Mostly Ghostly at Disney Studios

Earlier this week I enjoyed a wonderful Halloween event on the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank.

"Mostly Ghostly" was presented by Disney's D23 Official Fan Club.

Over the last decade I've been privileged to attend several screenings on the Disney lot, which are linked at the end of this post, and Mostly Ghostly was another memorable evening.

The fun began at check-in, when we received this marvelous pin honoring the 70th anniversary of THE ADVENTURES OF ICHABOD AND MR. TOAD (1949). I reviewed this film in 2014, and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" section of the movie was among the titles screened that evening.

It's always a treat to visit the gorgeous studio theater, which is located directly across from the studio's famed Animation building.

The theater lobby was beautifully decorated in the spirit of the holiday:

Everyone received a free bucket of popcorn, which was decorated with the logo from Disney's El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood.

Inside the theater, ahead of the evening's fun beginning:

The first section of the program was a history of Disneyland's Haunted Mansion ride, given by Chris Merritt of Walt Disney Imagineering. Chris is also the author of a wonderful history of Knott's Berry Farm, KNOTT'S PRESERVED.

I'm not a Haunted Mansion fan, but I was nonetheless very interested in Chris's talk thanks to my love for Disneyland in general. It's fascinating how many years the attraction was in development, and how many different ideas were considered before the final design was selected.

The talk also included a clip of Walt Disney and "Miss Disneyland Tencennial" Julie Riehm speaking with Imagineer Rolly Crump about his ideas for a "Museum of the Weird"...which was definitely weird!

Next up was Becky Cline of the Walt Disney Archives, who is also the author of THE WALT DISNEY STUDIOS: A LOT TO REMEMBER.

Becky showed two of her favorite classic Disney cartoons which were appropriate for the occasion. First up was LONESOME GHOSTS (1937), which may have inspired GHOSTBUSTERS (1984):

Although I'd previously seen LONESOME GHOSTS, TRICK OR TREAT (1952) was completely new to me. Donald's nephews arrive at his house to trick or treat, but Donald has some surprises of the "trick" variety in store for them.

The short featured the jaunty tune "Trick or Treat for Halloween" by Mack David, Al Hoffman, and Jerry Livingston, performed by the Mellomen.

The final speaker was Fox Carney of the Walt Disney Animation Research Library.

Fox presented stunning Mary Blair art for "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," which is half of Disney's previously mentioned animated "package" film THE ADVENTURES OF ICHABOD AND MR. TOAD. Photos of the art were not allowed but the artwork was absolutely gorgeous, heaven for a Mary Blair fan.

"Sleepy Hollow" concluded the portion of the evening which took place in the theater, after which we went outside for desserts and hot drinks:

The frosted brownies were delicious!

The Studio Store was open for shopping:

Here's the spookily lit Animation building. There were also strategically placed colored "fog" machines which was fun.

I love the nods to past Disney and film history which are all over the lot. For instance, this sign honoring Earl O. Hurd is located in the theater lobby:

And this stage is named for the Sherman Brothers:

It was a delightful evening in every way!

For more photos of this event, please visit Laughing Place.

Related Posts: Tonight's Movie: Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009) and a Visit to Walt Disney Studios; Tonight's Movie: Tangled (2010) at the Walt Disney Studios; Tonight's Movie: One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) at the Walt Disney Studios; Tonight's Movie: The Absent Minded Professor (1961) at the Walt Disney Studios; In Search of the Castaways (1962) at the Walt Disney Studios; The Reluctant Dragon (1941) 75th Anniversary Celebration at the Walt Disney Studios.

TCM in November: Highlights

November's here and that means it's time for a look at the November schedule for Turner Classic Movies!

The November Star of the Month is Bette Davis, the third time she has been so honored. Davis's career will be celebrated with 24-hour marathons every Tuesday this November.

I'll have a post up early next week taking a closer look at the November Star of the Month schedule. (Update: Please visit TCM Star of the Month: Bette Davis.)

The November Noir Alley titles are SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (1957) November 2nd and 3rd, JOHNNY EAGER (1942) on November 9th and 10th, THE HITCH-HIKER (1953) on the 16th and 17th, KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL (1952) on November 23rd-24th, and THE MASK OF DIMITRIOS (1944) the weekend of November 30th-December 1st.

On Wednesdays this month the TCM Spotlight will focus on the centennial of the American Society of Cinematographers.

