some levels of drama as the Notebook.

*Spoilers* It's later revealed that Linus has macchinated a marriage between David and Elizabeth Tyson - wealthy heiress to a business empire, all to serve the Larabees' business interests. In doing so, he falls in love with Sabrina and she him, creating a love triangle between David, Linus and Sabrina. Yet this never worked due to the lack of on-screen chemistry between the three leads, probably due to Bogart's dislike of Hepburn and Holden.

Hepburn is an obviously charming and accomplished actress especially in performing her verbose lines, so it's a shame I didn't like this film more. There was just nothing to interest me.

Roman Holiday review

 Number 230 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 1953 romantic-comedy Roman Holiday.

Princess Ann (Audrey Hepburn) is just completing her European tour in Rome. Sick of her diplomatic assignments she runs away for a night of fun. Enter hard-nosed journalist Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck) who has been tasked with getting an exclusive interview with the princess but ends up falling in love with her.

Some have labelled Roman Holiday as one of the most romantic films of all time. I did enjoy it a lot, but I wouldn't go that far. I don't think there was enough conflict or tension running through the film. We see Ann and Joe scootering around Rome in a love-filled daze until it inevitably comes crashing down at the film's conclusion. But it might have been nice to see more worry and doubt throughout the film. We certainly saw the highs, but we also should have seen the lows. We needed that contrast.

Character-driven films like these rely on the strength of their two leads. And Hepburn and Peck were both good considering this was Hepburn's breakout role and Peck's first foray into comedy. He did very well with the comedy especially the physical comedy. At times the comedy descended into farce and incredulity, particularly the fight scene on the boat. Although perhaps I am unfairly judging it from my modern-standard. 

But there were still plenty of great supporting characters like Bradley's photographer friend Irving, Bradley's boss and all the small Italian roles especially the taxi driver at the film's beginning.

Is Roman Holiday an entertaining, fun romantic comedy? Yes. Is it one of the best romances of all time? No.

Network review

 Number 180 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 1976 black-comedy satire Network.

Howard Beale (Peter Finch) long time news anchor of the fictional news network UBS declares on-air that he will commit suicide live. UBS, which has long been struggling with low ratings, immediately tries to fire him, but his friend and division president Max Schumacher (William Holden) permits Beale to have one more broadcast to say goodbye. Beale takes this as a chance to rant about how life is "bullshit." When the network's ratings spike, UBS decide to exploit this with programming chief Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway) deciding to give Beale his own "angry man" segment.

For a film that is so damning about the evils of everyday life, Network shares many tropes with your average melodramatic soap opera. We have lots of people yelling at each other (more on this later,) an extra-marital affair, ham-fisted messages, graphic violence and even a cheesy catchphrase. 

Perhaps I'm the wrong target demographic of this film. Being a millennial living in 2022, I am well aware of the pitfalls of modern society. For me, TV is little else than something I would just play in the background. But back in the seventies, TV was king and so the messages of the film may have resonated more with a 70's audience. I found everything very preachy and soapboxey. Beale's rants were like something you would see from a TV evangelist. They quickly lost their novelty and bloated out a film. It was only two hours long but it felt much longer.

This film was a critical success and was nominated for nine Oscars including the four acting Oscars. Finch, Dunaway and Beatrice Straight, who played Schumacher's wife, all won. Holden and Ned Beatty were also nominated but lost out. Yet I'm at a loss as to why any of them were nominated. As previously said, all they did was yell at each other. There was a lot of screaming and shouting in this film and not much else. Again, it did make for a very repetitive watch.

All in all, I'm probably the wrong audience. Network is a film that just doesn't hold the same relevance as it might once have done. After all, who still watches television?