Around the Blogosphere This Week

Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the Internet...

...An advance review copy MURDER AT THE MOVIES: A MOVIE PALACE MYSTERY by Alicia Malone of Turner Classic Movies has just arrived in my mailbox. It will be published by Running Press in October. Looks like fun!

 ...Dave Karger of TCM also has a book coming out from Running Press later this year: 50 MOVIE NIGHTS: CONTEMPORARY STARS ON THEIR FAVORITE CLASSIC FILMS

...Raquel Stecher of Out of the Past has just published a new edition of her much-appreciated "New & Upcoming Classic Film Books" list. A book on Rita Johnson particularly caught my eye, and I'm also intrigued by upcoming titles on UNIVERSAL MUSICALS, MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (spelled NEIGHBOUR in the title because it's a UK book), Joe McDoakes comedies, and MGM costume designer Adrian.

...Last week I shared the sad news of the passing of actor Randolph Mantooth of EMERGENCY! On Twitter, Gary Wells shared the link for an article he wrote a few years ago on the show and its importance in his life. It's a lovely read.

...Last night I recorded a recent documentary on Disney Imagineer Bob Gurr, BOB GURR: LIVING BY DESIGN (2025), from public TV. Disney fans will want to keep an eye out for it. I've been very fortune to meet Bob and hear him speak a number of times over the years.

...Good news for Deanna Durbin fans! Universal is releasing FIRST LOVE (1939) and I'LL BE YOURS (1947) on Blu-ray in August. I rewatched FIRST LOVE just a few months ago and loved it all over again.

...Toby Roan has reviewed the new Warner Archive Blu-ray of COLT .45 (1950) at 50 Westerns From the 50s. My own copy just arrived and will be reviewed here in the near future.

...I enjoyed this interview Lee Jutton conducted with Eddie Muller, with topics including film noir (of course!) in general and his TCM "Summer of Darkness" series in particular.

...Coming to Blu-ray from Sony in September: A Blu-ray release of TV's BRIDGET LOVES BERNIE (1972-73) starring David Birney and Meredith Baxter, who was known as Meredith Baxter Birney after their real-life 1974 marriage. I fondly recall the time I went to see Linda Purl starring in Ibsen's A DOLL HOUSE in an Equity Waiver theater in Los Angeles in the early '80s and the Birneys were sitting behind me...alas, they later divorced.

...Criterion is reissuing its Eclipse set The First Films of Samuel Fuller, originally released on DVD, on Blu-ray. I reviewed one of the films in the set, I SHOT JESSE JAMES (1949), here over a dozen years ago. I quite enjoyed it.

...At Shadows and Satin Karen Burroughs Hannsberry has just reviewed a film I need to watch soon, CAST A DARK SHADOW (1955) with Margaret Lockwood and Dirk Bogarde.

...This weekend I watched Jeanne Crain in DANGEROUS CROSSING (1953) for the first time in many years. I'd forgotten just how entertaining it is. Recommended!

...My great thanks to Christine of ClassicFilmLA for again tipping me off to some wonderful upcoming Disney-themed events. This fall a new exhibition is opening at the Forest Lawn Museum in Glendale: "California Visionaries: The Lives and Legacies of Walt Disney and Hubert Eaton." It runs September 19th through February 7th. A decade ago I attended a wonderful Forest Lawn Museum exhibit of art by Eyvind Earle, who designed the look of Disney's SLEEPING BEAUTY (1959), and I hope to visit this exhibit as well. The museum offers free admission.

...And Walt Disney Archives Director Becky Cline gives a talk on Disney's True-Life Adventures at the Los Angeles Breakfast Club on August 5th.  As I said to Christine, I only wish it weren't such a challenge making it from Orange County to Los Angeles for Breakfast Club events; they start at 7:00 a.m.

...Notable Passings: I was very sorry about the death of Sam Neill at 78. I haven't seen a great many of his films but when I did I always liked him, most especially in THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER (1990)...Emmy-nominated soap opera actor Scott Bryce, best known for AS THE WORLD TURNS, has died at 68.