The ASE tribute will include a new documentary by Daniel Raim, THE IMAGE MAKERS (2019). Raim also wrote and directed a very interesting documentary I watched last year, IN SEARCH OF OZU (2018).

Below are some of the additional interesting titles being shown on TCM this month. Please click any hyperlinked title to read the corresponding film review.

...The MGM musical LADY BE GOOD (1941) will be shown on November 3rd. Be sure to catch Eleanor Powell's dance with a dog! She trained the dog for the number herself. Ann Sothern, Robert Young, and Red Skelton costar.

...The late Nancy Gates will be celebrated on Monday evening, November 4th, with several titles including MASTERSON OF KANSAS (1954), SUDDENLY (1954), and SOME CAME RUNNING (1958). Gates is seen here in MASTERSON OF KANSAS with George Montgomery and James Griffith. It's this kind of programming, honoring a lesser-known actress who had a wonderful career, which makes me appreciate TCM the most.

...The first evening of the tribute to the American Society of Cinematographers on November 6th includes THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS (1942), filmed by Stanley Cortez, SUNRISE (1927), filmed by Charles Rosher and Karl Struss, and THE SEARCHERS (1956), filmed by Winton C. Hoch.

...A day of pre-Codes starring James Cagney includes PICTURE SNATCHER (1933), along with several other interesting titles. They air on November 7th.

...November 8th features a wonderful collection of films teaming Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland, including DODGE CITY (1939), CAPTAIN BLOOD (1935), and THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938).

...I highly recommended last year's release of a beautiful Blu-ray of MERRILY WE LIVE (1938), a screwball comedy with Constance Bennett and Brian Aherne leading a great cast. It will be shown on TCM November 10th.

...The Veterans Day schedule on November 11th includes a couple good-looking movies on my "to watch" list, DIVE BOMBER (1941) with Errol Flynn and Fred MacMurray, and GOD IS MY CO-PILOT (1945) with Dennis Morgan and Dane Clark.

...The November 13th evening honoring the American Society of Cinematographers includes two visually stunning Powell-Pressburger films shot by Jack Cardiff, BLACK NARCISSUS (1947) and THE RED SHOES (1948).

...Dick Powell receives an eight-film birthday tribute on November 14th. There's a wonderful variety of titles -- musicals, pre-Codes, a Western, even Shakespeare! Be sure to catch THE TALL TARGET (1951) and STATION WEST (1948), but the entire lineup is worthwhile.

...The Saturday morning lineup on November 16th including Dennis Morgan and John Payne in TEAR GAS SQUAD (1940). It may not be great art, but it's 55 minutes of fun for fans of Bs or the lead actors. It's even got musical numbers!

...Alan Ladd receives a prime time double bill tribute on Sunday, November 17th, with showings of two classics, SHANE (1953) and THIS GUN FOR HIRE (1942).

...November 18th features romances set in New York. I like HAVING WONDERFUL TIME (1938), which is admittedly a minor film but has Ginger Rogers and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. leading a great cast.

...Films featuring ballet on November 21st include Leslie Caron in THE GLASS SLIPPER (1955), a telling of the Cinderella story. Estelle Winwood is marvelous as Cinderella's Fairy Godmother, while Michael Wilding plays Prince Charming.

...On Sunday evening, November 24th, there's a wonderful double bill of films featuring "incognito princesses," ROMAN HOLIDAY (1953) and PRINCESS O'ROURKE (1943). ROMAN HOLIDAY stars Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, while PRINCESS O'ROURKE stars Olivia de Havilland and Robert Cummings.

...I haven't seen GREEN FOR DANGER (1946) in a few years and really need to revisit it! It's a delightful British mystery which holds up well to repeat viewings. The great cast includes a show-stealing Alastair Sim along with Trevor Howard, Leo Genn, Sally Gray, and Rosamund John. The air date is November 25th.

...As usual, there's a terrific lineup of family films on Thanksgiving Day, November 28th, including THE SECRET GARDEN (1949), HEIDI (1937), NATIONAL VELVET (1944), ROOM FOR ONE MORE (1952), and SITTING PRETTY (1948). SITTING PRETTY, a 20th Century-Fox comedy starring Maureen O'Hara, Robert Young, and Clifton Webb (seen here), receives a rare TCM showing.

...November concludes with Ann Blyth, Howard Keel, and Vic Damone starring in the MGM musical KISMET (1955) on November 30th.

Please visit the online schedule as well as my Quick Preview of TCM in November and TCM Star of the Month: Bette Davis for more information on TCM in November 2019.

Happy November movie viewing, and best wishes for a very happy Thanksgiving to all my readers!

Criterion Collection Half-Price Fall Sale at B&N

The annual November half-price Criterion Collection sale began today at Barnes & Noble.

I took advantage of a recent 24-hour "flash sale" at the Criterion Collection site to stock up on CLUNY BROWN (1946) and THE FLAVOR OF GREEN TEA OVER RICE (1952). The latter is a particularly good deal as the set comes with a second feature film included, WHAT DID THE LADY FORGET? (1937). I recommend both purchases; all three films have been reviewed here in the past.

I suspect the giant new GODZILLA collection will be under many Christmas trees this year thanks to the sale!

The sale runs through December 1st.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!

This year we are celebrating the day with a cute photo of Ann Rutherford selling made-to-order jack-o-lanterns. It looks like it was probably photographed in the late '30s.

Have a fun day!

Previous Halloween posts, in reverse chronological order: Janis Paige (2018), Ella Raines (2017), Veronica Lake (2016), Barbara Bates (2015), Marsha Hunt (2014), Linda Darnell (2013), and the BEWITCHED cast (2012).

Hop-a-long Cassidy (1935) on Location in Lone Pine at Classic Movie Hub

My latest post is now available at Classic Movie Hub!

This month's column looks at the very first Hopalong Cassidy film, HOP-A-LONG CASSIDY (1935), and its locations in the Alabama Hills outside Lone Pine, California.

The movie was screened at this year's Lone Pine Film Festival, after which I participated in a tour of the movie's locations. My article includes lots of photos of the Alabama Hills!

Please click on over to Classic Movie Hub to read more.

For more on this year's Lone Pine Film Festival, my preview of the festival was posted at Classic Movie Hub last month, and my post-festival overview may be found right here.

Previous Classic Movie Hub Western Roundup Column Links: June 2018; July 2018; August 2018; September 2018; October 2018; November 2018; December 2018; January 2019; February 2019; April 5, 2019; April 30, 2019; May 2019; June 2019; July 2019; August 2019; September 2019.

Tonight's Movie: Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

James Garner stars in SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL GUNFIGHTER (1971), recently released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber.

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL GUNFIGHTER was inspired by the success of SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF! (1969), reviewed here earlier this month. The films share the same director, Burt Kennedy, and cinematographer, Harry Stradling Jr., along with several of the same cast members, but other than that, the films are unrelated.

Whereas SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF! was written by William Bowers, this time around the script was by James Edward Grant. Grant did some fine work over many years, including one of my favorite John Wayne films, ANGEL AND THE BADMAN (1947), but GUNFIGHTER is not one of his better efforts. The best line is even stolen from another John Wayne film, TALL IN THE SADDLE (1944)!

This time around Garner plays Latigo Smith, who as the film begins sneaks off a train filled with ladies of "easy virtue," including Goldie (Marie Windsor). He lands in the town of Purgatory, where through a series of circumstances he finds himself posing as the business manager of a famous gunfighter, Swifty Morgan. The only problem is that "Swifty" is a phony; he's really just a drunk named Jug May (Jack Elam)...and the real Swifty (Chuck Connors) is on a train headed toward Purgatory.

Latigo also gets involved with the trigger-happy Patience (Suzanne Pleshette), who dreams of leaving Purgatory for a finishing school in New York. When she finally kisses Latigo, what thrills her most is that she's kissing a man who's set foot in New York!

I've seen SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL GUNFIGHTER almost as many times as SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF!, always hoping that I'll finally find it as funny as the earlier movie, but it just never gets there. SHERIFF is one of my favorite comedies, and on this viewing I set out to figure out exactly why GUNFIGHTER falls short. I believe I've hit on some answers.

First, the humor in general is less creative and more juvenile. Instead of focusing on smart gags like the painted "door" of the jail or Garner's bemused reactions to the madness around him, as occurred in SHERIFF, in the later film we get childish scenes such as a dog using Garner's leg as a "fire hydrant" early in the movie. I'm sorry, that's just not funny, nor is some of the other humor; this film is also missing some of the great dialogue of the earlier movie. Grant simply wasn't able to catch the same lightning in a bottle that Bowers nailed, comedically speaking.