...For additional recent links of interest to classic film fans, please visit my July 11th column.

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Tonight's Movie: The Black Shield of Falworth (1954) - A Universal Blu-ray Review

The swashbuckling classic THE BLACK SHIELD OF FALWORTH (1954) has just been released on Blu-ray by Universal Pictures.

I don't use the word "classic" lightly; like Curtis's earlier SON OF ALI BABA (1952), this film is a joy start to finish, '50s era studio entertainment at its best.

The movie played on local television often when I was young -- I seem to recall it was KHJ Channel 9 which showed it -- and the wonderful cast and combination of action, humor, and romance helped draw me into the world of classic-era movies.

It's a tired cliche to make fun of the casting of Tony Curtis as a knight, given that he was born Bernard Schwartz in New York, but we'll have none of that here. Proper accent or not, the handsome young actor is absolutely perfect as Myles of Crisbey-Dale, a peasant farmer with a mysterious past.

Myles has a run-in with the Earl of Alban (David Farrar, THE GOLDEN HORDE) after one of the Earl's men attacks Myles' sister Meg (Barbara Rush), after which Myles and Meg's guardian Diccon (Rhys Williams) sends them to Mackworth Castle.

Mackworth Castle is the seat of the Earl of Mackworth (Herbert Marshall), who unbeknownst to Myles and Meg was a close friend of their late father's. It is the Earl who holds the key to their unknown past.

Myles is trained to become a knight by the Earl's friend Sir James (Torin Thatcher, who's especially great), while Meg becomes a companion to the Earl's daughter Anne (Janet Leigh). Myles and Anne fall in love, but will she be forced to marry the Earl of Alban?

This film's 99 minutes speed by; it may not be a classic in terms of being high art, but it's highly entertaining, and that's classic enough for me.

Watch Curtis carefully, as it's clear he does many of his own stunts, including hopping on a horse without using the stirrups. He has a physicality which was well suited for the role.

Production on this film began roughly two and a half years after Curtis and Leigh married in real life, and they have a lovely chemistry here. Leigh's exquisite beauty as spunky Anne is shown off to perfection in Technicolor, filmed by Irving Glassberg.

Also lovely is Rush as Myles' sweet sister, who is courted by Myles' friend Francis (Craig Hill). The entire cast is top-notch, also including Ian Keith, Dan O'Herlihy, Doris Lloyd, and Charles Fitz Simons, the brother of Maureen O'Hara.

Deep in the cast are actors who, if not household names, would have solid careers as working actors, including Nicolas Coster, Brett Halsey, and Lance Fuller.

The movie was directed by former cinematographer Rudolph Mate. The screenplay by Oscar Brodney was based on the novel MEN OF IRON by Howard Pyle.

This movie previously had a 2010 DVD-R release in the Universal Vault Series.

The widescreen Blu-ray print of this CinemaScope film is of fine quality, with an excellent soundtrack.

There are no extras on this disc, but it does include optional English-language captions.

Thanks to Allied Vaughn and Universal for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. It may be purchased from Movie Zyng and other online retailers.

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Happy 71st Birthday, Disneyland!

"To all who come to this happy place, welcome!"

Those words were said by Walt Disney on July 17, 1955, and today thus marks the 71st birthday of one of my very favorite places, Disneyland USA.

As is the case most years, I was blessed to be able to spend several hours at Disneyland on its anniversary today.

Our time at the park today included visiting several favorite rides, including one of the opening day attractions, the Casey Jr. Circus Train.

We also enjoyed a few other rides, including stopping by another opening day Fantasyland attraction, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

Happy 71st Birthday, Disneyland!

Previous Disneyland Birthday Posts: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015 (and more here), 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.

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Laura's Miscellaneous Musings Turns 21

As is tradition here, I'm pausing for a moment to note that today, July 16th, is the anniversary of the founding of this blog.

Laura's Miscellaneous Musings began on July 16, 2005, and has been going steadily ever since!

It's been several years since I did a celebratory blog giveaway, but I have something in the works coming up in the next few days, so stay tuned.

As always, my deepest appreciation to every person who reads and supports this blog. I am very grateful. Thank you all!

Previous blog anniversaries: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.

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Tonight's Movie: Letty Lynton (1932) - A Warner Archive Blu-ray Review

It's been a long time coming, but the Warner Archive Collection Blu-ray release of LETTY LYNTON (1932) was certainly worth the wait.

As many classic film fans are already aware, LETTY LYNTON was tangled in rights issues for decades, since shortly after its initial release. Until earlier this year, it hadn't had a public screening since roughly the mid '30s.

I first saw the film in 2008, via a DVD-R copy of unknown provenance which was so poor that at times I was more listening to than viewing the movie. Despite that, I was still completely swept up in the film's magic.

In the years since I first watched it, hope was occasionally expressed by the Warner Archive Collection that LETTY's rights would be freed up, but it never came to pass.

Fast forward to this spring, nearly two decades after my first viewing of the movie, when it was very unexpectedly announced that the rights issues had been cleared at long last and the movie would be screened at the TCM Classic Film Festival.

I was at that screening, when Eddie Muller began his introduction exclaiming "Merry Christmas!" And it certainly did feel like Christmas being in the sold-out crowd to see the movie's first theatrical screening in roughly 90 years, in a pristine print. I've been attending the festival for many years, and that was certainly at the top of my list of favorite fest experiences.

Watching the movie at TCMFF, I loved it even more than I had during my first very rough-looking viewing. I was thrilled to watch the movie all over again today via the beautiful new Warner Archive Blu-ray. I don't exaggerate when I say that this disc is a classic film fan's dream come true, both in terms of the release being a reality and the quality of both the film and the Blu-ray print.

Joan Craword and Robert Montgomery were at the zenith of their pre-Code careers as Letty and Jerry, two gorgeous people from wealthy families who fall in love on a three-week cruise from Montevideo to New York.

Jerry doesn't know that Letty, whose upbringing was troubled, has what might be euphemistically referred to as a "past," including having had an extended romance with Emile (Nils Asther) during her travels.

Over time Emile had shown himself to be an unpleasant man, and it's even more apparent when he won't accept Letty breaking up with him; he flies to New York and is on the dock when the ship arrives with the newly engaged Letty and Jerry.

A horrified Letty manages to keep Jerry from seeing Emile and begs Emile to leave her alone, but he taunts her with letters Letty doesn't want made public and insists she must come see him at his hotel or...

To say more wouldn't be fair to the film's many first-time viewers, who are in for a delightful roller coaster ride over the film's 84 minutes. 

I will say that the climactic scene with the District Attorney (Lewis Stone) is one of the most blissfully perfect scenes of pre-Code cinema I've ever seen. Every time I watch the sequence I smile; Montgomery was a perfect knight in shining armor, and ultimately the scene is rather funny, too. Letty's maid (Louise Closser Hale) adding her two cents was a "cherry on top" moment which brought the house down at the TCM Festival screening.

As for Crawford, she is moving, romantic, and gorgeous, perfectly paired with Montgomery. Having now seen the film twice where I could actually watch every scene, I believe I can safely say this is my favorite Crawford film. I love watching Letty and Jerry, and the film epitomizes MGM '30s glamour.

The movie was perfectly directed by Clarence Brown, who had directed Crawford and Clark Gable in the outstanding POSSESSED (1931) the previous year. And like POSSESSED, the movie was shot by Oliver T. Marsh, with Crawford spectacularly gowned by Adrian. The white "Letty Lynton gown" inspired by this movie was sold by the thousands at Macy's.

The supporting cast also includes May Robson, Emma Dunn and Walter Walker.