In GUNFIGHTER's Latigo Smith, Garner plays a character who in many ways is unattractive, in terms of both character and looks. (Yes, looks! Garner was at his absolute most handsome in SHERIFF, but those sideburns in GUNFIGHTER were a terrible mistake.) Latigo is a lazy chiseler and a gambling addict, and one of his major issues is how to remove an unfortunate tattoo from his chest. Compare and contrast with Garner's SHERIFF character who is constantly busy solving problems, albeit in unusual ways, and making the town a better place.

Similarly, in the earlier film Joan Hackett's character is...exuberant...but she's also smart; she just happens to end up in some crazy situations! Pleshette's Patience, on the other hand, comes off as plain nuts for much of the film.

That's not to say there's absolutely nothing good about the movie. It's got James Garner, which is certainly worth something, and it's mildly amusing, which are two reasons I have gone back to it every now and again. Chuck Connors is particularly deserving of kudos for his small role as the real gunfighter.

All in all, there are surely worse ways to spend an afternoon, even if the movie's not on a level with SHERIFF, which I view as one of the funniest films ever made. It's pleasant hanging out with the great cast of faces, and it's especially fun that John Dehner was cast as a villain, given that he guest-starred opposite Garner and played the villain in the greatest MAVERICK episode of them all, "Shady Deal at Sunny Acres."

Returning from the earlier film, along with Garner and Elam, are Harry Morgan, Kathleen Freeman, Henry Jones, Willis Bouchey, Walter Burke, Gene Evans, Dick Haynes, and Bill and Danny Borzage. Joan Blondell, Ben Cooper, Herb Vigran, Dub Taylor, and Ellen Corby are also on hand this time around.

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL GUNFIGHTER runs 91 minutes.

The Kino Lorber Blu-ray is a very good-looking print. The disc includes two deleted scenes, a commentary track by Michael Schlesinger, the trailer, and four additional trailers for Westerns available from Kino Lorber.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

Tonight's Movie: Idiot's Delight (1939) - A Warner Archive DVD Review

Clark Gable and Norma Shearer star in IDIOT'S DELIGHT (1939), available on DVD from the Warner Archive.

This filming of Robert Sherwood's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1936 play was the third and last of three movies in which Gable and Shearer costarred. Their first film together was A FREE SOUL (1931), with Gable in a supporting role, followed by STRANGE INTERLUDE (1932).

In IDIOT'S DELIGHT Gable plays Harry Van, a song-and-dance man who after service in World War I spends many years earning a hardscrabble living in the lower rungs of the entertainment business. Harry's current gig is a little more plush, touring Europe and performing with half a dozen lovely chorines (who include Virginia Grey, Paula Stone, and Virginia Dale).

Harry and the girls are forced to leave their train and head for a hotel when borders are closed due to the pending war. Among the other hotel guests is an obviously phony "Russian countess" (Shearer) Harry believes he recognizes from a short-lived fling during a Midwest engagement many years before...

I was prepared to like this film, given the lead actors, and was surprised to find the movie is an endless gabfest. It was the rare film where coincidentally I looked at the clock exactly 47 minutes in and was amazed to realize the movie still had an entire hour to go. Robert Sherwood's script, based on his play, is way too dull and talky. If actors like Gable, Shearer, Edward Arnold, and Charles Coburn can't breathe life into a film there's a problem.

The highlight, amidst the talk-talk-talking in the hotel, is Gable and his chorus performing "Puttin' on the Ritz" for their fellow hotel guests. I first saw an excerpt from this number in THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT! (1974) as a child and consequently have seen that one sequence many times since. It's the liveliest moment in the movie, and Gable acquits himself surprisingly well as a good-natured song-and-dance man.

Otherwise, much of the movie consists of Gable staring at Shearer while his character tries to figure out if she's actually the American woman he remembers from his past. She frankly becomes tiresome in short order, prancing about with her phony accent and wig.

There's considerable talk about war, with a munitions manufacturer (Arnold) and a pacifist (the always-annoying Burgess Meredith) both staying at the hotel and military planes stationed next door. The movie was such a yawner that the more profound implications of their discussions scarcely registered, but I did find it interesting that Arnold's munitions maker was cast as a villain, rather than, say...Hitler.

In fact, it was also interesting that the film seemed to have a more isolationist "We don't want to relive WWI" attitude than other films made in the year or two before the U.S. entrance into the war, such as (among others) CONFESSIONS OF A NAZI SPY (1939) or THE MAN I MARRIED (1940). The movie skates around discussions of actual countries and current issues addressed by those films, in favor of a "War is bad" message, without recognizing that sometimes it's also necessary.

The movie comes to an end as bombs fall while Gable and Shearer gather 'round the piano, one of two endings shot; there was a different ending for European markets. Although meant to be profound, this concluding scene lacks the weight of the "bombs falling" ending of the following year's FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (1940). To the contrary, the ending of IDIOT'S DELIGHT comes off as a very strange moment.

IDIOT'S DELIGHT was directed by Clarence Brown and filmed in black and white by William Daniels. The movie was made with the usual MGM gloss, including gowns by Adrian.

The cast also includes Joseph Schildkraut, Pat Paterson (who was Mrs. Charles Boyer), Fritz Feld, Peter Willes, and Laura Hope Crews.

A side note: A bright spot for me was discovering Paula Stone among the chorines. She was the leading lady of the very first Hopalong Cassidy movie, HOP-A-LONG CASSIDY (1935), which I recently saw at the Lone Pine Film Festival. I'll have an article on that film featured at Classic Movie Hub in the near future. Stone was also in a couple Dick Foran Westerns, including TRAILIN' WEST (1936). Stone is seen in this photo just to the right of Gable, with Gable's longtime '40s flame Virginia Grey at the far right.

The Warner Archive DVD is an older print with the Turner logo at the beginning, but I thought it was fine, without major flaws and with good sound. The disc includes the trailer.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this DVD. Warner Archive releases are MOD (manufactured on demand) and may be ordered from Amazon and other online retailers.

2024 Update: IDIOT'S DELIGHT will be released on Blu-ray in July 2024.

Tonight's Movie: The Trackers (1971) - A Kino Lorber DVD Review

THE TRACKERS (1971) is a TV-movie recently released on DVD by Kino Lorber.

THE TRACKERS is one of a trio of early '70s TV Westerns now available from Kino Lorber, along with THE DAUGHTERS OF JOSHUA CABE (1972), reviewed here a few days ago, and THE BOUNTY MAN (1972) with Clint Walker, which will be reviewed here at a future date.

Ernest Borgnine and Julie Adams play Sam and Dora Paxton, farmers who are on a shopping trip to town when raiders hit their farm. The Paxtons' teenage son (William Katt) is killed and their daughter Becky (Connie Kreski) is missing.

A posse fails to find the girl, and the local sheriff (Jim Davis) and a scout (Arthur Hunnicutt) the sheriff hires to help in the search are of limited help. Sam writes to an old friend who is a U.S. Marshal for help, but the man is unable to come. In his place he sends Deputy Marshal Ezekiel Smith (Sammy Davis Jr.) with his highest recommendation.

The ungrateful Sam is offended by the idea of working with a black man to track his daughter, but Dora will accept any help offered and eagerly answers the Deputy Marshal's questions. Sam grudgingly accepts the Deputy Marshal's offer of help, in order to placate his grieving wife, and the men set off on their search.

The racial angle provides an unusual spin to this story which is somewhat reminiscent of THE SEARCHERS (1956). Unfortunately, the racial animus aggressively expressed by Sam makes him so unlikeable and goes on for so much of the movie that it can be hard to watch at times.

It's probably not a surprise that the men eventually coming to terms is a major theme of the story, but Sam's previous behavior has been so obnoxious that it's almost unbelievable when he has a significant shift in attitude late in the film.

Julie Adams, looking appropriately worn and sporting what might have been her native Arkansas accent, is always a welcome screen presence. Most of the actors don't have enough screen time in the movie's 73 minutes to really develop characters, but faces like Davis, Hunnicutt, Leo Gordon, and Ross Elliott give the film more weight than it otherwise might have had.

In the end THE TRACKERS is not a particularly good film, being difficult to watch at times for the stated reasons, but Western fans will find it worth a look just to check out the cast.

The film was written by Gerald Gaiser from a story by Sammy Davis Jr. and Aaron Spelling; Davis and Spelling were also two of the film's three producers.