It may be that the movie going unscreened for so many decades protected the "best preservation elements" used for the 4K scans for this 1080p HD master. To my eye it's one of the better Blu-ray prints I've seen from the pre-Code era, despite a complete original negative apparently no longer existing.

Disc extras consist of the 75-minute documentary IRVING THALBERG: PRINCE OF HOLLYWOOD (2005) plus five radio shows featuring Crawford. The radio programs are GOOD NEWS OF 1938 (1938); GOOD NEWS OF 1939 (1938); "The Train Ride" episode of THE SILVER THEATER (1939); "None Shall Part Us" with Ronald Colman and Lew Ayres on GULF SCREEN THEATER (1939); and a Lux Radio Theater production of A DOLL'S HOUSE (1938) costarring Basil Rathbone.

This film will also have a Warner Archive DVD release in the next few weeks.

LETTY LYNTON is highly recommended.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. Warner Archive Blu-rays may be ordered from Movie Zyng, Amazon, and other online retailers.

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Tonight's Movie: The Frightened City (1961) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

THE FRIGHTENED CITY (1961) was my second film to watch from the Kino Lorber Brit Noir Collection I, following CAGE OF GOLD (1950).

THE FRIGHTENED CITY stars Herbert Lom and Sean Connery in a tale of the London crime underworld.

Lom and Alfred Marks play Waldo and Harry, mobsters who come up with the idea to unite with several other gangs to form one unified entity collecting protection money from businesses all over town.  All the gang heads will split the profits, minus ten percent going to Waldo off the top.

Former burglar Paddy Damion (Connery), in need of work due to having recently lost his longtime partner in crime (Kenneth Griffiths) to a crippling injury, is brought on as the consortium's "insurance" collector and enforcer.

Paddy also has a busy love life, sneaking around on loyal girlfriend Sadie (Olive McFarland) with Anya (Yvonne Romain); Anya, for her part, is also the mistress of Waldo and might be doing a little spying on Paddy.

When Waldo decides to move into big-time extortion of construction companies, one of the racketeers, Alf (David Davies), believes it's a disaster in the making and wants to quit the group. Paddy is asked to bring Alf in for a "business" discussion, assured that's all that's going to take place, but things don't go as Paddy expects...

I found THE FRIGHTENED CITY a reasonably entertaining 97 minutes. The main thing that stands out, of course, is Connery, in one of several roles he played the year before his first 007 appearance in DR. NO (1962).

Connery is handsome and charismatic, though his character is a bit of a jerk when it comes to how he treats the women in his life. Lom is always dependable in this type of role, as a greedy man who thinks nothing of causing business owners to suffer so that he can accumulate wealth.

The rest of the film is a straightforward mob story, nothing of particular excellence but certainly not a bad film, either. It's a rough, tough story demonstrating that ultimately, crime doesn't pay. If you like gritty films set in London -- and I do -- this will fill the bill. Having the chance to see it in a sharp-looking 4K restoration adds to the enjoyment.

The movie was directed by John Lemont and filmed in black and white by Desmond Dickinson. It was written by director Lemont, along with Leigh Vance, from Lemont's story.

Disc extras include a commentary track by C. Courtney Joyner and Bruce Scivally, plus a gallery of three trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber.

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

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Around the Blogosphere This Week

Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the Internet...

 ...The great news keeps coming from the Warner Archive Collection. In addition to a long list of films coming out in late July and early August, another batch of Blu-rays has just been announced for August 18th. Titles include John Ford's THE WINGS OF EAGLES (1957) and SERGEANT RUTLEDGE (1960), plus appealing films from Warner Bros. and MGM such as TORRID ZONE (1940), ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT (1942), and THE HUMAN COMEDY (1943). BROADWAY MELODY OF 1938 (1937) and MONTANA (1950) are also on the list!

...The Warner Archive Collection has also announced a 4K release of OUT OF THE PAST (1947) for September 2nd; the set will have two discs, a 4K and a regular Blu-ray. I rarely cover 4K releases here, as I'm not upgrading my collection beyond Blu-rays and have no personal interest, but this is a special film which is important to many, so I'm sharing the information.