The film was directed by Earl Bellamy and shot by Tim Southcott. The score by Johnny Mandel did not impress, with the orchestrations sounding too modern for the film's time period; at times the music was also too jaunty, seeming mismatched with what was happening on screen.

The picture is a bit iffy at times, with a thin colored line across the top of the screen at one point, but it's about what one would expect for a TV-movie of its time period which has probably been sitting on a shelf for decades. I think it's great that Kino Lorber is making these films available once more.

The disc includes a gallery of trailers for three additional films available from Kino Lorber; the trailers do not have separate menu listings but run one immediately after the other.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this DVD.

Tonight's Movie: Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019)

Today I saw MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL (2019), the sequel to MALEFICENT (2014), reviewed here last night.

As the new film opens, Aurora (Elle Fanning), who was declared Queen of the Moors by her Fairy Godmother Maleficent (Angelina Jolie), has just become engaged to Prince Philip (Harris Dickinson, replacing Brenton Thwaites of the first movie).

Maleficent, always wary of humans despite her love for the very human Aurora, is skeptical of the match but agrees to attend an engagement dinner hosted by Philip's parents King John (Robert Lindsay) and Queen Ingrith (Michelle Pfeiffer).

While Philip's father is genuinely thrilled that Philip and Aurora's marriage should help cement peace between the humans of his kingdom and the fairy folk of the Moors, it's unknown to all that Queen Ingrith has some very nasty plans afoot...starting with the destruction of her future daughter-in-law's beloved Godmother.

MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL is worthwhile, though I didn't find it as good as the earlier film; for a quick comparison, I'd term it a pleasant 2-1/2 star entertainment compared to the first film's solid 3 stars.

As in the first film, it's largely Jolie's show, and she runs away with every scene she's in. The subtitle, MISTRESS OF EVIL, while catchy, is inaccurate; Maleficent may look scary and have a "reputation," but in truth she's the protector of those who cannot save themselves from evil.

Jolie's Maleficent does have occasion to, one might say, let her inner "green Hulk" emerge, but she also has some lovely comedic moments, such as the scenes where her loyal servant Diaval (Sam Riley, returning from the first film) coaches her on etiquette and the art of small talk. The humorous banter between Maleficent and Diaval provides highlights in both films. I also continue to find her emotional connection with Aurora quite moving.

Fanning is a sweet and lovely Aurora, who also has the requisite spunk when needed, and Dickinson is an improvement on his predecessor in the role of Philip, showing greater maturity.

Imelda Staunton, Lesley Manville, and Juno Temple also reprise their roles as the trio of Good Fairies who are Aurora's "Aunties"; if only the CGI caricatures didn't look quite so creepy!

There's an attempt to give Pfeiffer's character some motivation, but it's fairly weak tea, and it's completely lacking when it comes to her evil servant (Jenn Murray). It's true evil often doesn't have a reason, it simply is, but she was so unpleasant that I didn't enjoy watching her at all.

In this and other regards the film suffers in focusing too much on war rather than character. I commented regarding the first film that the battle scenes could have been trimmed, and here they were allowed to grow even more excessive, at the expense of quieter moments examining people and relationships. An attempt to shoehorn in the problems of an entirely new set of characters with whom Maleficent shares much in common is not entirely successful either.

The film is notably longer than the previous movie, 118 minutes to the first film's 97, and I think the story could easily have not only been somewhat reshaped but trimmed. It's interesting to note that while Linda Wolverton wrote the first film, here she was joined by two additional writers, Noah Harpster and Micah Fitzerman-Blue. We can't know who contributed what, but given Wolverton's solid track record one does wonder about "too many cooks."

A couple of scenes in particular were way over the top, notably the attempt to gas the fairy folk at the wedding. This being Disney, it's not a spoiler that all's well that ends well, but I'm sure I'm not the only person who thought uncomfortably of the Holocaust, which is not where you want your mind to go when enjoying a Disney film.

While it's perhaps easier to articulate what the negative issues were, despite those problems I did have quite a nice morning at the movies watching this film. The performances of Jolie, Fanning, and Riley are all excellent, and there are some real crowd-pleasing moments for their characters in the final scenes, in particular. I'm glad I spent part of my weekend watching this pair of movies.

MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL was directed by Joachim Ronning and filmed by Henry Braham.

Parental Advisory: This film is rated PG. As with the first film, there are a few moments which could easily disturb young children, but it's family friendly in other regards.

A trailer is on YouTube.