...From the great Farran Smith Nehme, for CineConnections: "Love Hurts: Romance in Film Noir."

...Due out in late July: A limited edition Blu-ray release of THE OUTFIT (1973) from Arrow Video. Glenn Erickson has a review. The movie stars Robert Duvall and Joe Don Baker, but it's the supporting cast that will make a classic film fan's eyes pop: Jane Greer, Robert Ryan, Marie Windsor, Elisha Cook Jr., Timothy Carey, Roy Roberts, Emile Meyer, Richard Jaeckel, and Sheree North. For those keeping score, that's three players from THE KILLING (1956) alone!

...Glenn Erickson has also just reviewed the new Warner Archive Blu-ray of LETTY LYNTON (1932).

...A new telling of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE has just debuted on Netflix. Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter has a review.

...Kino Lorber has just announced the upcoming release of another Lino Ventura film, THE SILENT ONE (1973), costarring Robert Hardy. Ventura is an actor I've really come to appreciate in recent months thanks to Kino Lorber's French noir releases.

...The American Cinematheque will be screening Joan Crawford and Jack Palance in SUDDEN FEAR (1952), introduced by the great film historian Foster Hirsch, at the Los Feliz 3 Theatre on July 29th.

...My sincere thanks to Christine of ClassicFilmLA for alerting me to several more interesting Southern California classic film events happening in the near future, starting with another screening with an appearance by Foster Hirsch. He'll be hosting WILD IN THE COUNTRY (1961) with Millie Perkins at the Monterey Park Public Library on August 1st.

...More from Christine: I was interested to learn that Arizona State University has a fashion design museum in Los Angeles, the FIDM. An exhibit on MGM's great costume designer Adrian will run from August to December...The Burbank Museum and the Burbank Historical Society will be hosting a screening of the documentary BEYOND GODOLPHIN: THE HANK JONES STORY (2026) on July 25th. The film is about actor Hank Jones, who appeared in a number of Disney films in the late '60s and '70s, starting with BLACKBEARD'S GHOST (1968). Although I already have plans that date, I'm quite interested in this and hope there will be a chance to see the documentary another time in the future. Thank you again for sharing all the interesting news, Christine!

...Notable Passing: Sad news for those of us who love EMERGENCY! (1972-79), actor Randolph Mantooth has passed away at the age of 80. Mantooth memorably played paramedic Johnny Gage. As I've written in my story on the 2022 50th anniversary celebration of the show and again in a Blu-ray review of the series, the L.A. County-set EMERGENCY! had a huge impact on paramedic programs becoming standard across the entire country; the show also encouraged countless numbers of people to become firefighters or paramedics. Mantooth (at right in this photo) and Kevin Tighe (left), who played his partner Roy DeSoto and became a lifelong close friend, have supported paramedic programs throughout their lives since the series, and even co-produced a documentary on paramedics.

...Notable Passing: Disney Legend Don Iwerks has passed on at 96. Iwerks was the son of another Disney Legend, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit creator Ub Iwerks, and the father of documentarian Leslie Iwerks. Don Iwerks' many achievements included developing the Circle Vision camera used to film AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL, a childhood favorite of mine at Disneyland which I'd love to have the chance to see again. He also worked on the sodium vapor process for combining live action with animation in MARY POPPINS (1964).

...More Notable Passings: Actresses Joanna Pettet and Antoinette Bower have each passed away at the age of 93. Each worked steadily, especially in TV, over decades.

...For additional recent links of interest to classic film fans, please visit my July 4th column.

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Tonight's Movie: Black Widow (1954)

This week I finally caught up with a film which has long been on my "to watch" list, BLACK WIDOW (1954).

BLACK WIDOW isn't the 2021 Marvel movie, which I saw and reviewed upon its release, but rather a '50s murder mystery with a terrific cast, including two top-drawer leading ladies.

In a story which is at times rather reminiscent of ALL ABOUT EVE (1950), ambitious young Nancy Ordway (Peggy Ann Garner, A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN) comes to New York and works her way into the circle of several prominent members of the Broadway theatrical community.

Nancy has barely arrived in town when she finagles her way into using the empty apartment of producer Peter Denver (Van Heflin) and his actress wife Iris (Gene Tierney), ostensibly for "writing." Nancy also goes to lunch with Brian Mullen (Reginald Gardiner), the husband of famed stage actress Carlotta "Lottie" Marin (Ginger Rogers).

Nancy's relationship with Peter is innocent on his end, if calculated on hers; he's just a nice, somewhat oblivious guy who lets himself be manuevered into lending out his apartment while he and Iris are away during the day. (It has good light, you see -- you'd think Nancy was an artist rather than a writer.)

Then one day Peter and Iris, who's been away nursing her sick mother, come home to the apartment and...find a body! It's initially thought to be a suicide, but murder is quickly suspected, and Peter seems to be in a heap of trouble, given he'd been letting Nancy visit the apartment on a daily basis. Detective Bruce (George Raft) is on the case.

I'll keep my plot description limited to the above, as there are many twists and turns which I enjoyed watching unfold for the first time.

While the movie might not be a classic, it's nonetheless a very entertaining 95 minutes; how could it not be, with that cast? I had a good time watching it.

The movie was written and directed by Nunnally Johnson, and his script kept me guessing "whodunit" till pretty far into the movie.

The cast are all enjoyable, including Rogers as an over-the-top actress not known for her kindness; Lottie must be a very good actress to stay employed, given her habitual sharpness and sarcasm towards so many people. I also especially liked Tierney as Heflin's kind, patient wife. Iris is also a Broadway star, but with a much nicer personality. Both actresses are great favorites of mine so it was fun to see them costarring in this film.

Heflin does a nice job convincingly portraying a chump who has no ulterior motives when it comes to young Nancy, though his agressiveness "interviewing" Nancy's friend Claire (Virginia Leith, A KISS BEFORE DYING) seems out of character. Perhaps one might chalk it up to desperation?

I especially liked Gardiner as Rogers' rather emasculated husband, living in the shadow of her glory (and on her bank account). Raft doesn't have a dramatic arc and is more of a storytelling device as the investigating detective, but his button-down persona and gravitas are just right for the part.

Garner is annoying in the extreme as manipulative Nancy, who we come to learn uses pretty much every single person she meets as just another stepping stone toward greater glory. Eve Harrington, move over!

Unfortunately Garner and Rogers are both saddled with those awful '50s curly "poodle cuts" which do nothing for a woman except age her. I'll never understand why that style caught on. (Ironically, the femme fatale seen on the movie poster does not have a short haircut!) Tierney also has somewhat short hair but looks better than the other two women, if a tad bit matronly for someone who was only 33 when the movie was filmed.

It's an irony, given the movie's star power, that perhaps the most enjoyable performance comes from a one-scene player, Hilda Simms; Simms plays Anne, a woman Heflin interviews about Nancy while doing some detective work of his own. Simms is extremely natural and likeable, immediately sending me to Google to try to figure out who she was; she did some Broadway work including the title role in the original 1944 production of ANNA LUCASTA.

Additional players in the film include Otto Kruger, Cathleen Nesbitt, Mabel Albertson, and Skip Homeier.

The movie was filmed in CinemaScope by Charles G. Clarke; the format has the advantage of providing plenty of room for the large cast to spread out.

I watched this movie via the Fox Film Noir DVD #22. It comes with nice extras including a commentary track by Alan K. Rode, featurettes on Tierney and Rogers, still and poster galleries, an isolated score track, and the trailer (in which, curiously, Gardiner's name is twice misspelled). Eddie Muller and Foster Hirsch are among those who appear in the featurettes, along with Rode; they look quite young, given that the featurettes were made close to two decades ago.

The movie also had a Blu-ray release from the late, lamented Twilight Time.

I think most fans of mysteries and the cast will like this one, as I did. It's a fun hour and a half.

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Tonight's Movie: Moana (2026)

As a longtime member of Disney's D23 Club, I've had the opportunity over the years to attend some fun advance preview screenings of Disney films.

Those experiences have included TANGLED (2010) on the Disney Studios lot and CINDERELLA (2015) at the late, lamented AMC theater at Downtown Disney.

Earlier this week I attended my first D23 advance screening in quite some time, a preview of Disney's new live-action version of MOANA (2026) at the AMC in Orange, California.

I'm as tired as anyone of Disney making live-action versions of their films, although I truly loved CINDERELLA and found THE LITTLE MERMAID (2023) fairly entertaining. That said, since I've had positive experiences at D23 screenings and it was taking place fairly close to my home, I decided to give the new version of MOANA a whirl.

Things started out on a fun note when we were presented with some "swag" as we checked in, a MOANA-themed blanket and pen. Vouchers for free popcorn and soda were included with the ticket as well.

MOANA, of course, is a new version of Disney's wonderful animated musical MOANA (2016); it's hard to believe it's been an entire decade since that movie was released!

As was the case with THE LITTLE MERMAID before it, the MOANA trailer did not impress, but remembering that THE LITTLE MERMAID was better than I'd expected, I was hopeful I'd enjoy MOANA.

As it turned out, I was thoroughly entertained by MOANA and found it an unexpected, delightful surprise. While I had a number of criticisms of THE LITTLE MERMAID, I had no issues at all with MOANA, other than the bathroom "humor" which seems to find its way into every single Disney film in recent years, most recently TOY STORY 5 (2026); I'll never understand that.

I found MOANA to be a lovely rendering of the now-familiar story which was very well cast. Catherine Laga'aia was delightful in the title role as the adventurous chief's daughter who loves the sea and wants to save her tribe's dying island.

Laga'aia is on screen most of the movie, and I enjoyed her expressive features, sense of humor, and sparkling clear voice; her performance of "How Far I'll Go" was thrilling. Laga'aia communicated a sense of pure joy which was completely winning.

Among the supporting cast I especially liked Frankie Adams as Moana's mother Sina. She looked very familiar yet I don't seem to have seen any of her prior work. She was beautiful and did a very nice job conveying her emotions through relatively few words.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who voiced the demigod Maui in the original film, also enacts the part here; he has a wild-looking wig but is such fun in the part that the crazy hair is soon forgotten, or at least forgiven. He's quite funny as Moana's "frenemy," who strongly resists helping her in the quest to save her island but ultimately, of course, capitulates and proves himself a hero.

Funnily enough, this live-action film also had a fair amount of animation, whether it's Moana's crazy pet chicken Heihei or Maui's tattoos.

Owen Gleiberman of Variety wrote that MOANA is the best of Disney's live-action remakes; he didn't count the excellent CINDERELLA among that number as he didn't consider it a true remake. I agree on both points.

David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter pronounced MOANA "charming" and "directed with verve." Not all critics were so positive, but I completely agreed with these takes and cite them here to hopefully bolster the chances that potential audiences will give the movie a chance. It's a film which truly deserves to be seen and enjoyed.

Dare I say...I actually might have liked it better than the original? Or certainly at least equivalent to it. I love animated films, especially from Disney, and yet...I truly enjoyed watching this musical staged with live actors; moments such as the islanders' production number, "Where You Are," really struck a chord. And I can't understate how good Laga'aia is in the title role.

I was amazed to find it near the very top of my list of the new films I've seen so far this year. I smiled throughout and will definitely be watching it again in the future.

MOANA runs 115 minutes. It was directed by Thomas Kail and filmed by Oscar Faura.

MOANA is rated PG. Other than the bathroom humor, there are a handful of mildly scary moments, most involving the scary fire goddess at the heart of Moana and Maui's quest.

Recommended.

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